Largest and most historically significant of the Dodecanese islands, Rhodes is a holiday destination that has a little bit of everything, including beautiful sandy or pebbly, beaches; crystal-clear water; craggy coves; historic whitewashed villages; impressive Roman ruins; medieval castles and forts; and plenty of choice when it comes to food, drink and accommodation.
Rhodes Town is a city break destination as well as a beach break opportunity. Its Old Town is magically medieval, with cobbled, pedestrianised streets and incredible historic architecture and other sights. The New Town is along the harbour, with beach access and a range of contemporary shopping and dining options. Lindos is the other classic Rhodes destination: a whitewashed village overlooking a picture-perfect bay, with an ancient Roman acropolis on its skyline. Then there are Rhodes’ beach resorts: Faliraki, Kolymbia and Pefkos. Faliraki is the pick for party people, while Kolymbia, Gennadi and Pefkos offer a more relaxed vibe. Kiotari is a good option for luxury lovers, and Lachania is a pretty white village, promising a peaceful stay on Rhodes.
Ideal for: sightseeing, first-time visitors, history lovers, city breaks, romantics
Rhodes Town is the classic Rhodes destination; it's the capital of the Dodecanese Islands, convenient for inter-island travel, and offers one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval walled towns, plus a wealth of museums, shops, bars and restaurants, and accommodation. As far as UNESCO is concerned, the Palace of the Grand Master is one of the highlights: a 14th century castle-fortress turned museum. The Street of Knights is another, and is much loved by photographers. Rhodes Town’s Acropolis and the old harbour, where the Colossus once stood, are other world-famous sites it would be hard to visit Rhodes and miss. Rhodes Town also has the Archaeological Museum…The Old Town is quite separate from the New Town, which feels much more like a contemporary Mediterranean resort, with beautiful beaches and hotels and resorts specialising in family-fun, nightlife and relaxation.
Did you know? The medieval wall surrounding the Old Town is four kilometres long.
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Ideal for: beach breaks, resort life, couples, families, sightseeing
Whitewashed and entirely pedestrianised, Lindos is just a village, but it’s so beautiful that it’s got a skirt of resorts and hotels all around it. There aren’t any large hotels or resorts in Lindos proper, but there are about thirty or forty restaurants and bars, so its narrow streets feel lively. This popularity might be partly due to the Acropolis of Lindos, which overlooks the town. Part of it dates from the 4th century BC, but it was added to by the Knights Hospitaller. Lindos' other main draw is St. Paul’s Bay, which is an especially photogenic spot: a heart-shaped bay with bright blue water, a scoop of gold sand, bobbing boats and a beach club. There's another beach just below the town, which is a generous stretch of gently sloping sand, an ideal spot for beach resorts.
Did you know? There are genuinely no exceptions to the car-free rule, if you have luggage you need help transporting you need to hire a golf buggy or a donkey.
Ideal for: nightlife, party people, beach breaks, families, watersports
Faliraki is a large and sprawling beach resort just a short distance from Rhodes Town. Faliraki has a reputation for fun nightlife, but it’s also family-friendly. Its beach is so long that there’s a spot for all tastes along it, from family-friendly aparthotels to fun and affordable options and all-out luxury resorts. In the morning, Faliraki is peaceful: the beach and water are clean, and the cafes are open serving a relaxed breakfast. By midday the sun loungers are filling up, and the jet skis and banana boats are out, and come the afternoon the shops, cafes and restaurants are full. In the evening small pockets of Faliraki are very loud and lively.
Faliraki is a beach break destination: a number of beaches along the seven kilometre stretch have blue flags, and Antony Quinn Bay is especially picturesque. But if you’re looking for more than a beautiful beach to relax upon, Faliraki has a water park: one of the largest in Greece, and you can take bout tours to local rock caves or notable diving and snorkelling spots. Faliraki is a great place for glass-bottomed boats too.
Did you know? Apparently Antony Quinn Bay was owned by Antony Quinn, who bought the land in the 60s, when he was here filming The Guns of Navarone.
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Ideal for: beach breaks, resort life, families, relaxed breaks
Equidistant from Rhodes Town and Lindos, Kolymbia was originally settled by Italian farmers, appreciating the lusher microclimate. They improved the water supply even further by digging irrigation trenches which run along the streets. The avenue of eucalyptus trees (which stretches more than two kilometres) is another notable landscape feature. The beaches below the town are sandy, with a rugged cliff separating them, and on one side there’s a traditional fishing harbour and a whitewashed chapel. Pefkos is another beach resort, but with pine trees instead of eucalyptus. This fishing hamlet and outpost for farmers has stunning, but diverse beaches, with a super soft and sandy option and a neighbouring rocky beach that has so many craters it’s often called alien. Pefkos is closer to Lindos, just four kilometres away.
Did you know? Pefkos had no running water or electricity until the late 1980s... but people still took their holiday here.
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Ideal for: beach holidays, families, romantics
Kiotari, is a high-end resort on Rhodes’ southeastern coast. It started life as a fishing village and is still known for its seafood restaurants, which line the four-kilometre-long stretch of beach. This is a proper beach escape, with the majority of its activities either beach or water-related. If you want to do any sightseeing, Lindos is around 20 minutes away.
Gennadi is just along the coast, a little further away from Lindos, with a similarly beautiful beach, but more of a village atmosphere, with whitewashed houses on narrow streets and a couple of traditional bakeries and picturesque old churches. Gennadi is a good choice for a low-key getaway: quieter than the resorts closer to Rhodes Town and Lindos.
Ideal for: Stefanos Fish Restaurant on the beach in Kiotari, was seized by the Italian military and turned into a base during the Italian colonisation of Rhodes, then returned to the family afterwards.
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Ideal for: artists, photographers, peaceful break, romance, recharging
Lachania is a peaceful, white-washed village, arranged so that it looks as if it’s gently cascading down its hillside, stopping a few kilometres above the beach. Its centre has a traditional village square, lined with restaurants and bars, a church and a large plane tree. Off it run narrow cobbled streets coloured with waterfalls of bougainvillea. Lachania has a bohemian atmosphere, arty, peaceful and relaxed. The beach below the town is a combination of pebbles and sand, lovely views, and a few traditional tavernas. Lachania’s accommodation options are more along the lines of apartments, villas, guesthouses and boutique hotels.
Did you know? Just down the road from Lachania is Plimmyri beach, which is known for being a nesting ground for the Caretta caretta, or Loggerhead sea turtle.
