Bodrum occupies a special place on the Turkish Aegean coast — a town built around one of the most dramatic natural harbors in the region, watched over by a medieval castle that has been standing since 1402. The Castle of St. Peter, built by the Knights Hospitaller using stone quarried from the ruins of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus — one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — dominates the western harbor and houses the Museum of Underwater Archaeology, one of the finest collections of its kind anywhere in the Mediterranean. The museum's Bronze Age shipwreck hall alone, containing the oldest known shipwreck ever discovered, is worth a dedicated visit.

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus itself, though largely dismantled over the centuries, remains an important archaeological site at the center of the modern town. Built in 353 BC for the Persian satrap Mausolus, it was so magnificent that it gave its name to a word — mausoleum — now used in every language on earth. The ruins convey only a fraction of the original structure, but the scale and craftsmanship of what remains speak clearly to why ancient writers ranked it among the wonders of the world.

Beyond the castle and the ruins, Bodrum's old town rewards slow exploration: whitewashed houses draped in bougainvillea, narrow streets leading unexpectedly to harbor views, and a weekly market that draws producers from across the peninsula. The windmills on the hill above the town, silhouetted against the Aegean sky, have become the defining image of Bodrum — and they are exactly as picturesque in reality as they appear in photographs.