The perfect Rhodes itinerary: old town, Lindos, and out

This plan covers three days, with a fourth if you have it, as an order rather than a timetable. We print no opening hours, boat times or prices, because those shift with the season and a page that fixes them ages badly; where the current detail matters we send you to it. What the island holds beyond this route is in our things to do in Rhodes guide.

Day 1: the medieval old town

Give the first day to the Rhodes Old Town, the walled medieval city built by the Knights of St John, which is the reason the island is on the map for anyone who cares about history and not only about beaches. It is a living town inside its walls rather than a monument behind a fence, so the way to see it is to walk: the Street of the Knights, the Palace of the Grand Masters at the top, the gates and the moat that ring the whole thing.

Do the walls and the main street in the cooler morning, when the lanes are quiet, and let the afternoon go loose, because the pleasure of the old town is getting lost in it once the day-trippers thin out. Stay inside or just outside the walls if you can, so the town is yours in the early morning and the evening; how the nights work here is in Rhodes after dark.

Day 2: Lindos and the east coast

The second day runs down the east coast to the island’s other headline sight. Lindos is an ancient acropolis on a rock above a whitewashed village and a pair of bays, and it is the image that sells Rhodes: the climb to the temple at the top, the maze of the village below, the sea on both sides. Go up early or late rather than at midday, because the climb is exposed and the village bakes in the middle of the day.

String the coast between the town and Lindos into the same day. Anthony Quinn Bay, a small rocky cove with clear water, and the longer sandy beaches further down are strung along the east side, which is the sheltered coast and the one the resorts sit on; which suits your day is in Rhodes beaches. A car or a booked trip makes this day far easier than the bus, given how spread out the coast is.

Day 3: a day out, by sea or into the west

The third day leaves the main island, and there are two good ways to spend it.

Take the boat to Symi, the small neighbouring island whose harbour of tall neoclassical houses in ice-cream colours is one of the prettiest arrivals in the Dodecanese. It is the classic day trip from Rhodes, a boat out in the morning and back in the evening, and it gives you a completely different, quieter island for a day; the options are in day trips from Rhodes.

Or turn inland and west for the quiet half of the island: the ancient city of Kamiros, the hill villages, the wooded Valley of the Butterflies and the castle at Monolithos above the sea. The west coast is windier and far less developed than the east, which is exactly its appeal for a day away from the resorts.

How to adapt this

Two days only. Do the old town on day one and Lindos with a beach on day two, and skip the day out. You will have the medieval city and the acropolis, which are the two things Rhodes is known for.

A fourth day, or a slower trip. Add the day you dropped, west or by sea, and give an afternoon to a single good beach rather than rushing three. Rhodes has a long season and a hot high summer, so the shoulder months make the exposed climbs at Lindos and the old-town walls much easier; the best time to visit Greece sets out the trade.

And if Rhodes is one stop in a Dodecanese hop rather than the whole trip, Symi, Kos and the smaller islands are all reachable by ferry; the sailing logic is in Greek island ferries.

Where this leaves you

Three days does Rhodes well if you order it by the island’s shape: the medieval old town on the first day, Lindos and the east-coast beaches on the second, and a day out to Symi or into the quiet west on the third. Walk the walled town early and late, climb Lindos out of the midday heat, and hire something for the spread-out coast. The rest of the island is one click away in the Rhodes guide.

Quick answers

How many days do you need in Rhodes?

Three days covers the island’s headline sights: one for the medieval old town, one for Lindos and the east-coast beaches, and one for a day trip to Symi or the quiet western half. A fourth day lets you add the other of those two, or simply slow down for a beach. Two days is enough for the old town and Lindos if that is all you have.

Is Rhodes Old Town worth visiting?

Very much so. It is one of the best-preserved medieval walled cities in Europe, built by the Knights of St John, and unlike many historic centres it is a living town inside its walls rather than a museum. Walk the Street of the Knights, the Palace of the Grand Masters and the walls and moat, ideally early in the day before the cruise crowds arrive.

Do you need a car in Rhodes?

Not for the old town, which you walk, but a car or a booked trip makes the spread-out east coast and the quiet west far easier, especially for reaching Lindos, the smaller beaches and the inland sights on your own schedule. Buses serve the main resort strip and Lindos, but the interior and the west are hard to reach without your own transport.

Is Symi worth a day trip from Rhodes?

Yes, if you have the third day. Symi’s harbour of tall neoclassical mansions in soft colours is one of the prettiest in the Dodecanese, and the boat out in the morning and back in the evening gives you a quieter, smaller island for a complete change from Rhodes. It is the classic day trip from the island for good reason.