From Rabbit Island to Vulcan. Looking for a romantic place.
In the desire to combine business with pleasure, I decided to show my sister and little niece two interesting sights of Bodrum, Tavsan Adasi Rabbit Island in Gumusluk and an extinct ancient volcano in Akiarlar located on Aspat Beach, in addition to spending time in the best company and finding the most romantic place for wedding ceremonies and photographs.
The starting point of our short trip was the most cheerful area of Bodrum Gumbet near the Goddess of Bodrum Isis Hotel 5 * and Rosso Verde 4 *.
To shorten the path, it was necessary to move down to the neighboring Bitez district and drive along the embankment where the sea and beautiful views of the Bitez and Ortakent districts are on the left side. But I needed to buy an important item for an unforgettable visit to the island for a little girl. And as a taxi driver who wants to earn some money, I took my dear passengers back from the optimal path through the entire Gumbet and turning onto the Turgutres highway in the area of the Oasis Mall.
There are many different stores in the mall, but what we needed was missing in Oasis Mall stores.
About 15 minutes later we were already parking the car near the large Midtown Shopping Mall. Midtown Shopping Mall is a large supermarket, a cinema, a large playground, restaurants and cafes, many clothing stores, shoes and various accessories. Next to Midtown is the neighbor's Metro store and there is also an H&M store in a separate Midtown building.
While my sister was distracting our little bunny near the aquarium, I went to the store to buy a stuffed rabbit toy, I know from experience that small children and even very adult visitors to the island are disappointed by the absence of many rabbits on Rabbit Island.
If someone is less interested in shopping, then not far from Midtown there is a cultural and artistic village of Dibeklihan, where there is an open-air exhibition of traditional arts and crafts of Turkey, as a cultural caravanserai the exhibition is free, there are many different shops around the exhibition where you can buy necklaces handmade silver, bags, silk products, handmade home accessories
But our path lay in Gumusluk. If you go to Gumusluk by municipal bus or dolmush, then the final stop is near a small bazaar, after passing through which you exit to the embankment and to the point where the sea starts to wade to Rabbit Island.
Descent into the sea to the sea path from the promenade is located next to the Fenerci fish restaurant. Gumusluk is famous for its fish restaurants, they serve freshly caught fish and the price is lower than in fish restaurants in the center of Bodrum and neighboring Turgutreis.
The path to the Rabbit Island lies ford through the sea 170 meters, there are slippery large stones - the ruins of the ancient city of Mindos, which, after a series of earthquakes, went under water - a small Atlantis. I recommend protecting your feet for a comfortable wading with special shoes that you can buy directly at a small market. And it is better for such a route to wear shorts that can be easily tucked up or a dress or skirt whose hem can be lifted.
Rabbit Island is one of the most romantic places in Bodrum. The ancient king of Halicarnassus Mausolus was in love with his sister Artemisia. Artemisia, as a gift to her beloved, conceived and brought to life and fully supervised the construction of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the 7 wonders of the world. King Mausolus was a great romantic, and unlike his sister who built a tombstone for him, he decided to make a more romantic gift - they went together to the Rabbit Island to plant the most beautiful sunsets and feed the rabbits that lived on this island in large numbers.
After wading 170 meters, my niece and I were looking for rabbits on a small part of the island's land that is open to visitors (90% of the island is closed, archaeological excavations are underway) and yet our little bunny found his little wet rabbit, which my sister hid in the historical stones of the city Mindos.
From the island you can see the entire promenade with cafes and restaurants and beaches. In one of these fish restaurants we dined on freshly caught fish, shrimp and squid.
Visit Rabbit Island and wade to the island for free.
The Gumusluk embankment looks very beautiful and romantic in the evening after sunset. During the day the most romantic place is Rabbit Island, in the evening restaurants and cafes and the entire Gumusluk embankment.
It was tempting to sunbathe on Gumusluk beach in the afternoon, swim and scuba dive near the island
but on the way lay through Turgutreis to Akiarlar, to the Aspat beach to the extinct ancient volcano.
The road from Gumusluk to Akiarlar through Turgutreis is one of the most beautiful, on the right my passengers looked out the Greek islands of Kos, Pserimos, Kalymnos, Leros and a small Turkish island with a bakery name Pitta
and already in Akiarlar the famous beach of windsurfers Fener
The most romantic place for thrill-seekers to ride a windsurfer or a kite or a small sailboat is Fener Beach in Akiarlar.
The romantic beach of Aspat near the volcano is also one of the most romantic and most beloved vacation spots because of the purest sea water and protection from the wind.
There are individual sea excursions on yachts to this beach. On the beach itself there are small cafes, as well as various sculptures, or rather art objects.
We did not climb the volcano. The ascent to the volcano is free. We decided to stay here until sunset - the most beautiful and most romantic sunsets in Bodrum, which are not inferior to the sunsets on the island of Santorini, are Akiarlar, Turgutreis and Gumusluk, the beauty of these sunsets is due to the ancient volcano.
On an independent excursion to the Rabbit Island without a taxi and renting a car on a dolmush or municipal bus - https://www.turpravda.ua/places/tr/bodrum/Krolichij_ostrov-s48/r379032.html
and also to Akiralar volcano and Aspat beach - https://www.turpravda.ua/places/tr/bodrum/Vulkan_v_Akjarlare-s8497/r365442.html
There are completely free and affordable historical and natural attractions that you can get yourself by spending a little money, and not overpaying for a standard set of excursions to representatives of tour operators and excursion agencies.
