You wonder what to do or see on Rhodes? Hold on to your hat...
I hope you'll re-visit this page from time to time to see what's new.
I'll list the attractions simply in alphabetical order [Note: if any of the links on this page don't work any longer, I'd be grateful if you would let me know. It's a virtual impossibility to keep up with all of them - thanks.] ...
Incidentally - Maybe be a good idea to check out the Rhodes Trivia page too. Anyway, here goes with the list:
The Acropolis of Rhodes - situated above the modern town of Rhodes.
• Excellent review of the whole area with some good photographs at the bottom of the page can be found at rhodesguide.com.
• Nice page about the Acropolis at Discover Rhodes too.
For more info check out this post. The Temple of Apollo and the stadium date back to three centuries before Christ. The partially restored columns of the ruined temple are a favourite for people to take sunset photos. There is a map showing the location of the Rhodes Acropolis here. If you wonder why this area was once called Monte Smith, perhaps this link will help. Essential for anyone visiting this island.
The Aquarium, Rhodes Town. Situated on the northern-most tip of the island.
• Official website
Archangelos Olive Oil Factory. It's a working olive oil mill during the winter time, but a fascinating glimpse into the process of extracting olive oil when open to the public during the summer season. They seem to have ditched their official website in favour of a Facebook page.
Asklipio village.
A lovely unspoilt village in the south of the island, not far from where I live. Lots of info about Asklipio can be found on my "Rhodes Trivia" page. The village has a recently restored Byzantine Church and a lovely folk museum right next door. Both are situated in the square, to your left as you enter the village. A must-do is a stroll around the narrow village streets, plus a visit to the impressive ruined castle standing above.
Attaviros [Attavyros, alternative spelling]
This is the highest mountain on the island, standing at 1215m, or 3986ft. The summit takes some getting up to, starting from an inauspicious turning at the junction of the road from Siana to Kritinia, where the road branches off to Embona. Look carefully and you'll see the sign at the bottom of the lane you need to take to climb the mountain.
You can get up to the top in a hire car, but you risk causing some damage if you're not a very competent driver. It's far better to do it in a small jeep-like vehicle, like a Suzuki Jimny for example. The surface is very good for much of the way, but gets pretty rough and riven in places. It's a couple of miles from the start of the lane to the summit. I would recommend checking the weather when you're thinking of making the climb too. Also, take water and perhaps an energy bar or two.
If you do go up there, the views are astounding. If it's clear you can see Kos, Nisiros, Halki, Karpathos, Tilos, Symi and lots of Turkish mountains. If you have a decent pair of bins you can easily make out Arhangelos, Rhodes Town in the far distance and Feraklos Castle, standing above Haraki, to name but a few.
For lots of photos taken at the summit, check out this post.
Bee Museum of Rhodes
I haven't visited this yet, but reports are very favourable. Here's the web site:
Bee Museum Rhodes
Butterfly Valley, or "Petaloudes".
• Wikipedia page
• Someone's Youtube video
• Discover Rhodes
• The Butterfly Train's own website
See more informaton about the Butterfly Valley on my "Rhodes Trivia" Page.
The Clocktower, or 'Roloi' - Old Medieval Town
Affording amazing views over the Old Town and harbour areas, if you'd like to go up the clocktower, check out this post.
Also, this video. (Courtesy of Roger Sharp)
Eleoussa - an interesting village on the road across the island from Kolymbia to Fanes.
• A good site for photos of Eleoussa.
• Pages on this blog with info and/or photos:
- "Old Italian Buildings and stuff"
- "Any Bream will do"
Embona, a village in the interior of the island towards the south. It's the centre of the wine-producing region of Rhodes and boasts a number of wineries offering tastings and examples of their wines.
Once a year they hold a wine festival here and it's a great occasion of dancing and street vendors selling food and wines and other locally-produced products.
• Rhodes Guide page about Embona
• Rhodes Travel page about Embona
Filerimos. It's where that huge stone cross is that you see from what everyone calls the "airport road", which joins the airport to the Rhodes-Lindos highway on the other side of the island.
• Filerimos page on Rhodes Guide website (scroll down past the ads for lots of photographs).
• Filerimos on Greeka.com.
• A couple more photos and some info can be found on my "Rhodes Trivia" page under the subheading "Places".
The Jungle Tour with Nikos Papas
This is truly unique and everyone I know who's been on it raves about how good it is. Nikos is anything between 55 and 70, no one knows, but his energy knows no bounds. He's a true eccentric who takes his guests on an unforgettable trip into the hinterland of the island, starting from somewhere near Arhangelos.
Check out the website, where you can also book your place. Be warned, it's usually over-subscribed during the high season, so get in there as early as you can.
Kallithea Springs - Just north of Faliraki, a beautiful, chic waterside spot.
• Official web site: http://www.kallitheasprings.gr
• Nice Youtube video (filmed before the restoration of the rotunda building was complete).
• Check out some photos I took myself in this post.
Kamiros, ancient village - situated on the west coast of the island
There are loads of sites giving info about Ancient Kamiros, so here are just a few...
• http://www.rodos.com/kamiros/
• Rhodes Guide page
• Wikipedia page
• Discover Rhodes Kamiros page
Kritinia, village and kastro, west coast, just below Kamiros Skala.
• Wikipedia page
• Rhodes Guide page
• Greeka.com page
Lardos Folklore Museum, on the road to Pefkos, opposite the mini-golf. The brainchild and labour of love of one local resident, a guy named Panagiotis, who is passionate about his village's heritage and history.
• Rhodes/pefkos.com page
• Folklore Museum of Lardos, Facebook page
The Folkore Museum of Lardos is open during the season from 10.00am until 3.00pm and then again from 6.00pm until 9.00pm.
Lindos, ancient village and jewell of the Aegean.
• Lindos Eye
• Lindos on Wikipedia
Monolithos - On the west coast, north of Apollakia and south of the village of Siana. A stunning pillar of rock, topped with a castle, rising out of the coastal plain.
• Wikipedia page, which includes a few photos plus other useful links.
• Check out the post "Say Cheese" and scroll to the bottom for several photos taken atop the Monolith at Monolithos.
The Ostrich Farm - Not only ostriches, but quite a lot of other species can also be seen up close and personal here. Couple of sites that give info:
Rhodes Private Tours
Visit Rhodes.gr
Facebook page.
Helpful in finding it your self: Waymarking.com
The Palace of the Grand Master - in the Old Town
This is a superb page all about this amazing building at the top pf the Street of the Knights. The interactive map is excellent too.
http://www.helios.gr/museums/grand-master-palace/
Prasonisi - where two seas meet. Way down south there's a sandbar that joins a tiny island at the furthest most southerly tip of Rhodes to the main island. Occasionally during spring tides the sandbar is submerged, but usually one can walk along it and up on to the island at the end. As you descend the hill toward the beach, where there are a few apartments (where predominantly surfers stay) and a couple of tavernas, you get a stunning view of the sandbar and island at the end, with the crashing waves of the Aegean to the right and flat calm waters of the Med to the left.
Most of the time, owing to the prevailing winds, one can see kite surfers and bodyboarders to the right, whilst just a hundred metres or so to the left there will be people lazily floating on lilos on a mirror-flat sea. be careful about driving a regular-sized car too far out on to the sand. There is a tractor ever ready to tow you out, but at a price! Keep to the designated parking areas and you'll be OK.
A good page about Prasonisi with lots of nice photos if you scroll down past the ads is this one.
Psinthos - This is a delightful village in the island's hinterland, with a really lovely central square, surrounded by restaurants and a few shops and bars. It's the perfect place to have a stroll of a summer's evening before settling into a taverna table for a really good meal. There are a couple of excellent tavernas just a little way outside the village too.
Rhodes Guide Psinthos page (including map)
Greece.com Psinthos age (with some nice photos)
Rhodes Old Town, or "Medieval City".
Right on the corner at the bottom of the Street of the Knights there is a Tourist Information Office. I always recommend to my excursion guests (on a Tuesday, with Impress Holidays, from the South of the island) to go in there and grab a full-colour A3 (folds to 4-page A4) map of the Old Town (see two photos below)...
This will enable you to explore some of the smaller backstreets without getting lost, or at least if you do get lost, to find a landmark or street name and then work out where you are! The maps are free and available in several languages.
• Rhodes Guide info
• Matt Barrett's Travel Guide
Nice short video in the Old Town, click here.
And the Old Town/harbour area at night, click here. (Both videos courtesy of Roger Sharp)
Rhodes Water Park, Faliraki
• Water Park web site
• Greeka.com info about Water Park
Seven Springs [Epta Piges - pronounced peegez, stressing the 'gez' part]:
A beauty spot not far from Kolymbia.
• Some bloke's fun video on YouTube
• Rhodes Guide page (nice photos if yo scroll down far enough past the ads)
• Greeka.com's Seven Springs page.
Siana: A pretty village up in the hills to the south-west. Where they specialize in Souma, Thyme honey and rugs.
• Greeka.com page
• Rhodes Guide page
• Greece.com page
Throne of Helios 9D Cinema, Rhodes Town:
You have to experience this to understand how good it is. Check out the promo video here. I finally got around to experiencing this late last season and I was completely blown away.
Toy Museum of Rhodes (Opened 2018)
In the village of Arhipoli, just up the road from Seven Springs (Epta Piges) is this newly opened visitor attraction. It has a web site, so click here to go and take a look. By the way, entrance to the museum is free!!
To quote the museum's web site directly, there is an area... "for children to play actively, an area in the museum where they can play with well known toys such as Lego and Playmobil, plus find interactive toys and possibilities for handicrafts.
Also outside there is a playground for children, and a terrace where visitors can enjoy the stunning view."
The museum is set in an area of outstanding natural forest beauty.
The above list continues to grow, so do check back from time to time. And please do let me know if there is anything you think that I should add to this list, thx.
I hope you'll re-visit this page from time to time to see what's new.
I'll list the attractions simply in alphabetical order [Note: if any of the links on this page don't work any longer, I'd be grateful if you would let me know. It's a virtual impossibility to keep up with all of them - thanks.] ...
Incidentally - Maybe be a good idea to check out the Rhodes Trivia page too. Anyway, here goes with the list:
The Acropolis of Rhodes - situated above the modern town of Rhodes.
• Excellent review of the whole area with some good photographs at the bottom of the page can be found at rhodesguide.com.
• Nice page about the Acropolis at Discover Rhodes too.
For more info check out this post. The Temple of Apollo and the stadium date back to three centuries before Christ. The partially restored columns of the ruined temple are a favourite for people to take sunset photos. There is a map showing the location of the Rhodes Acropolis here. If you wonder why this area was once called Monte Smith, perhaps this link will help. Essential for anyone visiting this island.
The Aquarium, Rhodes Town. Situated on the northern-most tip of the island.
• Official website
Archangelos Olive Oil Factory. It's a working olive oil mill during the winter time, but a fascinating glimpse into the process of extracting olive oil when open to the public during the summer season. They seem to have ditched their official website in favour of a Facebook page.
Asklipio village.
A lovely unspoilt village in the south of the island, not far from where I live. Lots of info about Asklipio can be found on my "Rhodes Trivia" page. The village has a recently restored Byzantine Church and a lovely folk museum right next door. Both are situated in the square, to your left as you enter the village. A must-do is a stroll around the narrow village streets, plus a visit to the impressive ruined castle standing above.
Attaviros [Attavyros, alternative spelling]
This is the highest mountain on the island, standing at 1215m, or 3986ft. The summit takes some getting up to, starting from an inauspicious turning at the junction of the road from Siana to Kritinia, where the road branches off to Embona. Look carefully and you'll see the sign at the bottom of the lane you need to take to climb the mountain.
You can get up to the top in a hire car, but you risk causing some damage if you're not a very competent driver. It's far better to do it in a small jeep-like vehicle, like a Suzuki Jimny for example. The surface is very good for much of the way, but gets pretty rough and riven in places. It's a couple of miles from the start of the lane to the summit. I would recommend checking the weather when you're thinking of making the climb too. Also, take water and perhaps an energy bar or two.
If you do go up there, the views are astounding. If it's clear you can see Kos, Nisiros, Halki, Karpathos, Tilos, Symi and lots of Turkish mountains. If you have a decent pair of bins you can easily make out Arhangelos, Rhodes Town in the far distance and Feraklos Castle, standing above Haraki, to name but a few.
For lots of photos taken at the summit, check out this post.
Bee Museum of Rhodes
I haven't visited this yet, but reports are very favourable. Here's the web site:
Bee Museum Rhodes
Butterfly Valley, or "Petaloudes".
• Wikipedia page
• Someone's Youtube video
• Discover Rhodes
• The Butterfly Train's own website
See more informaton about the Butterfly Valley on my "Rhodes Trivia" Page.
The Clocktower, or 'Roloi' - Old Medieval Town
Affording amazing views over the Old Town and harbour areas, if you'd like to go up the clocktower, check out this post.
Also, this video. (Courtesy of Roger Sharp)
Eleoussa - an interesting village on the road across the island from Kolymbia to Fanes.
• A good site for photos of Eleoussa.
• Pages on this blog with info and/or photos:
- "Old Italian Buildings and stuff"
- "Any Bream will do"
Embona, a village in the interior of the island towards the south. It's the centre of the wine-producing region of Rhodes and boasts a number of wineries offering tastings and examples of their wines.
Once a year they hold a wine festival here and it's a great occasion of dancing and street vendors selling food and wines and other locally-produced products.
• Rhodes Guide page about Embona
• Rhodes Travel page about Embona
Filerimos. It's where that huge stone cross is that you see from what everyone calls the "airport road", which joins the airport to the Rhodes-Lindos highway on the other side of the island.
 |
| View from Filerimos northwards, toward Rhodes Town |
 |
| View from the terrace where the cross stands toward the old airport (now military) |
• Filerimos page on Rhodes Guide website (scroll down past the ads for lots of photographs).
• Filerimos on Greeka.com.
• A couple more photos and some info can be found on my "Rhodes Trivia" page under the subheading "Places".
The Jungle Tour with Nikos Papas
 |
| Click here for all the info. |
Check out the website, where you can also book your place. Be warned, it's usually over-subscribed during the high season, so get in there as early as you can.
Kallithea Springs - Just north of Faliraki, a beautiful, chic waterside spot.
• Official web site: http://www.kallitheasprings.gr
• Nice Youtube video (filmed before the restoration of the rotunda building was complete).
• Check out some photos I took myself in this post.
Kamiros, ancient village - situated on the west coast of the island
There are loads of sites giving info about Ancient Kamiros, so here are just a few...
• http://www.rodos.com/kamiros/
• Rhodes Guide page
• Wikipedia page
• Discover Rhodes Kamiros page
 |
| The imposing kastro of Kritinia |
• Wikipedia page
• Rhodes Guide page
• Greeka.com page
 |
| Photo taken shortly before the opening, hence the fence! |
Lardos Folklore Museum, on the road to Pefkos, opposite the mini-golf. The brainchild and labour of love of one local resident, a guy named Panagiotis, who is passionate about his village's heritage and history.
• Rhodes/pefkos.com page
• Folklore Museum of Lardos, Facebook page
The Folkore Museum of Lardos is open during the season from 10.00am until 3.00pm and then again from 6.00pm until 9.00pm.
Lindos, ancient village and jewell of the Aegean.
• Lindos Eye
• Lindos on Wikipedia
Monolithos - On the west coast, north of Apollakia and south of the village of Siana. A stunning pillar of rock, topped with a castle, rising out of the coastal plain.
• Wikipedia page, which includes a few photos plus other useful links.
• Check out the post "Say Cheese" and scroll to the bottom for several photos taken atop the Monolith at Monolithos.
The Ostrich Farm - Not only ostriches, but quite a lot of other species can also be seen up close and personal here. Couple of sites that give info:
Rhodes Private Tours
Visit Rhodes.gr
Facebook page.
Helpful in finding it your self: Waymarking.com
The Palace of the Grand Master - in the Old Town
This is a superb page all about this amazing building at the top pf the Street of the Knights. The interactive map is excellent too.
http://www.helios.gr/museums/grand-master-palace/
Prasonisi - where two seas meet. Way down south there's a sandbar that joins a tiny island at the furthest most southerly tip of Rhodes to the main island. Occasionally during spring tides the sandbar is submerged, but usually one can walk along it and up on to the island at the end. As you descend the hill toward the beach, where there are a few apartments (where predominantly surfers stay) and a couple of tavernas, you get a stunning view of the sandbar and island at the end, with the crashing waves of the Aegean to the right and flat calm waters of the Med to the left.
Most of the time, owing to the prevailing winds, one can see kite surfers and bodyboarders to the right, whilst just a hundred metres or so to the left there will be people lazily floating on lilos on a mirror-flat sea. be careful about driving a regular-sized car too far out on to the sand. There is a tractor ever ready to tow you out, but at a price! Keep to the designated parking areas and you'll be OK.
A good page about Prasonisi with lots of nice photos if you scroll down past the ads is this one.
Psinthos - This is a delightful village in the island's hinterland, with a really lovely central square, surrounded by restaurants and a few shops and bars. It's the perfect place to have a stroll of a summer's evening before settling into a taverna table for a really good meal. There are a couple of excellent tavernas just a little way outside the village too.
Rhodes Guide Psinthos page (including map)
Greece.com Psinthos age (with some nice photos)
Rhodes Old Town, or "Medieval City".
Right on the corner at the bottom of the Street of the Knights there is a Tourist Information Office. I always recommend to my excursion guests (on a Tuesday, with Impress Holidays, from the South of the island) to go in there and grab a full-colour A3 (folds to 4-page A4) map of the Old Town (see two photos below)...
This will enable you to explore some of the smaller backstreets without getting lost, or at least if you do get lost, to find a landmark or street name and then work out where you are! The maps are free and available in several languages.
• Rhodes Guide info
• Matt Barrett's Travel Guide
Nice short video in the Old Town, click here.
And the Old Town/harbour area at night, click here. (Both videos courtesy of Roger Sharp)
Rhodes Water Park, Faliraki
• Water Park web site
• Greeka.com info about Water Park
Seven Springs [Epta Piges - pronounced peegez, stressing the 'gez' part]:
A beauty spot not far from Kolymbia.
• Some bloke's fun video on YouTube
• Rhodes Guide page (nice photos if yo scroll down far enough past the ads)
• Greeka.com's Seven Springs page.
Siana: A pretty village up in the hills to the south-west. Where they specialize in Souma, Thyme honey and rugs.
• Greeka.com page
• Rhodes Guide page
• Greece.com page
Throne of Helios 9D Cinema, Rhodes Town:
You have to experience this to understand how good it is. Check out the promo video here. I finally got around to experiencing this late last season and I was completely blown away.
Toy Museum of Rhodes (Opened 2018)
In the village of Arhipoli, just up the road from Seven Springs (Epta Piges) is this newly opened visitor attraction. It has a web site, so click here to go and take a look. By the way, entrance to the museum is free!!
To quote the museum's web site directly, there is an area... "for children to play actively, an area in the museum where they can play with well known toys such as Lego and Playmobil, plus find interactive toys and possibilities for handicrafts.
Also outside there is a playground for children, and a terrace where visitors can enjoy the stunning view."
The museum is set in an area of outstanding natural forest beauty.
The above list continues to grow, so do check back from time to time. And please do let me know if there is anything you think that I should add to this list, thx.
Have been holidaying in Rhodes on and off now for almost 20 years and in July this year for the first time we paid a visit to Kalithea Springs. Well worth a visit, even though it was very busy. I wish I had discovered it years ago.
ReplyDeleteExcellent and I've just noticed that I haven't put Kallithea on this page yet. I shall rectify that soon, meanwhile see the post "Moscow, I'm Russian..."
DeleteDone now!
DeleteI read your post just after we had visited, in fact a lot of your posts prompted us to visit places, this year that we hadn't been to before. Thank you
ReplyDeleteLooks like the blog's doing its job then! Glad it helped. Makes all the work I put into it worthwhile.
DeleteIt was nice to meet you in Rhodes John. Lots of information of things of interest and accommodation etc. on your blog that we can share with our guests for our wedding next year.
ReplyDeleteThank you
Lynne and Matt
Glad to be of service and look forward to hearing about it!!
ReplyDeleteHi John. I've enjoyed following your blog for the past year or so. We recenly returned to Scotland from our 10th holiday in Rhodes (since 2008); before we went this time, we made note of a number of the attractions listed here to add to the variety of our regular activities. We covered all of the ones we noted, meanwhile inadvertantly adding some more of our own.
ReplyDeleteWhen we visited Eleoussa village, we were exploring the run-down buildings in the square and got talking to some Italians who explained that this had been a wartime sanatorium. They were heading for Profitis Ilias where they intended visiting the Villa Moussolini; of course we had to seek this out too. At Villa Moussolini we met some Canadian visitors (of Greek extraction) who recommended the nearby hotel - Elafos - and the 'Lair of the Bandit' restaurant near Istrios; we enjoyed meals in both places.
Many thanks for all the useful information, and keep going with the blog!
Phil & Norma Carr.