“Rose Garden” Population: 4,000ish
Old Name: Küllük
Market day: Thursday
On the coast due west of Milas, Güllük is a small beach resort which used to struggle to make its mark in tourism because it was at the same time a busy port catering for the carriage of quarrying materials. Today, however, things seem to have quietened down and many Turks certainly seem to find this a pleasant – and much cheaper – alternative to Bodrum for their family holidays.
Coming down to the waterfront from the main road you will find yourself facing a large circular tea garden with tables lined up in a position that allows customers to toss bread to the grateful kefal (grey mullet) that obligingly stage feeding frenzies whenever a tasty morsel comes their way.
East of the tea garden a few unexceptional restaurants fill the old stone warehouses that used to line the waterfront, their architecture harking back to the Byzantines although they are presumably all late Ottoman. Here, too, there are a few modest examples of the First National Architecture style that was used for government offices in the early 20th century.
Past the warehouses a palm-backed waterfront promenade heads out to a thin sandy public beach, bypassing a modern statue of a boy riding a dolphin. As the story goes, the boy was Hermeias whose mother had tried to stop him going swimming with his friends, only to give in eventually and then see him lost at sea. Later there were rumours that a boy had been seen riding a dolphin. Finally, both Hermeias and the dolphin were found dead on the beach. The dolphin had accidentally cut his new friend with a flipper, causing him to bleed to death, whereupon the animal had opted to die alongside him. 
Hermeias and the dolphin
Out west of the tea garden there’s a fishing harbour where some sizeable smacks still tie up. Beyond that come more hotels and decks where people can sunbathe in comfort if without the showiness of Bodrum.
What is there to do in Güllük? Not a lot unless you fancy a boat trip round the bay. There are, though, plenty of buses to Milas which means that you could stay here to get the benefit of the cool sea breezes but still explore the many archaeological sites in the region of Milas too.
Güllük/Küllük. The town’s modern name may mean “rose garden” but in fact it started life as Küllük, meaning a place of ashes, a reference presumably to all the industrial activity hereabouts. But in local Turkish “g” and “k” are often interchangeable, as in Gümbet which is really just the local way of saying kümbet, the name for the circular water cisterns that are so common around Bodrum.
Sleeping
I have never stayed in Güllük but there are plenty of small family pensions and a couple of huge hotels, mostly in the upper part of the town where they can take best advantage of the views. The Hermeias Hotel looks particularly inviting.
Transport info
Hourly buses to Güllük depart from Milas’ town-centre minibus terminal. They trundle through town to reach the main road so you can also pick them up elsewhere if you don’t mind running the risk of their being full.
There are also timetabled minibuses from Bodrum to Güllük.
Day trip destinations
