"Itty Bitty Bitez" Top 5 Page for this destination Bitez by Ekaterinburg

Bitez is a small resort on the Bodrum Peninsula and typifies most of what's best about this area. Craggy ridges of peninsulas and islands break up its horizon resulting in the impressionistic blue-grey haze you can see in the photo. It's not a terribly busy bay, with mostly gulets gliding by, way too far out to cause more than the most distant hum. The crescent shaped beach is backed by orange and olive groves which in their turn give way to steep, rounded hills, uniformly green and white. The green is the native vegetation, the white, the ever encroaching rows of villas and hotels built to service the growing trade in tourism. Sounds idyllic and it is - in patches. The trick is to enjoy all the pluses and avoid the negatives.

I should mention that I visited Bitez in the first week of May, when the resort was just really getting ready for the season and everywhere was uncrowded and quiet. If I returned in July or August, I suspect my reactions would be quite different so myrecommendation would be to visit early or late in the season and avoid the crowds.

The mosque at the centre of Bitez

Bitez is small and compared with nearby Bodrum and Gumbet, quiet and very laid back. No noisy discos, no all night raves, just a peaceful village resort strung out along a picture perfect bay. At the centre of the village is the mosque you can see in the photograph and the call to prayer infiltrates your daydreams as you contemplate the endless blue of sea and sky. On either side of the mosque however, is a strip of restaurants, shops and bars as commercial and tacky as you will find in any place that makes its living from tourism. But it's a small strip and once you've passed it you're back again to an almost rural tranquility and 'sitting on the dock of the bay'.

With Oulash, our Turkish guardian angel

The subject of people is a difficult one because even while you get mad at the unremitting efforts to talk you into buying, eating or drinking, you simultaneously realise that these are the friendliest and most helpful people you're ever likely to meet in a similar context. Compared to the sullen indifference of so many of their Spanish, French and Italian counterparts, Turkish people are unbelievably friendly and love to talk. Even when you've refused their attempts to sell you something, they still want to chat and seem to hold no hard feelings. When I lost my phone in one of the beachbars, it was kept and returned to me. When I left my camera on a bus at Ephesus, it was retrieved and brought to me by the driver . These are just two instances of courtesy and helpfulness we encountered but there were many, many more. Does this make up for the annoyance of not being able to walk down the street in peace ? The jury is still out on this one but I'll get back to you.

• Pros:A very beautiful and tranquil place
• Cons:The hassle from restaurant and shop owners
• In a nutshell:You could get addicted to the lifestyle here very easily