Muğla

About Muğla

Muğla is Turkey's southwestern Aegean-Mediterranean transition province, home to Bodrum, Marmaris, Fethiye and Datça; it has the country's longest coastline and is the birthplace of the world-famous 'Blue Cruise' gulet tradition.

Muğla sits in Turkey's southwestern corner, a transition zone where the Aegean meets the Mediterranean. Mountains running perpendicular to the shoreline carve the country's longest coastline (1,589 km) into deep inlets and peninsulas — this 'Turquoise Coast' is framed by Turkish pine forests covering up to 68% of the region, and gathers Turkey's most celebrated coastal destinations under one province: Bodrum's glamorous nightlife, Marmaris's dense resort belt, Fethiye's paragliding and blue lagoons, and the quiet stone villages of the Datça Peninsula.

What sets Muğla apart is its yachting heritage and its role as the birthplace of the 'Blue Cruise' — pioneered by exiled writer Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, known as the 'Fisherman of Halicarnassus,' who turned a former sponge-diving region into a global sailing destination. That legacy lives on in handcrafted wooden gulets built at traditional shipyards, and world-class marinas in Bodrum, Göcek and Marmaris.

Set on the ancient lands of Caria and Lycia, Muğla holds over 100 archaeological sites — the rock tombs of Kaunos, the Temple of Aphrodite at Knidos, and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Letoon. Most famously, Bodrum sits on ancient Halicarnassus, birthplace of the historian Herodotus and home to the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Region

Aegean

Main airport

Milas-Bodrum Airport (BJV)

Coastline length

1,589 km — Turkey's longest

Key districts

Bodrum, Marmaris, Fethiye, Datça

Historic region

Ancient Caria (Halicarnassus, Knidos, Kaunos)