Memory Lane in Gündoğan from Guest Blogger Anne

Gündoğan is in the northern part of the Bodrum Peninsula, and has retained it’s local Turkish charm despite the influx of visitors to the surrounding areas. Today we’re featuring Part 1 in a series of articles from returning Guest Blogger Anne, who’s a periodic Gündoğan resident.

In Anne’s previous articles she introduced us to the local area, shops and restaurants, and Turkish Wines. It’s great to be welcoming Anne back again, to share how Gündoğan has changed over the last decade.

By: Anne, Guest Blogger 

I first visited Gündoğan in 2004 as part of my search for a holiday home. During that time we visited many places on the Bodrum Peninsula but finally bought in Gündoğan in 2005, spending the first holiday there in 2006. We’ve returned there twice a year ever since.

In 2006 there was one supermarket, one ATM, and a handful of restaurants only open for a few months in the summer.

The dolmüş from our villas to the village was every two hours. The only dolmüş from the Gündoğan otogar was to Bodrum, and the last bus home was at 11pm, except in peak summer when it ran until 1am.

It took about 45 minutes to get to Bodrum and over an hour to get to the Villa from Bodrum airport. There were a couple of taxis and they always tried to drive us into the Baia Hotel as that is where most  tourists stayed!

What was I doing there? I who had set out to buy a holiday home in Bodrum centre to be close to all the action.

After looking at many properties and going home without making a decision, the one place that kept coming back to me was Gündoğan. As is often the case, the strong feeling I got for the place defied all logic. It is a decision I have never regretted.

Over the past ten years many others have followed my example(!) and bought holiday homes in Gündoğan. Building has been tastefully done with no high rise and no buildings allowed close to the water’s edge.

Initially many of these homes were aimed at the European market, however a combination of the recession in Europe and the determination of the locals to keep the traditional feel of the village has resulted in the majority of the holiday homes now owned by Turks from cities like İstanbul and Ankara. Many have young families and spend school holidays here. Those fortunate enough to be retired spend most of the year here.

This has also led to many more visitors coming on holidays so new hotels have arrived along the beachfront and the Villa rental market is thriving. Many more boats sail in, bringing international tourists. There is a range of both smaller boutique hotels and larger high-end hotels, like the newly opened Blue Bosphorous, which attracts international and Turkish tourists alike.

Now this once sleepy fishing village is a sought after Turkish holiday destination. The pace of change has been gentle and it is only when I started to write this update that I realise how much it has changed.

The changes are in keeping with the character of the village so there are still no “English breakfasts”, McDonald’s, or Karaoke bars here. The International tourists who choose to come are those who seek a different holiday experience. Rather than those who want to replicate their own culture and food but with guaranteed sunshine.

So, what has changed?…… Continue Reading: Down Memory Lane in Gündoğan part 2

 

 

Guest Blogger, Anne has a holiday rental property in Gündoğan, and visits this area of the Bodrum Peninsula as often as she can.

Read Anne’s Previous Guest Articles

• Read Anne’s Guest Article about Discovering Gündoğan
• Read Anne’s Guest Article about Shopping in Gündoğan
• Read Anne’s Guest Article about Restaurants in Gündoğan
• Read Anne’s Guest Article about an Introduction to Turkish Wines 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

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