Where to stay in Rhodes

The decision: the walled town, or a beach

Rhodes is a large island with two completely different products at opposite ends of it, and almost every accommodation question here comes down to which one you came for.

• The Old Town, in the north, is the largest inhabited medieval town in Europe - walls, cobbles, the Street of the Knights, and dinner inside a fortress. It has no beach.
• The beach resorts down both coasts have the sand, the pools and the nightlife, and none of the medieval atmosphere.
• Lindos, most of the way down the east coast, is the one place that gets close to both: a whitewashed village under an acropolis, with bays below it.

Choosing badly is not a disaster - the island has a good bus network and a coast road - but it means driving to the thing you came for, every day.

This page names areas, not hotels. We have not stayed in Rhodes’s hotels and will not rank them.

The areas at a glance

The Old Town

Area	Best for	Beach	Feel	Costs
Old Town	History, atmosphere, dining	No	Medieval, walkable, busy	Mid-high
New Town	Town access with a beach nearby	Yes	Modern city, practical	Mid
Lindos	The postcard village and bays	Yes	Beautiful, crowded, steep	High
Faliraki	Beach resort life and nightlife	Yes	Big hotels, loud in season	Mid
Ixia / Ialyssos	Windsurfing and sunsets	Yes, windy	Breezy, sporty, hotel strip	Mid
Pefkos / Lardos	Quieter southern beaches	Yes	Low-key, family, needs wheels	Mid-low

Staying inside the walls is the most distinctive thing you can do on Rhodes. The Old Town is a working medieval city - the Knights Hospitaller built it and people still live in it - and at night, when the day visitors and the cruise passengers have gone, it becomes genuinely quiet and strange in the best way.

The trade-offs are real and worth stating:

• No beach. The nearest sand is in the New Town, a walk or a short ride away.
• Vehicle access is restricted inside the walls, and the lanes are cobbled. Arriving with wheeled luggage is a poor plan.
• Some streets are noisy in season, with bars concentrated in particular lanes. Ask which way a room faces.
• It is not accessible in any meaningful sense - cobbles, steps, narrow lanes. See accessibility in Greece.

The New Town, just outside the walls, is the compromise: modern, ordinary, with beaches on both sides of the northern point and a ten-minute walk to the medieval gates.

Lindos

The other famous base, about an hour down the east coast. Lindos is a white village of flat-roofed houses packed under a rock with an acropolis on top, above two sheltered bays.

It is beautiful, and it is very busy in summer - the village is small, the streets are narrow, and coach trips arrive all day. It is also steep, with lanes that are steps, and vehicle access into the village itself is limited.

Stay here if the village is the point and you will accept the crowds and the climb. It is the most photogenic base on the island by a distance.

The beach resorts

Faliraki is the big one: large hotels, a long beach, water sports, and a nightlife reputation that is entirely earned. Good if that is what you want, and worth avoiding if it is not.

Ixia and Ialyssos, on the north-west coast, sit on the windy side. That wind is why the windsurfers are there and why the sunsets are on this coast - and it is also why a family wanting flat water for small children should think twice. The beaches here are more pebble than sand.

Pefkos and Lardos, south of Lindos, are the quieter end: smaller-scale, more family-oriented, and far enough down the island that you will want a car.

Do you need a car?

Rhodes has a good bus network by Greek island standards, connecting the town with Lindos and the main east-coast resorts, so a car is genuinely optional if you are based in the north or in Lindos.

You want one if you are staying in the south, or if you plan to see the interior - Kameiros, the Valley of the Butterflies, the hill villages - which is where the island stops being a resort and gets interesting. See renting a car in Greece.

How the areas map onto trips

• History, atmosphere, no car: the Old Town.
• A bit of both, with a beach: the New Town.
• The postcard village: Lindos, accepting crowds and steps.
• Resort holiday with nightlife: Faliraki.
• Windsurfing: Ixia or Ialyssos.
• Quiet family beaches: Pefkos or Lardos, with a car.

Getting to the island at all is covered in Athens to Rhodes - the short version is that the flight wins comfortably unless you are bringing a car or island-hopping the Dodecanese.

Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the best area to stay in Rhodes?

Rhodes Old Town for history and atmosphere, Lindos for the postcard village and its bays, Faliraki for a beach-and-nightlife resort holiday, and Pefkos or Lardos for quieter family beaches in the south.

Can you stay in Rhodes Old Town?

Yes, and it is the island’s most distinctive base - a working medieval city that goes quiet once the day visitors leave. Be aware there is no beach inside the walls, vehicle access is restricted, and the lanes are cobbled.

Is Lindos a good place to stay?

It is the prettiest base on Rhodes and the busiest in high season. The village is steep, with stepped lanes and limited vehicle access, so it suits people who want the setting more than convenience.

Do I need a car in Rhodes?

Not if you stay in the north or in Lindos - the bus network is decent by island standards. You want one for the south of the island and for the interior sites like Kameiros and the hill villages.

Which part of Rhodes is quietest?

The southern resorts around Pefkos and Lardos, and the far south beyond them, are much quieter than Faliraki or the town. You will want wheels.

Where should I stay in Rhodes for the first time?

The Old Town or the New Town beside it. Both put you near the island’s best-known sight, with good bus connections down the coast to Lindos and the beaches.

Next

Read the Rhodes travel guide, things to do in Rhodes and day trips from Rhodes, or compare the island in Santorini vs Rhodes and Kos vs Rhodes.