Bodrum or Kusadasi?

Both have clear water and a long swimming season, so the choice comes down to the kind of shore. Bodrum is a peninsula of many small bays: shallow water at Bitez and Ortakent, wooden jetties and decks on the north coast at Türkbükü and Yalıkavak, and windier open beaches to the west. The sand is often coarse, the best spots belong to beach clubs, and gulet days to Kara Ada add coves you cannot reach by road.

Kusadasi has fewer, bigger beaches with more real sand: Ladies Beach in town, the long built-up strip of Long Beach and the broad, quieter sweep of Pamucak to the north. For the clearest water you head half an hour south to the pine-backed coves of the Dilek Peninsula national park.

Both serve the same Aegean cooking of meze, olive-oil vegetables, wild greens and grilled fish with rakı, but Bodrum gives you more ways to eat it well. You can choose your fish at the town market and have it cooked at the tables around it, spend a whole morning over a village breakfast in the hills, sit at Gümüşlük's waterside fish tables, or book the polished seafood restaurants of Yalıkavak and Türkbükü.

In Kusadasi the good meals take some finding, in the meyhanes of Kaleiçi and the lokantas where locals eat lunch, while the resort strips rely on international menus and hotel buffets. It is honest food, but not a reason to plan a trip.

Neither town is a major sightseeing destination, but Bodrum has much more to show. The Castle of St Peter on the harbour headland, built by the Knights Hospitaller partly from the stones of the Mausoleum, houses the Museum of Underwater Archaeology and its raised shipwrecks. Add the ancient theatre, the Myndos Gate and the Mausoleum excavation and you have a couple of days.

Kusadasi's own sights take an hour or two: the small fortress on Pigeon Island, the 17th-century Öküz Mehmet Pasha caravanserai and a few old lanes in Kaleiçi. The history people come for lies inland, so it belongs to the day trips.

Bodrum is the resort Turks themselves think of for a summer night out, and it has the wider range. Crowds drift between the bars on the street behind the harbour, Gümbet's clubs are louder and cheaper, and the beach clubs of Türkbükü and Yalıkavak turn into dressed-up parties after dark that last until sunrise.

Kusadasi's scene is smaller and simpler. It centres on the pubs, karaoke and dance bars of Bar Street and a few open-air clubs near Long Beach and the marina, mostly full of young package travellers. Both towns go quiet out of season.

The two are close here, but their best nature is in different places. Bodrum's landscape is best seen from a boat: gulets around the bays to Kara Ada and Orak Island, longer sailing into the greener Gulf of Gökova, and a steady meltem that makes Bitez good for windsurfing.

Kusadasi has more to do on foot. The Dilek Peninsula national park has a canyon walk, wild horses and birds of prey above the sea, and the granite Latmos mountains above Lake Bafa offer rocky hiking past old hermitages. In both, midsummer heat leaves walking to spring and autumn.

Ephesus decides this one: it lies about twenty minutes from Kusadasi, while from Bodrum it really means a night away. Bodrum is still a fair base for Caria. Euromos, the waterside ruins of Iasos and Herakleia on Lake Bafa are close by, Didyma, Miletus and Priene fill a long day, and Kos is under an hour away by ferry, with its Knights' castle and the Asklepion.

Kusadasi has more on its doorstep. Next to Ephesus are Selçuk with the Basilica of St John, the House of the Virgin Mary on the hill above, and the stone village of Şirince. Priene, Miletus and Didyma make an easier day to the south, and in summer a ferry crosses to Samos.

For families both work in much the same way: a beach-and-pool stay with water parks, kids' clubs and restaurants that welcome children late into the evening. The differences are in the details. Bodrum's calm, shallow bays at Bitez and Ortakent suit small children and the castle's shipwrecks make a good outing, but families do better staying away from Gümbet and the bar district.

Kusadasi has softer sand at Ladies Beach and Long Beach. However, its big excursion, Ephesus, is hard work for young children in the summer heat, and the busy roads in the hilly centre make walking around with children awkward.

Kusadasi is the easier of the two without a car. Dolmuş minibuses run along the coast to the main beaches and inland to Selçuk, so Ephesus is a simple trip, though the further ruins and the national park are easier with a hire car or a tour.

In Bodrum the dolmuş reaches nearly every bay, but most routes go through the town bus station, so getting from one bay to another is slow. Summer traffic and costly taxis make the north coast feel far away, and many visitors end up hiring a car or scooter or taking water taxis between bays.

Neither is a place to go shopping, and the difference is in character. Bodrum has a craft of its own in made-to-measure leather sandals and lively weekly markets in town and in Turgutreis. At the other extreme are the luxury boutiques of Yalıkavak marina, with little in between.

Kusadasi's shopping is shaped by the cruise port. Its covered bazaar sells leather jackets, carpets, jewellery and copied labels with a persistent sales pitch and plenty of bargaining. Its weekly market is the better place to buy olive oil, dried figs and spices.

Kusadasi is clearly the cheaper base. Mid-range hotels and all-inclusive packages cost less than at comparable Aegean resorts, and dolmuş rides, lokanta meals and market food are inexpensive. The money goes on harbour-front restaurants, beach clubs and entry to Ephesus and the other sites.

Bodrum is the most expensive resort area in Türkiye, above all in Yalıkavak, Türkbükü and Gölköy, where taxis, sunbeds and seafood dinners quickly add up. A careful budget can still work in Gümbet or Turgutreis, and prices drop in May, June and late September.

Bodrum's stage is outdoors and comes alive only in summer. There are Turkish pop and jazz concerts in the restored ancient theatre above the town and in the castle courtyards, and a long-running ballet festival performs against the castle walls. At Gümüşlük, chamber music is played in an old stone quarry. Meyhanes and bars add live Turkish music on summer evenings, but from autumn to spring there is almost nothing on.

Kusadasi offers much less, with no theatre, opera or concert season. Expect the odd open-air concert, cover bands in bars and the Turkish-night dinner shows with folk and belly dancing that hotels put on.

Bodrum gives you more ways to switch off, mostly because it has quiet corners to retreat to. Gümüşlük, the western villages and the hills behind the bays stay calm while Gümbet and the party bays are loud. The luxury hotels around Türkbükü and Yalıkavak have elaborate spa floors, although the town itself has only a few simple hammams.

Kusadasi has something Bodrum lacks: a historic Turkish bath in the old quarter, even if it mostly serves visitors. Apart from that, the hammams and spas are in the larger resort hotels. For a calm stay, pick a hotel outside town or near the coves to the south, and go in May, June or September.