Bandırma has been a transit point for as long as people have crossed the Sea of Marmara. Founded around the ninth century BC — the city's ancient name was Panormos, meaning "all harbors" or "good anchorage" — it passed through Persian, Byzantine Roman, and Ottoman hands over the following two and a half millennia. Almost nothing of those eras survives. The city was heavily damaged in the fighting between Greek and Turkish forces that followed the First World War, and what was rebuilt was modern, practical, and largely devoid of historical character.

The closing shots of the Turkish War of Independence rang out in the Bandırma area in 1922, commemorated by the Son Kurşun Anıtı — the Last Bullet Monument — at Ayyıldız Hill. The armistice that ended the fighting was signed at nearby Mudanya. The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, signed in Switzerland, formalized the outcome. Within a few years, Bandırma had transformed from a contested war zone to a functioning port city — its harbor handling freight ferries to Istanbul, its streets gradually filling with new buildings in a mix of functional modern and retro-Ottoman styles.

The SS Bandırma was not a glamorous vessel. Built in 1878 in Scotland and already more than four decades old by 1919, the small cargo-passenger steamer had spent its working life in coastal trade around the Ottoman Marmara ports. Its connection to history was accidental — it simply happened to be the ship available when Mustafa Kemal needed to reach Samsun under Ottoman imperial authority.

What he did upon arrival was anything but accidental. Using his military rank and political instincts, Kemal assembled nationalist forces and began the resistance campaign that the Istanbul government had explicitly ordered him to prevent. The War of Independence lasted until 1922 and redrew the map of Anatolia. Turkey's borders, its form of government, and the very fact of its existence as a modern republic all flow from the journey that began on that small ship named after a harbor town on the southern Marmara coast. A replica of the Bandırma is displayed in a museum in Samsun; the city itself carries the name with quiet pride.

Fifteen kilometers south of the city center, just off the highway toward Bursa, lies Daskyleion — the ancient capital of Hellespontine Phrygia, the Persian satrapy that controlled this region for much of the fifth and fourth centuries BC. The site was occupied since the Bronze Age, but its importance as a Persian administrative center was forgotten by scholars until 1952. Excavations have continued ever since.

In 2021, archaeologists uncovered a carved stone relief at Daskyleion depicting Greek soldiers being trampled by Persian war-horses — a scene of violent conquest preserved in limestone, more than 2,300 years old. The site remains an active dig; there is not much for casual visitors to see yet, beyond the excavation trenches and the characteristic mound of a buried ancient settlement. But the finds are making their way to museums. The history beneath this ground is still being recovered.

The main draw for visitors who make a point of coming to Bandırma — rather than simply passing through on the ferry — is the Kuşcenneti National Park (Kuş Cenneti Milli Parkı), reached via highway D565 about 15 kilometers south of the city. The park sits on the northeastern shore of Lake Kuş, a shallow freshwater lake where over 270 bird species have been recorded.

The Dalmatian pelican, a globally vulnerable species, maintains a breeding colony here. Great white pelicans arrive to roost during migration. Eurasian spoonbills, greater flamingos, and white-headed ducks fill out the water's edge. The best months are March through July for northbound migrants, and September through October for the southbound return. Entry is free. There is no food or accommodation in the park, and no public transport connection — a car is necessary. The park's observation tower gives an elevated view across the reed beds and open water that the lake is famous for.

Bandırma functions primarily as a working city: a freight terminal, a ferry hub, a regional commercial center with a population approaching 150,000. The port area has a strip of hotels and restaurants catering to travelers waiting for the next departure. Fast ferries to Istanbul depart from the harbor and make the crossing in about two and a half hours. The bus station is within easy walking distance of the ferry piers.

A daily train connects Bandırma to Izmir via Balıkesir and Manisa — the 6 Eylül Ekspresi (6th of September Express), named for a significant date in Turkish history, running south in the morning and returning north in the afternoon as the 17 Eylül Ekspresi. Bandırma's football club, Bandırmaspor, plays in TFF First League (the second tier of Turkish football) at the 17 Eylül Stadium, with capacity for 12,725. The city has no commercial airport of its own; the nearest is LTBG, Bandırma Airport, located 5 kilometers from the center, handling military and some civil traffic.