Is Bodrum Expensive? What Three Nights Really Cost Us
Bodrum was the most expensive place we went in Türkiye, and it is not close.
We spent three nights there in June 2025, in the middle of an eighteen night trip across seven bases, and Bodrum alone accounted for almost a quarter of everything I spent on the ground. It cost us nearly twice as much per day as Antalya, and we were doing more or less the same things in both.
Here is exactly where it went.
Is Bodrum Expensive? My Quick Answer
Yes, by Turkish standards. Not by European ones.
Bodrum is where Türkiye stops being a bargain and starts being a proper Mediterranean resort town, with the pricing to match. I would still go back, but I would go knowing what it is.
Bodrum vs the Rest of Türkiye
This is the clearest way to show it. Same trip, same two people, same habits, different towns.
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| Base | Per person, per day |
|---|---|
| Bodrum | A$172.18 |
| Cappadocia | A$145.44 |
| Çeşme / Alaçatı | A$95.41 |
| Antalya | A$90.19 |
| Istanbul | A$88.77 |
Bodrum is nearly double Antalya, and Antalya is a full-sized city with beaches, an old town and restaurants everywhere.
Accommodation tells the same story. Our room at Costa Maya Bodrum was A$160 a night for the two of us. Our apartment in central Istanbul, in June, was A$88.
Where Our Money Actually Went in Bodrum
Three nights, thirteen transactions, A$516.53 from one of us.
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| What | Cost |
|---|---|
| Dinner at Zuma | A$250.75 |
| Day club | A$74.31 |
| Taxi to the day club | A$21.40 |
| Cash withdrawn | A$46.69 |
| Dinner at Zakka | A$21.40 |
| Dinner | A$23.66 |
| Lunch | A$11.44 and A$11.83 |
| Drinks | A$27.23 |
| Ice cream | A$9.73 |
| Chicken and chips | A$9.73 |
| Coffee | A$7.78 |
| Döner | A$18.48 |
Look at the shape of that. Take the top two lines out and Bodrum costs A$190 for three days, which is cheaper than our trip average.
Everything else on that list is normal Turkish pricing. A coffee for seven dollars seventy. Lunch for eleven. Chicken and chips for under ten. Bodrum is not expensive in the way that, say, Santorini is expensive, where the baseline itself is high. Bodrum has a completely normal baseline and an extremely high ceiling, and the town is very good at walking you towards the ceiling.
The Beach Clubs Are the Whole Point, and They Are Not Cheap
We went to Villa Azur, and it is a stunning setup, sunbeds out over the water, the drinks were excellent, and the food we had was lovely. We only ate one meal there because we were going out for dinner later.
The day club was A$74.31 plus a A$21.40 taxi to reach it, so call it A$95 for a day out before you have bought anything else.
If you are coming to Bodrum, the beach clubs are genuinely the reason to come. Just do not treat them as an afternoon that happens to cost something. Treat them as the main expense of the day and plan the rest around it.
The Restaurant That Cost Half Our Bodrum Budget
Zuma. Two hundred and fifty dollars and seventy five cents, on 23 June.
I am not going to tell you it was not worth it, because the sunset behind that sign is one of the images I have kept from the whole trip. But I want to be honest about the maths: one dinner was forty nine per cent of everything I spent in Bodrum, and twelve per cent of everything I spent in Türkiye across nineteen days.
If you have one splurge in you for the entire trip, this is a good place to spend it. If you have three, Bodrum will happily take all three.
Where to Eat in Bodrum Without the Damage
Zakka, in the main town, is the one I would send anyone to. We ate there, the owner came out and looked after us himself, and it is the place from the trip I have thought about most since. Dinner was A$21.40. That is not a typo, and it sat two lines away from Zuma on the same card statement.
If you stay in the main city rather than out at the resorts, you get access to a whole layer of Bodrum that is priced normally. That is the single biggest thing you can do to control what Bodrum costs you.
Where We Stayed, and What It Cost
Costa Maya Bodrum, three nights, A$479 for the two of us, so A$160 a night. It was the most expensive room of our trip after Cappadocia, and it had a pool we actually used.
Where we stayed in Bodrum. Staying in the main town rather than out at the resorts is the single biggest thing you can do to control what Bodrum costs you.
Costa Maya Bodrum
Bodrum. Where we actually stayed, A$160 a night for the two of us in June, with a pool we used every day.
Every place we slept across Türkiye, and what each cost, is on our Türkiye stays page.
How Many Days Do You Need in Bodrum?
We did three and I would do four. That is not me saying three was too short to see it, it is that Bodrum has two completely different modes, the town and the beach clubs, and three days makes you choose between them.
Four gives you two proper beach club days, an evening in the old town, and a day that is not about spending money.
Is Bodrum Worth It?
Yes, and I rated it 8.5 out of 10 at the time, which puts it fourth of the seven places we went in Türkiye.
What knocks it down is not the town, it is the cost. Çeşme and Alaçatı, an hour and a half up the coast, gave us more for less. Antalya gave us more for half. Bodrum is the one you come to when you specifically want the beach clubs, the designer shopping and a sunset dinner. If that is what you want, nowhere else in Türkiye does it better.
Just go in knowing the ceiling is high and nobody is going to stop you reaching for it.
Still planning? Here is how it compares with Antalya and the coast town we rated far higher.
FAQs About Bodrum Costs
How much should I budget per day in Bodrum?
A$110 a day per person covers you comfortably for food, drinks and getting around, based on our own non-splurge spending. Add A$95 for each beach club day and whatever you decide a sunset dinner is worth.
Is Bodrum more expensive than Antalya?
Yes, and by a lot. We spent A$172.18 per person per day in Bodrum against A$90.19 in Antalya, on the same trip, doing the same sorts of things.
Is Bodrum expensive compared to Greece?
No. The baseline is much lower, an A$11 lunch and an A$8 coffee do not exist on most Greek islands in June. The top end is comparable, because the top end is international everywhere.
Where should I stay to keep costs down?
The main city rather than the resort strip. It puts places like Zakka within walking distance, and it means you are choosing when to spend rather than being somewhere where everything is expensive by default.
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