Bodrum – Datça (D330 / D550 / D400 karayolu, Milas–Yatağan–Muğla–Marmaris üzerinden)

A quiet peninsula, olive groves out to Knidos

DISTANCE: 240 km
DRIVING TIME: 3 h 24 min

Motorcycle
Car

A quiet Aegean run through olive groves, narrow coast roads and whitewashed villages, ending at Knidos on the tip of the peninsula.

The Datça peninsula — reached by car ferry from Bodrum or by 70 km of road from Marmaris — is known for a single-carriageway mountain road that bends from end to end, the Hisarönü gulf on one side and Gökova on the other; at Balıkaşıran/Bencik the land narrows to about 800 m. At the far end, on Tekir Burnu, stands two-harboured Knidos, at the point where the Aegean is held to meet the Mediterranean. In between: almond and olive groves, the stone windmills of Kızlan, and the stone houses of Eski Datça, where the poet Can Yücel spent his last years.

What to eat

Çökertme kebabı
matchstick-thin fried potatoes under strips of beef fillet and garlicky yoghurt, finished with butter and tomato
Bodrum and Milas; a registered dish. Order the fried Bitez mantı beside it.
Karanfilli ekmek
clove bread: a wholemeal-and-white loaf scented with clove, baked in small batches
Reşadiye/Datça; the bakery makes few of them, so they are gone before noon
Bademli levrek
sea bass fillet under toasted Datça almonds
Datça town centre
Deniz kenarında günün balığı ve deniz börülcesi salatası
the day’s catch, with a salad of samphire — a salty coastal succulent, blanched and dressed with olive oil, lemon and garlic
Palamutbükü and Ovabükü, at the fish restaurants along the shore
Keçi sütünden bal-badem dondurma
goat-milk ice cream with honey and almond, and a fizzy almond pop (gazoz) made on the peninsula
Eski Datça; the almond gazoz is sold all over Datça — look for the Dadya and Datça Köy Ürünleri labels

What to buy

Datça bademi ve badem ezmesi
the endemic “nurlu” almond, which grows nowhere else — sold whole, as a marzipan-like paste plain or with honey, and baked into biscuits
Datça and Reşadiye
Datça balı
almond-blossom honey is pale and floral, pine honey dark and resinous, thyme honey sharp and herbal
Almond-blossom, pine and thyme honey; also dried figs, sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil
Marmaris çam balı (menşe adı tescilli)
pine honey with a protected designation of origin: dark, thick and barely sweet
The Thursday market in Marmaris (the covered Kemeraltı hall) or the Wednesday market in İçmeler; on the Bozburun road, the village of Bayır has stalls of mountain thyme, sage, bay and village honey
Bodrum sandaleti (hakiki deri, el dikimi), mandalina lokumu ve mandalina reçeli
the Bodrum sandal: hand-stitched leather made to the same pattern for decades — plus tangerine lokum (Turkish delight) and tangerine jam
The bazaar in Bodrum
Knidos Karası şarabı
a red from a grape peculiar to Datça — dark, soft and low in acid
A local Datça grape; tastings at Knidos Şarapçılık in Reşadiye

Road notes

Marmaris to Datça is ~70 km, but single-carriageway, two-way and full of bends; reckon on 1-1.5 hours and do not do it at night or tired. Resurfacing is under way on the last 18 km, so expect short holds.
Wet asphalt here turns slick; brake before the bend, and never overtake in a corner you cannot see through.
Fill up at the station in Reşadiye on the way out of Datça, at the Knidos-Palamutbükü fork; the district has three stations in total and the western arm of the peninsula (Yazıköy, Mesudiye, Palamutbükü) has no fuel at all.
Knidos is 35 km and about 50 minutes from Datça; the road is paved but narrow and winding, so do not hurry. The site opens 08.30-20.00 in summer and 08.30-17.30 in winter — allow at least 2 hours.
The Bodrum-Datça car ferry runs between Bodrum Kale harbour and Körmen (Karaköy), 10 km from Datça, and takes about 2 hours. In summer there are 4 sailings a day (09.00-18.00): book online and be at the quay 45-60 minutes before departure. In winter it drops to certain days only, so confirm before you go.
The Datça market is on Saturday (at the end of Ambarcı Caddesi; stalls start going up on Friday afternoon), with a growers’ market on Wednesday as well. For a sunset break, the Kızlan windmills. In August and over public holidays the peninsula road is very busy, so leave early.

Along the way

Knidos Antik Kenti
the ancient city on the cape: two harbours and the round temple of Aphrodite, at the point where two seas are said to meet
Sakar Geçidi
the pass on the Marmaris road where the peninsula narrows and both gulfs come into view at once
Gökova Körfezi
the long northern gulf — a protected marine park of pine-backed coves
Eski Datça
Old Datça: the original village of stone houses and bougainvillaea a couple of kilometres inland, where the poet Can Yücel lived

Warnings

Narrow coast roads.

Itinerary

The route passes through 13 named stops. The line between them is the routed road geometry the map draws — and the distance was measured off that line.

Bodrum
Güvercinlik (Bodrum), D330
Milas çevreyolu (Menteş)
Yatağan
Muğla çevreyolu (Menteşe)
Gülağzı kavşağı – Marmaris/D400 ayrımı
Gökova / Akyaka (Sakar Geçidi eteği)
Çetibeli Geçidi (Marmaris)
Marmaris (Datça yolu ayrımı)
Hisarönü kavşağı (Bozburun ayrımı)
Balıkaşıran kıstağı (Datça Yarımadası girişi)
Kızlan (Datça)
Datça

Directions in Google Maps

Sources

8 SOURCES

This record is the counterpart of the route card on İz's Explore screen. The whole shelf, and how it was compiled, is on the route shelf. İz is not open to everyone yet; it lives inside the OtoTasdik vehicle wallet app.