Places to Visit on Rhodes

Travel notes

Hello… It took me a long time to return to writing. Was it life, its difficulties, or a lack of free time? Perhaps all of them 😊 We moved house and discovered just how slow and complicated moving within England could be. Then we chose Rhodes for a holiday and spent a week there.

Hippocrates Square

Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese. Minoan settlers arrived in the 16th century BC. Byzantine rule ended in 1309 when the Knights Hospitaller took the island—the order founded in Jerusalem around 1080, associated with St John and later Rhodes and Malta. Suleiman the Magnificent conquered Rhodes on 29 December 1522, and it remained Ottoman for roughly 400 years. Italy occupied it in 1912 during the Italo-Turkish War. Along with the other Dodecanese islands, it joined Greece following the 1947 Paris Treaty. With a little history covered, let's see what we did 😊

Hippocrates Square

The first thing we noticed on landing was the airport: small and, to us, rather poorly maintained. You might say that is normal on an island, but the airport we had used in the Canaries was very good. Perhaps it reflected Greece's economic situation; I wasn't sure. We headed straight to the hotel and soon into the pool and sea 😊 Holidays mean different things to different people, but Rhodes seemed able to offer almost everything: quiet relaxation, nightlife, nature, clean sea, luxury hotels, boutique stays or history. You can shape a lovely holiday around your own tastes.

Old Town

Where to stay in Rhodes

Palladium Leisure & Wellness

While enjoying the sea and sun on day one, let me tell you about our hotel, Rodos Palladium Leisure & Wellness. It occupied spacious grounds with a good beach and a large pool. But I felt maintenance had been neglected: the pool looked lovely from a distance, yet the finish on the bottom and walls was flaking and didn't look very clean. I don't know whether it was always like that.

The beach and sea, however, were wonderful. Greek food felt very familiar. In the original post, I jokingly called the dishes copies of ours, linking the similarities to centuries of shared Ottoman history and saying that everything had been relabelled Greek 😊 So I didn't think Turkish visitors would struggle with the food. It was good, though pork featured in some dishes. Since I don't generally choose pork and the olive-oil vegetable dishes were lovely, I ate plenty of those. They also made good baklava. Even so, in my opinion, nothing quite beats our own cooking!

Palladium Leisure & Wellness

As you can see on the plate: stuffed vine leaves, haydari, roasted aubergine and hummus 😊 The staff were a mixed experience. Some were very good; others seemed unfriendly or unwilling to help. I even wondered, without knowing, whether being Turkish affected how we were treated. Overall, we weren't pleased with the service. Buses stopped outside the hotel, taking about 15 minutes to Rhodes town and five to Faliraki.

What to do in Rhodes

Rhodes town has old and new areas. Known as the island of the knights, it makes history feel present everywhere. Entering the Old Town and seeing the fortifications enclosed by roughly four kilometres of walls, you wonder how many people and eras have passed through. Ottoman traces are visible across the island. Little Hippocrates Square is lovely, with cafés, restaurants, souvenir shops and bars, and is one of the town's main gathering places.

Hippocrates Square

At the end of Sokratous Street is the Suleymaniye Mosque, commissioned by Suleiman in 1523. My notes described visits as museum-style access, with worship on religious holidays.

Suleymaniye Mosque

We only explored the Old Town and didn't make it to the new town. We devoted just one day of the week to town because we mainly wanted a seaside holiday. It wasn't surprising to meet Turkish people and Greeks who knew Turkish words: Rhodes still has a Turkish minority community. We came across several Turkish owners, including the owner of a lovely, atmospheric café in the Old Town. If you like shisha, it seemed available everywhere. We had missed it; this old café's iced shisha and Turkish coffee were very good. Its name was Mevlana. If you are tired from walking, I would stop for a break 😊

Mevlana Café

After resting, we explored the streets and shops. With the knights so famous, knight-themed souvenirs were everywhere, as were sandal shops.

Some prices seemed rather high and exaggerated, so watch your spending 😊

Rhodes nightlife

Nightlife was lively, with good clubs and bars. We liked Colorado Club's DJ, atmosphere and excellent live rock music. Faliraki was fun at night too, with cafés, restaurants and bars facing one another along a pedestrian street. We especially liked Bondi and its DJ. At the time, we saw smoking and shisha inside bars and enjoyed music with shisha at Bondi; that is a description of our visit, not current rules. Greek tavernas are another option. Research and a local recommendation led us to Romeo for live Greek music. It was busy and attractive, but unfortunately the singer was ill that day. Rather than search elsewhere, we stayed for ouzo. We liked the service and setting, though the meze were less impressive. It seemed a good place for ouzo and live music. As I said, this trip was mainly about sea, entertainment and rest, not detailed sightseeing. We missed places such as Lindos, Rhodes Castle, the Lindos Acropolis and Agathi Beach. Hopefully next time! If you have the opportunity, try to see them.

Colorado Club

Colorado Club

Faliraki

Bondi

Bondi

Faliraki

Romeo

Romeo

Meze at Romeo

Drinking ouzo from a Yeni Rakı glass felt rather funny 🙂

Fish choices at Romeo

What to eat in Rhodes

Greek food is very close to ours, and I felt similarities between the people and cultures too. Apart from avoiding pork, we had little difficulty. Meze, cooked dishes and even ouzo felt familiar. I joked about names such as döneraki, tzatziki and kebab, as if adding an '-aki' ending made everything Greek 😀 Familiar food makes travelling here easier for us than in some other countries. Seafood is good too, of course.

Getting to Rhodes

Travelling from England, we needed Schengen visas. Ferries also operate from Fethiye and Marmaris in Turkey. My original post suggested, based on what I thought I knew, that an identity card might be enough for the crossing; do not rely on that statement for travel documents—check official passport and visa requirements for your nationality. I had also heard Greek ferry operators were cheaper, perhaps half the price of Turkish ones, so suggested comparing them.