A Comprehensive Guide about Living in Bodrum

Life in Bodrum

Culture and Leisure

In ancient times, Bodrum was known as ‘Halicarnassus of Caria’ and was perhaps most notable for being home to the Mausoleum of Mausolus, an ancient tomb that stood over 140 feet tall, and was adorned in sculptures created by four of the most admired Greek sculptors of the age. The tomb was considered so beautiful that Antipater of Sidon named it one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The tomb was destroyed by a series of earthquakes nearly 900 years ago. Much stunning architecture still remains however, including Bodrum Castle, which was constructed in the 15th century and overlooks the extensive harbor and marina.

Education in Bodrum

Turkey has one of the youngest populations in Europe, and the country is therefore experiencing a significant demand for nurseries and schools. Therefore, a number of expansion programs have been introduced, in order to reduce the burden being placed on existing schools. In many instances, class sizes have risen to levels that are far higher than would be expected in many European countries. Government reports indicate that the country is currently focusing on reducing the average class size from 50 to 30, through a combination of expanding schools and employing more teachers. There is a particular focus on providing young people in Turkey with a good knowledge of foreign languages, and computer skills.

There are also a number of private schools around Turkey — the closest being the Marmara Koleji Bodrum, a co-educational boarding school that caters for 750 pupils. As well as teaching the Turkish curriculum, many of the private schools now offer the International Baccalaureate program. Turkey has a range of private and public universities, which are increasingly seeing a rise in overseas students coming to the country to study.

Transportation in Bodrum

Bodrum has a reasonably expansive bus network within the city, and good links to other nearby areas in Turkey from the city’s main bus station. Although the buses are frequent and reliable during the day, services do not run late into the night. For travel further afield, the area is well connected by boat for access to nearby Turkish and Greek Islands, and many services run daily from the port. Air travel is less easy to access — there are no airports in the city itself, the nearest being around 40 km away. There are no buses directly connecting the city to the airport, so those arriving would typically need to find private transport into the city center. Taxis are a common method of travel for many living in the city — as in many countries, the tariff is calculated by distance, with rates doubling after midnight.