3 Day Bodrum Itinerary
If you are looking for a gorgeous seaside vacation on the coast of Turkey, Bodrum is the spot for you! Charlie and I spent 3 days and 4 nights in Bodrum with a group of 2 other couples and had the time of our lives. We are lucky that two of our friends are from Turkey and they built out a 3 day Bodrum itinerary so we would hit all the best spots!
Things to know before going to Turkey
- Street cats and dogs are normal and are all around! They are mostly taken care of by the locals, so no need to fret or worry about them.
- The quality of tap water varies depending on the region you are going to. Tap water is pretty much never used for drinking purposes anywhere in Turkey. It can be fine to cook food, brush your teeth, etc. but again, make sure to check for the region you are visiting!
- Be aware of having public displays of affection, they are typically frowned upon. Holding hands is mostly fine, maybe an arm around a shoulder, but you won’t find anyone passionately making out on the sidewalk anywhere!
- Be careful with purchasing items in open air markets – there are many fakes (jewelry, watches, handbags, etc.) that are offered for sale. If you are inexperienced with open air markets, you run the risk of purchasing a cheap imitation at a very high price!
Accommodation Options
- El Vino Hotel: This is where we stayed! Reasonably priced, walkable to the marina
- Caresse, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa: High end resort on the water
- Khai Hotel: Adorable hotel, right on the water with fantastic food
- The Poyz Hotel: On the cheaper side, but such cute rooms
Day 1: Sun, Water & Seafood
To kickstart our Bodrum itinerary, we grabbed breakfast at the hotel on our first day to have a slow start to the morning. After breakfast, we got ourselves ready to head to the Sarnic Beach Club for the day! We were there on a Thursday so it wasn’t “bumpin” as the kids say these days, but was more on the relaxing side of a beach club.
We stayed at the beach club for most of the day, going between sunbathing & swimming in the ocean. They served food & drinks to our chairs for lunch so we didn’t have to leave the comfort of our area!
After spending about 5 hours at the beach club, we went back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for dinner. We took a 40 minute taxi ride over to the west side of the peninsula to have dinner at Myndos Restaurant. This restaurant was right on the water with amazing sunset views! We ordered a few dishes to share between the group of us – shrimp, pasta, calamari, okra, you name it!
After dinner, we walked along the water before heading back to the hotel for a restful nights sleep!
Day 2: Local Breakfast, Drinks & Kebap Galore
What better way to kick off day 2 of our Bodrum itinerary than having a local Aegean breakfast under mandarin trees at Kuytu Bahçe Kahvaltı! You can be sure that if you eat the Traditional Aegean Breakfast, you will not be hungry all day! 🙂 Traditional Aegean Breakfast contains natural foods such as eggs from free-range chickens and cheese made from fresh milk. You’ll also find various herbs such as roka, tere, parsley, rosemary, dereotu, and mint, which is absolutely devine.
After a full breakfast, we took taxi’s to our next destination: Khai Hotel Beach! We had a reservation with a few chairs & a couple couches under umbrella’s for the day. Similar to our first day, we spent time lounging & swimming in the cool ocean – except today we had a few more drinks! We ordered food & a bottles of wine to sip on while we relaxed and enjoyed catching up with old friends.
After we soaked up enough sun, it was time to head back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner! We took a taxi over to Fiko for dinner, which is an upscale kebap restaurant. It is our friends favorite spot for kebaps in the whole area, and it did not disappoint! We ordered a few bottles of wine for the table and ate until we couldn’t fit anything else in.
Day 3: Yacht Life
Our favorite day during our time in Bodrum! You cannot have a Bodrum itinerary without adding a yacht trip. We ate a hearty breakfast at the hotel before beginning our trek down to the Bodrum Marina. We made a quick pitstop at a convenience store to buy wine & alcohol for our boat day – what’s better than a glass of vino on the ocean?
Our yacht cruise was set up absolutely remarkably. The front part of the boat had mattresses to lay out in the sun with pillows and small areas of shade for when we got toasty. In the back of the boat was a seating area with a table for our lunch! We went to two different coves to swim, snorkel, and sunbathe. The owner of the boat made a delicious lunch of fish, salad, potatoes, and more – it was insane.
After a big day on the water, we had dinner at Ada Kumbahce which had a large variety of foods to choose from. This was our last dinner with everyone before breaking off to go in different directions, so we spent some time here. After dinner, we walked over to the Marina to explore the nightlife in Bodrum. There are some clubs that looked like they could be fun (for the youngins who are interested in that!)
We ended our Bodrum time with a nightcap at the hotel – a perfect end to a trip with good friends. 🙂
If you are interested in additional long weekend trips, make sure to check out our travel itineraries page to see other countries we have visited!
