i drove the other way from istanbul to olu deniz the roads where fine a sign posted well you can also get a tom tom sat nav with mapping for turkey but i used the old way a road map but dont use road numbers as with the new edition map i had it never matched up but all the village and town names are right so use them ps its the south west coast

We regularly visit the Bodrum peninsula, having a house there, and always hire a car and enjoy visiting all the surrounding areas. We haven't done Altinkum yet but have been to Akbuk. It's a decent drive from Altinkum to the peninsula and there's some lovely places to see. For a nice beach, I would recommend Bitez with your kids. It's really nice. It's easy to drive around the coast of the whole peninsula in a day, visiting Bitez, Turgetreis (a typically Turkish town as well as a resort), Gumusluk (great for fish restaurants and the causeway to Rabbit Island), Yalikavak (a small, fairly sedate resort), Gundogan (very nice and quiet and pretty along the front), Golturkbuku (very upmarket resort popular with wealthy Turks), Torba (small and quiet), Bodrum (a bustling town but well worth a visit) and Gumbet (a busy resort but there are quiet areas as well). From Altinkum, you'd be heading for Milas and then for Bodrum and once on the peninsula, it's fairly well signposted.

From Altinkum to Marmaris is a fair drive - I know it takes nearly three hours from Gumbet, maybe the same from Altinkum? It's a lovely drive through the Gokova Valley and Akyaka. We did it the other week and enjoyed it. I suppose it depends on whether the kids enjoy the travelling or not. We had a 10-month old with us and she was okay.

Thanks a lot guys,maybe we'll start off with the Bodrum peninsula and maybe venture a bit further afield after that all going well.Appreciate
your posts,any other tips for nice places gladly received.
Neil.

South east?? you mean the south west haha you got me all worried, dont go over there!! But then I read on

I dont know much about roads but the driving around I bet is really good just looking from the window I bet its good fun and youll see more of Turkey too!

lukee0705 its well worth doing but i can also recommend the black sea region its stunning but as you say there is so much to see and is such a vast country

Whoops!!Yeah I did of course mean the south WEST of Turkey,sorry.We are going for 17 nights hence we want to take a few day trips and explore a bit.Where are the best sandy beaches on the peninsula,Bitez aside?
Neil.

I must admit I was a bit confused when you said South East Turkey too!

There are some lovely places in the Bodrum Peninsula, Jakki has mentioned most of them so I wont repeat. For nice sandy beaches try Bitez or Ortakent (a nice small resort), there is also Camel Beach near there as well.

It is very scenic around the peninsula so you will ahve alovely time exploring.

Kedi