Population: 25,000 Sightseeing At a Glance: Gumusluk, Yalikavak, Golturkbuku, Gundogan, Akyarlar Museums: Bodrum Castle, Underwater Archaeological Museum, Mausoleion, The Ancient Theater

Bodrum, and its hinterland, has become Turkey's tourism capital. The town, with its picturesque shop-lined streets, restaurants, discotheques, sophisticated bars and cafes for all ages and tastes, is always lively whatever the season.

This is ancient Halicarnassos, birthplace of the famous historian Herodotus, a place known in antiquity for being the site of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Mausoleum, a gigantic tomb erected for King Mausolus in the 4th century BC. Destroyed by successive earthquakes, the stones of the Mausoleum were used by the Knights of St. John to build their Castle nearby. This castle, open to the public, houses a fascinating museum of underwater archeology. After King Mausolus' death, the chambers of the Mausoleum were discovered and looted. In the 19th century, two Englishmen looted what was left, and the treasures are now on show at the British Museum.