Rhodes: The Old Town, Lindos, and a Day on Symi

Rhodes (Rodos in Greek) is the capital of the Dodecanese and, by the GNTO’s count, the fourth-largest Greek island. Most people come for two places, the walled Medieval City in Rhodes Town and the acropolis of Lindos, and for days on the water. The tour on this page with the most reviews does not stay on Rhodes at all. It is a fast boat from Mandraki Harbour to the neighbouring island of Symi, about 20 nautical miles away.

The walled town and Lindos

The Medieval City of Rhodes has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1988. Inside its walls, the Palace of the Grand Master has cost €20 since the ticket reform of April 2025, when it rose from €8. From 1 April it opens daily 08:00 to 20:00; last winter, from 1 November 2025, it opened 08:30 to 15:30 and closed on Tuesdays, and its exhibitions keep their own hours, 09:00 to 17:00.

The Colossus is long gone. Britannica dates it to about 294 to 282 BCE and says an earthquake toppled it around 226 BCE, adding that it probably never straddled the harbour entrance.

Lindos is the other half of most visits. Its acropolis also costs €20 since April 2025 (it was €12). In October it opens 08:00 to 18:30 until the 15th and 08:00 to 18:00 after that; in winter it opens 08:30 to 15:10 and closes on Tuesdays. Midday heat can close it in summer. On 25 and 26 July 2025 the Dodecanese Ephorate closed Lindos and Kamiros from 12:00 to 17:00, along with the walk on the Rhodes town walls, and each regional Ephorate makes those calls for its own sites.

Where the 2023 fire burned

The wildfire that started in central Rhodes on 18 July 2023 burned the centre and south-east of the island. Greek Civil Protection reported about 19,000 people evacuated by 23 July, from places including Kiotari, Gennadi, Lardos, Lindos, Pefkos and Haraki, and called it the largest wildfire evacuation operation ever carried out in Greece. The EU’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service put the burnt area at 17,628.7 hectares in its final grading; estimates of 11,500 and 20,661 hectares also circulate. Rhodes Town and the north of the island were not on the evacuation list, and a satellite image on 29 July showed no active flames.

For fire risk on any given day, Greece’s civil protection ministry publishes a daily Fire Risk Map and sends 112 emergency alerts by location.

Who Rhodes suits, and who should look elsewhere

Rhodes suits a trip built around one walled old town and the days out from it, by bus to Lindos or by boat to Symi and the east-coast bays. It is easy to reach: the GNTO gives the flight from Athens as about an hour, and the airport handled 7 million passengers in 2025. It suits anyone who would rather unpack once and take day trips than move islands every few days.

Some trips point elsewhere. If you want a much bigger island, with Minoan palaces and a gorge to fill a week, Crete is the choice, and Blue Star’s line from Rhodes calls at Heraklion. If you want an island without cars, Hydra is the one: cars and motorbikes are not allowed there, the GNTO says. If a caldera sunset is the reason for the trip, that is Santorini. And if you like walled old towns but would rather be on the Ionian side, Corfu’s Old Town has been on UNESCO’s list since 2007.

Symi by ferry or by fast boat

Symi is easy to reach on a public ferry. Dodekanisos Seaways runs Rhodes to Symi and Panormitis daily from 1 April 2026, from Kolona port, and Blue Star, SAOS Ferries and Sebeco Lines also serve the island, with crossings of about 45 minutes to an hour and a half. Panormitis is a monastery and a place of worship, so dress modestly and keep your voice down if you visit.

What the fast boat adds is the swim stop and a fixed day out and back. Rhodes Sea Lines’ boat leaves Mandraki Harbour in Rhodes Town; depending on the option, you can board at Kolymbia, at Lardos or Pefkos, or at Lindos from Vlycha Bay, and hotel transfers run from Faliraki, Kalithea, Ixia, Kremasti and Kolymbia. The crossing takes about an hour and you get about three hours on Symi. The swim stop in St George’s Bay lasts 30 minutes, on the way out in late September and October and on the way back otherwise, and the return takes about 70 minutes. Lunch on Symi is your own.

It costs from $62 as of October 2026, rated 4.7 from 4,115 reviews, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. If you drive to Mandraki, the operator suggests arriving at least an hour early for parking. If you want a day at sea with a second island in it, this is the one to book.

See dates for the Symi boat →

Flights, ferries and how many days

The GNTO gives the flight to Rhodes as about an hour from Athens and 1 h 20 from Thessaloniki. Rhodes airport (Diagoras) is run by Fraport Greece and passed 7 million passengers in 2025, up 2.5% on 2024. By sea, Blue Star Ferries sails daily from Piraeus, with crossings from 15 h 40, so fly unless the voyage is the point. From Crete, Blue Star’s conventional line runs from Heraklion and Sitia by way of Kasos, Karpathos and Chalki.

No official body sets a number of days. Count the days out you want: the Old Town is one, Lindos most of another (the bus tour allows four hours there), Symi a full day, and an east-coast boat runs from 10:00 into the afternoon. That is four days before any time on a beach of your own, so we would plan five to seven nights.

New prices and fees since 2025

The two big tickets jumped in April 2025, the Palace of the Grand Master from €8 to €20 and the Lindos acropolis from €12 to €20. Since 21 July 2025, cruise passengers who come ashore at Rhodes pay a fee per port, regardless of age: €5 from June to September, €3 in April, May and October, and €1 from November to March. Visitors who arrive by air or ferry do not pay it. Hotels and rentals charge a climate resilience fee per room per night: €2 to €15 by star rating from April to October, €8 for a short-term rental, and less from November to March.

More days out from Rhodes

Two boat days run down the east coast from Mandraki, both leaving at 10:00. Rhodes Sea Lines, which also runs the Symi boat, sends its all-inclusive day cruise (from $73, 4.8 from 2,922 reviews) to three swim stops, listed in its itinerary as Kallithea Springs, Anthony Quinn Bay and the Traganou caves, with a BBQ lunch and drinks all day; it is back at Mandraki at 4 pm. The listing prices a return transfer at €10 from Faliraki or Ixia and €15 from Kolymbia, arranged on WhatsApp the day before. Poseidon Submarine’s catamaran cruise (from $68, 4.8 from 2,528 reviews) takes at most 24 guests to Anthony Quinn Bay, Ladiko Bay and Kallithea Springs with a buffet lunch. It anchors at each stop, so you swim to the shore, and it is not suitable for people with mobility impairments. On both, missing the 10:00 departure costs €25 a person to rebook.

For Lindos, SEBECO LINES’ bus tour (from $18, 4.5 from 2,792 reviews) collects from Rhodes Town, Ixia, Ialyssos, Faliraki and the cruise port, drives about 80 minutes each way and leaves you four hours in Lindos with an audio-guide app; the acropolis ticket is not included. Prams are welcome, and it is not suitable for people with mobility impairments.

Key Tours sells a timed Lindos acropolis ticket (from $25, 4.4 from 1,589 reviews) that adds a self-guided audio tour of Rhodes Old Town. It has no free cancellation, and its date and time slot cannot be changed. It is a full-price adult ticket: the listing says EU citizens under 25 and non-EU visitors under 18 enter free with ID at the booth, so they need only the bus. Strollers and large bags are not allowed at the site.

In Rhodes Town, Explore Rhodes runs an Old Town e-bike tour (from $44, 4.9 from 458 reviews) of about 2 hours 15 minutes from its shop, in groups of up to six, past the Palace of the Grand Master and around the walls to Monte Smith, timed for sunset on the evening departure. The leaders are bike guides, not licensed archaeology guides, and the ride does not go into the sites. You need to be confident cycling in traffic; a child seat for children up to 15 kg is included.