Kadikalesi Holidays 2024/2025
Prestigious and beautiful, the Kadikalesi resort is one of the best kept secrets in Bodrum. Idyllically situated by the sea, the area comes with fantastic views and swimming opportunities. A top class restaurant, hotel and spa makes up the social centre of Kadikalesi and cements it as a Turkey holiday favourite.
Kadikalesi Holiday Deals
A small seaside village
Located on the Bodrum peninsula, Kadikalesi is charming and quaint, offering visitors in the know a beachside getaway that they can choose to keep to themselves or share with friends. The resort’s coast is little more than a narrow strip of sand and shingle, which rarely, if ever, becomes overcrowded.
To give more space to water-lovers, a scenic swimming dock lines the sea. Here you can relax on your towel and jump in and out of the water throughout the day. A restaurant or two offers visitors to Kadikalesi great food and excellent views of the horizon, as waiters dart between tables with glasses of their finest wines.
Authentic Turkish charm
The petite village atmosphere has never been lost from Kadikalesi, and a short stroll into the centre yields many traditional Turkish surprises. Sit at one of the tables set up in Kadikalesi’s open plazas and you can sip a rich, sweet coffee or have a light lunch. These open spaces light up at night with conversation and revelry, making them ideal places to do a bit of socialising.
If it’s historical and cultural heritage you’re after, then Kadikalesi has you covered there too. A walk around the village will take you past a mosque hidden behind layers and layers of scented wisteria, and if you glance up to the hills above you’ll see some ancient ruins. Kadikalesi took its name from the former building, which translates to ‘Judge’s Castle’.
Some real 'you time'
The hotel and restaurant that marks the centre of Kadikalesi, Kadikale Resort, actually also serves as a top quality spa, with a long list of massage therapies and skin treatments for guests and visitors to enjoy. The free-and-easy atmosphere of the region makes even more sense when you’re lying back having a full day of pampering yourself in one of Kadikale Resort’s thermal mud baths.
If you’re looking for the authentic side of the spa, some of the treatments offered at Kadikale are traditional to Turkish bath houses. Or if you want an internationally-renowned favourite then opt for the Hydrotherapy. There’s even something called a Shower Massage, which comes highly recommended and is pretty much exactly as it sounds.
A lively neighbour
For anyone looking for cheap Bodrum holidays, the peaceful resort of Kadikalesi is ideal as it remains largely unmarked by tourism. Even so, the nearby town of Turgutreis offers visitors to this little resort the opportunity to experience the action-packed side of Bodrum with ease. Just 15 minutes’ drive from Kadikalesi’s village centre travellers will find a bustling shopping culture, a broad selection of great restaurants and of course, plenty of bars to fill those balmy Turkish evenings with drinks.
The market in Turgutreis is one of the most reputed in Bodrum, with fine jewels, silks and spices exchanging hands amid loud bartering and friendly smiles. A walk down Artist Street offers a very different type of shopping, as you’ll find the road is lined with calm crafts-people trying to pawn their beautifully handmade jewellery.
Turgutreis also offers visitors another beach, this one a little more active than Kadikalesi’s secret spot by the sea. The shallow water and thick sand is perfect for young kids, so they can splash around while the grown ups relax with a book. It’s also one of the windier beaches in Bodrum, so the locals have set up shop there, hiring out windsurfing equipment for the keen watersports enthusiasts.