Datça

The tourist industry of 2400 years ago came up with a great selling point: the deity that the Greeks called Aphrodite, and the Romans called Venus. Aphrodite of Knidos was wrought in Parian marble by Praxiteles of Athens around 364 BC, and was likely modelled on the Athenian actress-courtesan Phryne. She's the earliest classical sculpture of a full-sized erotic nude female, a goddess of love: previous Grecian work showed nude males but clothed the females, while earlier nudes were vast-hipped fertility symbols. She was commissioned as the centrepiece of the Temple of Aphrodite at Knidos, to be admired from all angles. She's depicted shedding her drape to enter a ritual bath, purifying herself for some ceremony. She would originally have been brightly coloured, as most Hellenistic statues were until the paint wore away to what we now think of as classical white. Great tales were told of her sex appeal, not least by temple attendants who needed to pull in the crowds and the contributions, so she was an early tourist destination. If a fraction of the tales were true, she'd be needing another bath and another, no wonder the paint wore off. She appeared on coins, and every middle-aged plutocrat wanted her, or at least a copy, for his patio. Of the copies that survive, the Colonna Venus in the Vatican's Museo Pio-Clementino is believed to be the closest. The original was likely transferred to the Palace of Lausus in Constantinople - yes, even that renowned eunuch longed to possess her - but his palace and entire art collection were destroyed in a fire of 475 AD.

For long-distance routes see Marmaris, which has buses from other Turkish cities and is 100 km west of Dalaman airport.

Datça is 70 km west of Marmaris on D400. The road follows the ridge of the peninsula; it's well-surfaced but undivided. A good lane continues west of town to Knidos.

Muttas Bus 48-16 runs hourly from Marmaris to Datça daily 07:00-18:30, taking 90 min; the return runs 09:00-21:00. Private dolmuşes also run along the peninsula.

🌍 Datça Otogarı is the bus terminus, 500 m north of town centre.

Ferries from Bodrum sail 2 or 3 times daily June-Aug and four times a week Apr May Sept Oct. The crossing takes 1 hour 45 min and the fares as of May 2023 are 275 TL for an adult, 925 TL for a car plus 125 TL for each of the occupants. However in 2023 there are virtually no vehicle spaces, though foot-passenger spaces are wide open.

🌍 Körmen Liman (Kairos Marina) is the ferry pier, 10 km northwest of town on the north coast of the peninsula.

Datça harbour (but not Körmen Liman) is a Port of Entry into Turkey, so if you sail your own boat from Greek waters you should clear immigration and customs here.

Buses run as far west as Palamutbükü. Exploring Knidos and the small coves on the west peninsula will need a vehicle.

Sights are here listed going west, the way you'd drive onto the peninsula. But the best are towards the west and you might prefer to head straight out to Knidos, then work your way back east. Bük is the local word for a small cove - lots and lots of these, and on the north coast of the peninsula you'll see little else.

• Hisarönü is the village at the foot of the peninsula: see Bozburun for the other peninsula branching south.
• 🌍 Bördübet is a village flanked by coves on a paved but narrow side-loop through the forests.
• 🌍 Bencik Koyu is a cove and village on the south coast, reached by a paved lane signposted D-Maris Bay. This long inlet pinches the peninsula to its narrowest, 800 m wide. According to ancients such as Herodotus, the people of Knidos tried to cut a canal through here, but there are no traces of this. Even a defensive dry moat would be obvious on aerial photography.
• 🌍 Balıkaşıran is a quiet bosky cove on the north coast. It means "where the fish leaps across" though it's beyond the narrowest point. The access lane begins as an abandoned loop of D400, unsignposted and unpaved.
• 🌍 Hurmalıbük is a cove with no road access. A rough trail leads in but it's usually reached by boat trips. It's one of the few places with a stand of Phoenix theophrasti, the Cretan date palm, the only palm species native to Turkey. The fruit is inedible.
• 🌍 Aktur is a resort village straggling along a bay.
• 🌍 Karaincir is one of the most developed büks for visitors, along a beach of white sand. It's good for kiddy-bathing as the sea is only thigh-high 150 m out. The ruin of an Apollo temple east end of the village is incompletely excavated and fenced off.
• 🌍 Reşadiye was the district capital during the Ottoman Empire, so for a time it gave its name to the peninsula. The village has some architectural heritage, but isn't as prettified as its southern neighbour, Eski Datça. It's one of half-a-dozen places called Reşadiye, the largest being in the Black Sea region, commemorating the Ottoman's penultimate sultan Mehmed V Reşâd. The name is better known to English-speakers as one of the two Dreadnought warships being built for the Ottomans in British shipyards when the First World War broke out - both were requisitioned by the British, and the legend grew that this piqued the Ottomans into siding with Germany.
• 🌍 Hızırşah Culture House (Hızırşah Kültür Evi), amidst orchards on the side lane west to Hızırşah, was the Greek Orthodox Taksiarhon Church, built in the 19th century. It's sometimes used for cultural events and exhibitions.
• Hızırşah Mosque is 400 m further west along the lane from the culture house. It's from mid-14th century, the era of the Menteşe beylik, one of a dozen little Turkic principalities that appeared in the power vacuum between the fall of the Seljuks and rise of the Ottomans. The Menteşe had a notable navy and the traditional Turkish gulet is modelled on their fleet.
• 🌍 Eski Datça until the 1940s was the main village of Datça, 3 km inland from the present centre. It's a charming village of narrow, mostly car-free cobbled streets and cubical Mediterranean stone houses.
• 🌍 Palaia Knidos or Burgaz just east of town centre was the ancient main settlement of this area. Around 330 BC the population shifted to the west tip of the peninsula and island of Triopion, perhaps because the harbour was better. Palaia Knidos is prominently signposted but the ruins are scanty, so don't confuse it with the main site described below.
• 🌍 Hayıtbükü has a short strip of accommodation and eateries along the beach, as does Ovabükü just west.
• 🌍 Kurubük is a short strand of undeveloped beach. The coast lane is paved.
• 🌍 Palamutbükü 25 km west of Datça town has the longest beachfront. It was developed as a secondary resort town of the peninsula and has cheap hotels, guesthouses and restaurants.
• 🌍 Murdala has the longest beach on the north coast, pebble. It's accessed by a gravel road via the village of Cumalı.
• 🌍 Knidos (Knidos Antik Kenti) is the ruin of an ancient city at the west tip of the peninsula. It was a small trading port from 1100 BC, became the area's main town around 330 BC, and was inhabited until 500 AD. It occupied the island of Triopion and adjacent mainland, which became joined by a tombola spit, built up into a causeway. That created two harbours: the smaller northern one was the navy mooring and could be chained off, the broader southern was the merchant port. Visible ruins here include a Roman sundial, the stairs of the circular temple that housed the "Aphrodite of Knidos", an amphitheatre, city walls, and the necropolis. The site is 35 km west of Datça, reached by dolmuş or boat trip. It's open daily Apr-Oct 09:00-20:00, Nov-Mar 09:00-17:00, 50 TL. But to see the famous Aphrodite, you'll have to find a copy in a museum.

• Boat trips sail from Datca harbour, with half-a-dozen operators.
• Horse riding: Datça Binicilik Merkezî (+90 537 060 1718) is in Hızırşah near Eski Datça.
• Rock climbing: the bluffs above Hızırşah have a dozen or so climbing routes.
• The Carian Trail is an 820 km hiking trail, and the Datça peninsula accounts for 241 km of that. The western section runs from Datça to Knidos along the south coast, and then loops back along the north. The eastern section runs from Datça along the north coast to Bördübet. Water sources and stores where you can replenish your supplies are few and far between on the north coast.

• Almonds grow here, and a local delicacy is a dessert made of almond and dried figs.
• Lots of little supermarkets in Datça, for example Carrefour on Atatürk Cd by the bus station, open daily 08:00-23:00.

• Cafe Inn, Atatürk Cd 51, Datça, ☏ +90 252 712 9408. M-Sa 09:00-22:30. Friendly harbourside cafe with Italian and other Mediterranean food. (updated Jun 2023)
• 🌍 Yakamengen, Yaka Köyü 70, ☏ +90 252 725 5393. Tu-Su 17:00-23:30. Trad Mediterranean food in a "mengen" - a former olive mill. (updated Jun 2023)
• 🌍 Baba Lokantası, 93/1. Sk. No:2. Where the construction workers of Datça have their lunch. Good home-cooked food for a price that won't even buy you a side dish at the seafront restaurants. (updated Nov 2023)

• Local wine: Knidos Winery is just north of Eski Datça. Datça Vineyard is 7 km east on D400.
• Vena is a tavern serving beer and wine in Eski Datça, open daily 16:30-02:30.

Accommodation on the peninsula is in small independent places. The package holiday companies and chain hotels don't venture west of Marmaris.

• Ilıca on Park Cd is no longer a campsite but has basic cabin accommodation.
• Fuda Otel, Sevgi Yolu 5, Datça, ☏ +90 252 712 8188. Comfy friendly hotel on town beach. B&B double 4000 TL. (updated Jun 2023)
• Yavuz Apart Hotel, Dr Turgut Dündar Cd 20, Datça, ☏ +90 252 712 2333. Pleasant clean rooms in Datça main town. Double (room only) 1500 TL. (updated Jun 2023)
• Tunç Pansiyon, Buxerolles Sk, Datça, ☏ +90 252 712 3036. "Tunç" means bronze but it's a simple white-washed apartment block, clean and value-for-money. (updated Jun 2023)
• Villa Tokur, 31st Sk 1, Datça (500 m south of main town), ☏ +90 252 712 8728. Smart welcoming B&B a short walk up the hill. B&B double 3000 TL. (updated Jun 2023)
• Iskandil Apart Hotel, Palamutbükü (20 km west of Datça), ☏ +90 542 322 1289. A small apartment hotel near Palamutbükü beach. (updated Jun 2023)

Datça and its approach road have 4G from all Turkish carriers. As of March 2023, 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.

• Marmaris is the sprawling resort at the foot of the peninsula, so you need to come this way to reach almost anywhere else in Turkey.
• Bozburun is the other peninsula: turn south at Hisarönü on the road towards Marmaris.
• Bodrum, reached by ferry or a roundabout road, sprawls even wider than Marmaris, but has more historic sights.
• Symi the island seen just south is Greek. It has no direct ferry from Turkey, travel via Marmaris and Rhodes.