What's on in Bodrum, Turkey through the year

Busy — Semester (winter) break in Turkey, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: The peninsula shuts (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Semester (winter) break in Turkey, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: The peninsula shuts (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Second-term mid-break in Turkey, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: The peninsula shuts (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Busy — Kurban Bayrami, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Kurban Bayrami

  27–30 MayRamadan & EidCrowdedBook early

  The peninsula opens properly for the four-day holiday and Istanbul arrives with it. Ferries to Datca and the beach clubs at Yalikavak are booked out weeks ahead. Source ↗

Busy — Summer holidays in Turkey, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Sea warm enough to swim

  1 Jun – 25 Oct · usually

  The Aegean here is swimmable from early June and holds into late October, which is when the gulets stop fighting for anchorage in Gumusluk and Kargi.

Still on: Kurban Bayrami (27–30 May)

Busy — Summer holidays in Turkey, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Meltemi wind

  1 Jul – 31 Aug · usuallyWind seasonRisk

  The etesian blows down the Aegean most afternoons in high summer. It takes the edge off the heat, makes the north-facing bays choppy, and occasionally keeps the day boats in the marina.

Still on: Sea warm enough to swim (1 Jun – 25 Oct (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Turkey, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Bodrum Ballet Festival

  1–25 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalBook early

  The state ballet performs in the courtyard of the crusader castle through August, starting around a quarter to ten when the stone has cooled. Tickets are cheap by any European measure. Source ↗

Still on: Sea warm enough to swim (1 Jun – 25 Oct (usually)), Meltemi wind (1 Jul – 31 Aug (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Turkey, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Sea warm enough to swim (1 Jun – 25 Oct (usually))

Busy — The Bodrum Cup, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  The Bodrum Cup

  19–24 OctMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  A week of wooden gulets racing between the peninsula's bays, run out of Yalikavak since 1989. The harbours fill with boats that spend the rest of the year chartering. Source ↗

Still on: Sea warm enough to swim (1 Jun – 25 Oct (usually))

Busy — First-term mid-break in Turkey

• Season

  The peninsula shuts

  1 Nov – 31 Mar · usuallyOff-season shutdownClosures

  The outlying villages close almost completely from November: Gumusluk and Turkbuku go dark and the beach clubs board up. Bodrum town itself keeps enough open to live in.

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: The peninsula shuts (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))