It’s buzzing in Bodrum! Why now is the time to head to this vibrant Turkish peninsula

Speeding through the Aegean Sea, flanked by the beautiful rolling mountains of the Bodrum Peninsula, the glassy blue surface turns into torrents of white foam.

Suddenly it’s up, up and away – no longer cruising through the water but up into the air, soaring 3,000 feet above the white sand coves of the Turkish Riviera as it soars serenely in a seaplane.

What a way to take in Bodrum, known for its ancient history and famous visitors, such as actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, as well as being a luxury holiday destination without the top prices.

In fact, prices are incredibly reasonable, with cashlady.com’s personal finance experts just this week estimating that Turkey is a whopping 319 per cent cheaper to visit for Britons than it was just five years ago.

The Bodrum Peninsula has long been popular with holidaymakers. In the 1970s it was the epicenter of bohemian glamor with aristocrats, millionaires, writers and artists descending to work and relax. And they still come.

Strolling through the marina, past pink bougainvillea flowers on one side and traditional wooden gulet sailboats on the other, I hear how Sting and Tottenham FC owner Joe Lewis have been spotted here lately. Meanwhile, Naomi Campbell was seen around town in an unusually non-diva mode: drinking coffee alone, without entourage and security.

“They can’t act like a celebrity here because everyone here is a celebrity,” says Gozde, a glamorous local who, in her high heels and glitzy sunglasses, is unimpressed by the customers who come.

I’m here before the summer season starts, which means Bodrum’s Bar Street – the mile-long stretch of raucous bars and clubs along the coastline – has yet to be adjusted. But luckily I didn’t come to go out.

Tucked away in the north of the peninsula, I’m staying at the five-star, all-inclusive LuJo, carefully designed to be the perfect fly-and-flop bolthole. It’s a huge resort with 15 bars, ten pools and a shoreline with a private beach, complete with Maldivian-style cabanas and beach beds.

The expansive layout means there’s no rush at dawn to put towels on the sun loungers. It’s so quiet that you can swim all alone to the edge of almost any of the infinity pools and look out with no other buildings in sight.

At dusk we dine beachside at Gaia, the dreamy seafood restaurant that offers John Dory fish, crispy baby octopus and daily fresh delicacies prepared with Aegean and Cretan spices marinated in Bodrum’s famous extra virgin olive oil.

It’s hard to believe this is an easyJet holiday package. There’s no hint of cheap orange utility and instead it’s luxury in the form of the rooftop helipad, chocolate bar, LuJo branded seaplane and concierge butlers known as ‘Joy Advisors’, who always have a quick WhatsApp being removed from being present to your every need.

And you won’t feel guilty about ditching the kids at the kids’ club. Instead of a soft-play prison, the resort offers ceramic and wood workshops, an art studio, and a music room.

Away from the relaxing pleasures of LuJo, however, we head to Bodrum to admire the sights of the ancient Greco-Roman amphitheatre, which hosts an international ballet festival in summer and concerts under the stars.

The port city’s history dates back to the ancient Greeks in the 4th century BC, and it’s home to the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, an ornate royal tomb that was one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Little remains of the original tomb today, but the remains were used by the Knights of St John to build the magnificent Bodrum Castle. They erected a tower for each of the English, French, German and Italian knights, and England’s Lion’s Tower shines with the coat of arms of King Henry IV.

More history is to be enjoyed as you travel inland on the peninsula. Hiking tour operators offer guided trails on the Carian Trail, named after the ancient Carian indigenous people of Asia Minor.

These walks pass through mountains and tranquil landscapes, as well as the ruins of ancient cities and their fortresses, some of which are over 3,000 years old. And walkers here literally follow in the footsteps of VIPs and royalty (including a pre-war president Zelensky, Nicolas Sarkozy and many an Arab sheikh).

Each bay on the Bodrum Peninsula has a different atmosphere. Day trippers can head south to Bitez, one of the largest and most popular family beaches with beach clubs and restaurants.

To the south, Gumbet is known as one of the liveliest nightlife spots, while Guvercinlik Bay is home to LuJo and other sprawling yet secluded family resorts.

Further west we amble around Yalikavak Marina, considered the ‘Turkish St. Tropez’, where the Med Set moor their superyachts in the summer and where Tom Hanks has recently been seen on holiday.

For a few hours, I’m lucky enough to feel like one of the set myself, thanks to a morning cruise on LuJo’s 19-meter luxury catamaran. It’s my superyacht fantasy below deck: shoes off – so as not to spoil the teak, dear – and a glass of champagne on arrival, before switching to the lightest rosé to chat lazily on deck.

Lunch is a banquet fit for an Ottoman sultan as we cruise languidly around the peninsula, past the olive groves and pine forests of Torba and the posh Golturkbuku area with its coterie of ultra-expensive hotels. According to local legend, Kate Moss once checked out of a detox retreat here and checked straight into Macakizi, the luxury party hotel. We drop anchor at the islet of Ikizadalar, dive off one of the prows of the catamaran and I float in the sea so salty I could almost fall asleep, floating effortlessly on the water and drifting all the way to Greece.

This is my first time in Turkey and I am amazed at how friendly everyone is. I now understand why the country is such a draw for British tourists, who I am told come here at the bookends of the season – May to June and September to October – not only for the lower prices, but also to avoid the middle of summer. 40c heat. The February earthquake, 700 miles away, was the worst natural disaster in Turkey’s modern history, killing nearly 60,000 people.

The open-hearted people of this country are therefore now desperate to get their country and the tourism industry back on track, and are optimistically scrambling for the start of the new holiday season. And while President Erdogan’s controversial monetary policy has wreaked havoc on the domestic economy, it means exchange rates for British holidaymakers are only getting stronger, currently hovering around 24 lira to every pound.

A pint will cost you around 60 lira. On our last evening we dine in Gemibasi overlooking the marina and I enjoy the warm clatter and noise of family celebrations, with babies cooing, Turkish tea glasses clinking and shots of raki being toasted with a resounding ‘Serefe!’, the Turkish word for ‘cheers’. You know a restaurant is good when it’s filled to the brim with locals.

But be warned: a Turkish meal is a marathon, not a sprint, with endless courses of shared plates of fatty sizzling prawns, spicy eggplant dips, potato salads and the freshest calamari. After hours of partying, we end the meal and weekend feeling well-fed, watered, and satisfied with life. Gemibasi’s menu features Bodrum’s unofficial slogan, a quote from a famous Turkish writer known as the fisherman of Halicarnassus, who was exiled here in 1925 and fell in love with the peninsula. He wrote, “Don’t assume you’re going to leave the way you came. The others before you were the same. When they left, they all left their souls in Bodrum.’

Serve for that!