We usually find ourselves at the Oasis Centre in Bodrum at some point during our stay at the villa. It’s a modern, tastefully designed, pedestrianised shopping centre on three levels with wide walkways and plenty of outdoor space interspersed with exotic plants. There’s an eclectic mix of small shops and a few larger ones, plus a good variety of restaurants and snack bars on the lower floor. You’ll find fashion, home furnishings, gifts, textiles and more. A free car park encircles the centre and there are spotless toilet facilities inside.

We recently discovered an excellent place for lunch, called Urfa, where the speciality is ‘lahmacun’ – a very thin crispy type pizza which is cooked on the premises in a traditional pizza oven. Like a pizza, the lahmacun comes with a variety of toppings and is served with parsley and slices of lemon. Not sure of ‘lahmacun etiquette’ we started to attack ours with knife and fork as we would a pizza. It started to shatter… Then we saw other people sprinkle the parsley and squeeze the lemon on the lahmacun, roll it up and eat it rather like a large wrap or fold it in half and half again and hold it in a serviette to eat. We’ll know next time…

Another very inexpensive favourite of ours for a light lunch is ‘Koftecisi Ramiz’. In addition to the meatballs (Kofte) and other chicken or meat options, they have an extensive ‘help yourself’ salad buffet. Salad, bread and a soda water cost us a mere 8TL (£3) each! Seating is in their open courtyard surrounded by enormous cacti.

How to find the Oasis Centre:

The Oasis Centre is situated on the main road into Bodrum. It’s on the left near the bottom of a hill as you approach Bodrum from the Ortakent (and Gumusluk) direction. Look out for its large colourful sign – a blue global ‘O’, other letters in yellow, green and purple and a palm tree above the ‘i’.

Just over 10 minutes’ walk from Gumusluk Villa is Victoria’s. It’s a whole complex and not just a beach front bar and restaurant: it incorporates a swimming pool and riding stables with its small exercise area and on our visit in April 2013 they had just completed some accommodation units.

Every Sunday they serve a barbecue/buffet for 30TL per person. For your 30TL you can sample an excellent array of starters, including bean dishes, salads and dishes using fresh vegetables. Follow this with meat from the barbecue and rice and bread. We sampled their chicken kebabs and wings – had hoped for a bit more variation – but were both good. The house wine at 35TL a bottle was good value. With live music – two talented guitarists on this occasion – it was a pleasant evening.

Breakfasts at Victoria’s are also popular. For a full Turkish style breakfast (bread, butter, jam, honey, egg, cheese, olives, cucumber, tomatoes and tea or coffee) they charge 20TL for adults and 10TL for children. They also include a free 10-15 minute horse ride (around the exercise area) for children. Adults pay 40TL for half an hour.

The cost for the swimming pool is 10TL per person. You can rent sun loungers at a small cost or ‘platforms’ (a comfortable area with cushions for up to 4 people) at 200TL per day. (up to 190TL of which can be spent at the restaurant or bar).

The excellent manager, Seyda, is well known in Gumusluk and is very welcoming. She speaks extremely good English as does Esra who is working there this season and is also very helpful. It is always worth booking in advance, especially for the Sunday buffet/barbecue (+90 252 394 3264).

Yalikavak Public Beach

Yalikavak Public Beach is a popular place with local families and a lazy afternoon there makes for a pleasant change from the more touristy areas. You’ll find it a couple of kilometres from the far end of Yalikavak’s main beach*. Trees provide shade along the water front and you can hire sunbeds for a small fee. The bay is calm and a large area roped off offers safe swimming.

The snack bar sells toasted sandwiches, chips, etc. plus ice-creams and drinks, but the real attraction here is that you can hire a barbecue and cook your own meal. Order it at the snack bar and they’ll deliver it to you a few minutes later with the coals hot and ready for cooking.

There is a loo and a small changing room – both pretty basic – and an outdoor washbasin.

*Follow the road out of Yalikavak which climbs towards the headland. Turn right at a mosque where a sign points to ‘Dodo Beach’. The road skirts the bay, past a hotel and down to the water’s edge. There is ample parking by the entrance to the beach.  See the marker for Yalikavak Public Beach on our area map.

Award winning boutique hotel in the Languedoc

French Spa Breaks

17th Century Charm…

A unique and stylish retreat which oozes 17th Century charm, this boutique hotel with private spa facilities was named 10th amongst the 50 best hotels in the world.

Originally built in 1640, this former convent has been sympathetically restored with lime-washed walls and original architectural elements preserved; vaulted ceilings, sculptured stone mouldings and a wide majestic stone staircase.

A place for self-indulgence; a charming dining room, cave-like wine bar, a library with a large open wood-burning fire, vaulted ceilings, an indoor heated pool and spa. A long glass-fronted conservatory overlooks the garden, the open-air pool and the surrounding hills.

Situated in the Languedoc National Park and surrounded by the wine regions of Faugère, Coteaux du Languedoc and Saint Chinian., the village of Hérépian is close to Lamalou-les-Bains and many picturesque villages as well as a mere 15km from the stunning Gorge d’Héric.

There are 13 suites and rooms , all individually and tastefully furnished. We are displaying three of them, each with garden views. All have kitchen facilities, internet access, tv, and ipod.

In easy reach of the UK with low cost flights to nearby airports in Beziers, Montpellier, Perpignan and Carcassonne.

Visit our website at www.frenchspabreaks.com

Getting there: From the end of the Opus road (or from Gumusluk fishing village) take the Bodrum dolmus to Derekoy. Get off the dolmus at the museum ‘Collectibles’ at the end of Derekoy village. (a 10 – 15 minute journey)

I find the village of Derekoy fascinating for at least two reasons : the museum ‘Collectibles’ and the gourd lighting shop ‘Le Kabbak’.

‘Collectibles’ is the modern, architectually-designed home of the now retired director of the Maritime Museum in Bodrum. This quirky building, with its winding staircase up to several levels, has an ecclectic mix of old Turkish items such as lamps, jewellery and weights. Light floods in from the large floor to ceiling stained glass window: pale blue segments intermingle with colourful tropical fish.

The gourd lighting shop ‘Le Kabbak’ – a few paces closer to the village than the museum – has a beautiful array of lamps. As you approach you will hear the owner at work, making tiny holes in the gourds and then inserting coloured glass into each one for a unique effect. Have a look round and ask to go into the inner workshop to see some of the gourds lit up. Also for sale are a wide variety of stylish old pots and flagons, seemingly carelessly strewn about by the wall outside. (If you’re passing through Derekoy after dark the whole place looks like something out of a fairy tale.)

The Walk

Distance : about 2 miles each way (*for longer walk – see below)

Time : allow 2 hours.

Remember : water, sun hat, long trousers, walking shoes (picnic?)

Grade : easy

Suggestion : do this walk on a Tuesday when there is a small market in Derekoy so you can buy a few items for a picnic on the way.

The walk starts opposite the museum ‘Collectibles’ and a stall selling more gourd lighting and souvenirs. Take the small tarmac road ‘Kavakderesi Cad’, leading slightly uphill. (CAD is short for Cadesi = Road)

Follow this road as it winds into the countryside. After about 10 or 15 minutes the tarmac runs out, but keep straight on and from this point make sure the stream is always on your right.

You continue on this wide path, crossing a few streams on your way and after about 20 to 30 minutes you will be rewarded with a great view of the ‘big cheese’ : a cleft of rock which looks like a wedge of cheese, ahead of you. We returned to Derekoy soon after this point and took the dolmus back to the Opus turning. (However, if you want a longer walk* try the Sunflower ‘Bodrum to Marmaris’ walk no. 8 : Ortakent, Yaka, Derekoy page 99. There is a copy of the book on the shelf in the living room at the villa.)

Whenever we go at the beginning of the year we are always reminded how fresh and green the scenery is. There can be the odd day of rain, but generally the weather is around 20 C and it is quite pleasant to sit in the sun with a chilled glass of wine or beer; we were often able to sunbath.

Not being too hot it is also possible to embark on a walk or two and enjoy the profusion of spring flowers. So if you enjoy walking this is definitely the time of year to come (although October and November can also be very pleasant months for walking).

The season had not started properly and the restaurants along the shore were still preparing for the new season when we arrived on 26th March; painting the chairs, tables and pergolas, white washing some walls etc. By the second week of April, however, a few more restaurants were open and they had blankets draped on the back of the chairs in case the evenings got a little chilly.

Not quite the weather for swimming yet – although this didn’t stop two young girls jumping in the larger swimming pool on site. It was ‘cold’ they admitted – but the sun soon warmed them up again.

The house sits in an exclusive enclave within the world’s first Private Residential Nature Reserve: a 450 acre gated estate, including several lakes, the Thames River (just 3 miles from its source), meadows and woodlands, all of which attract extensive wildlife.

Situated within the prestigious Lower Mill Estate, guests can enjoy the award winning private spa complex with its indoor and outdoor heated swimming pools, an eco pool, sauna, steam room and fitness studio. Other facilities include a tennis court, nature trails, cycle tracks, boating and fishing.

If it’s pampering you’re after, book one of the many treatments available. You can choose from a variety of massages to wraps, manicures or facials. Afterwards relax in the spa gardens or the tranquil library.

Nightingale House sleeps a maximum of 4 people and has luxurious fittings and designer furnishings throughout, with a feature wood burning stove, ‘state of the art’ entertainment systems, Egyptian cotton bedding…

Visit our new website at www.cotswold-spa-breaks.com

Mariette and her Turkish husband run the café; it’s more of a bar and restaurant really. Mariette is a very friendly ‘front of house’ host and will even teach you the rules of Backgammon if you want to use one of the boards available for guests.

It’s not exactly a prime position, but makes up for its lack of beach / harbour front with good old-fashioned hospitality and a friendly welcome. Check out their weekly steak night and buffet night and meet some new people. It is a particularly good venue during ‘off peak periods when it attracts a lot of the locals.

If you’re on a budget and have already seen how cheaply you can buy a glass of cay (tea) at the Gumusluk Cay Bar (next to the jetty in Gumusluk Fishing Village), look no further than the small kiosk sitting next to the Bar. Here you can buy piping hot meat balls in fresh Turkish bread for the price of about £1.25.

It’s probably not the place to go for that romantic evening meal, but it does provide a cheap snack at lunch time and a pleasant view of the harbour. You could even splash out on a bottle of water from the Cay bar for another 50 pence!

Bodrum is the largest town on the peninsula and is about 25 minute drive or 35 minute dolmus ride* from our villa in Gumusluk. Bustling and colourful, Bodrum is renowned for its shops, bars, restaurants and nightlife as well as its impressive marina and the town’s undoubted focal point, the beautiful St Peter’s Castle.

*(half hourly service until at least midnight)

For shopping the main bazaar lies in the pedestrian precinct, at the foot of the castle. Little shops of every sort abound in all the narrow streets; many sell leather goods, pottery and carpets. You have to bargain in Turkey (all in good humour) – take off about a third of the price they say or plead poverty: it’s all a game! On Tuesdays there is a massive fabrics and clothing market beside the bus station and on Thursdays and Fridays there is a food market here.

St Peter’s Castle

Built in the fourteenth century it has served as a military garrison, a compound enclosing a tiny village, and even as a fortress prison. Today it houses a world class museum of nautical archaeology.

Open Tuesday to Sunday 9am–12noon and 2pm–5pm

(Caria Princess Exhibit + Glass Shipwreck Exhibit open Tues to Fri 10am–12 noon and 2pm-4pm)

The Mausoleum Museum

One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Mausoleum is the tomb of King Mausolus, dating back to around 350 BC. However, after surviving many centuries the Mausoleum was demolished by an earthquake in 1304 and the Knights of Saint John later used the site as a quarry to rebuild the castle. The area where the structure of the Mausoleum once stood has now become an open-air museum but little remains apart from the foundations.

Open Tuesday to Sunday 9am–12noon and 1pm–5pm

Day trip to Kos

Ferries run daily from Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos, crossings taking an hour (or only half an hour on the hydrofoil). Trips to places further afield include Marmaris, Didim and Rhodes.

The Ancient Theatre

Located on the main Bodrum road (on the left as you approach from Gumusluk) is the well preserved Roman Amphitheatre with great views of the castle and the town. Concerts are performed here in the summer.

Open daily 8.30am – 5pm

Myndos Gate and Ottoman Tower

A relic from King Mausolus’s time, the most significant remaining part of the original city wall. Located on the west side of Bodrum, this was one of two entrances to ancient Halicarnassus. The gate is named after the town it faces – Myndos, the present day Gumusluk.

Open 24 hours. Visit in the evening when the ruins are illuminated.

The Zeki Muren Museum

19, Zeki Muren Caddessi

Zeki Muren was a legendary Turkish vocalist and came to Bodrum when he retired. You can visit the late singer’s home and listen to his recordings of traditional Turkish music.

Open daily 8.30am–12 noon and 1pm–5pm

Live Music

The classy ‘Yacht Club’ along the marina has some excellent live bands performing during the summer months and is definitely worth a visit. Entry is usually free but drinks will be expensive.