Rhodes suggestions

[HazeGray]

Do you need to take a tour or taxi to see Rhodes? Are most of the sights within walking distance of the port or do you need to take a taxi into town. Do they also have an acropolis and how far is it? Any other suggestions for the port will be appreciated. Thanks.

[kestrel]

The port is very close to the Old Town. It's only about 10 minutes of walk. You don't need a taxi.

 

You can easily spend an entire day in the Old Town. There are many stores, museums, restaurants, etc. I especially recommend the Palace of the Grand Masters. It's a medieval castle with lots of art work inside.

 

This is the link to Frommer's Guide of Rhodes: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/rhodes/1657010029.html

 

Enjoy!

[tom_uk]

I think that a lot of the old buildings in Rhodes Old Town have been 'heavily restored'. In some cases - and the Palace of the Masters is, I believe one of them - this amounts to 'almost completely rebuilt'. The original palace was destroyed by an explosion during the Ottoman period. It was rebuilt during the Italian period (1912 - 1945), supposedly as a summer palace for King Victor Emmanuel of Italy. The Italians apparently destroyed a number of buildings from the Ottoman period, and more old buildings were destroyed by RAF bombing during WWII.

 

So Rhodes Old Town is very pretty and picturesque, but not necessarily historically authentic.

[Hlitner]

When it comes to Rhodes it really depends on the individual. Some will be content to simply spend their day in the old and new town (within easy walking distance). Others (including moi) really like this relatively large island and enjoy getting out of town. Keep in mind that a majority of Rhodes visitors come to the island for the sun and sand and there are some excellent beaches. There are also other attractions such as Lindos (we think its a shame how this area has been overun by tacky souvenir stands and hawkers).

 

Hank

[Caliterp07]

Rhodes was kind of a throw away port for me. I didn't know what to expect, and had read that you can just walk around the old town all day. DH and I tried that, but were bored of cheap souvenirs and being hounded to buy a beer, and ended up going back to the ship after 2 hours or so.

 

In retrospect, I wish I had gone to the island expecting a beach day, and just rented a car and driven to a nice place. We thought about grabbing a cab, but were nervous that there wouldn't be one waiting when we wanted to head back.

[cruising_belle]

Just got back from the Navigator of the Seas in October and I really enjoyed Rhodes. At first we just wandered around the old town and then after a few hours, we decided to take a cab to Lindos. The prices are generally around 55 Euros for one way but we managed to get a deal with our cab driver to pay 85 Euro for him to take us there and back and give us 1.5 hours of free time in Lindos. It was really worth it as the drive is lovely and the views from the Lindos Acropolis are spectacular.

[T. Advisor King]

During our four night, six port cruise on the Louis Aquamarine, Rhodes was the only stop where we had almost an entire day at one port. With the rest of the cruise so "go-go-go", we were highly motivated to take it easy. We slept late, then spend the rest of the morning in the old town. There are certainly a lot of tourist shops and the restaraunteurs do hound you to pick their establishment as a place to stop for lunch. But the old town is quite remarkable (at least to this North American), and you can easily wander around for two hours without losing interest.

 

We had lunch back on the ship and then went to Elii beach (a 5-Euro cab ride). You could actually walk back to the ship from the beach, but it would be a long walk. Our goal was to take it easy in Rhodes and relax and that's exactly what we did. While I would probably choose to go back to Mykonos or Santorini before going back to Rhodes, I would still call Rhodes the most pleasant surprise of the cruise.

[screwcork]

If you are in "normal" shape it's not a problem to do Rhodes Town by walking. We walked around the Old Town for a couple of hours before going (still walking) to the beach.

 

Screwcork

[lurvecruise]

we want to go to Lindos by bus. how far is it from the port to bus station?:)

[Onessa]

I purchased/downloaded a guided walking tour for our iPods - DiscoveryTours.Com - for $15.00 US (for all three of our iPods) and we used that. It gave us a MUCH better appreciation as to what we were looking at -- and gave me a good excuse to ignore the merchants :D!

 

BTW - If you are looking for trinkets or other souveniers don't buy them in the old city, there are vendors just outside the walls with most of the same stuff for a lot less.

 

We had been elsewhere on the island on a previous trip, but really found that the "change of pace" that the medivial style of the old city was a refreshing change of pace from the Greek ruins. Lindos is nice, the views from elsewhere are nice, but it was as someone else pointed out a relaxing day.

[Capricruiser]

The taxi fare from the port to Lindos is currently (last month) €57 one way.

[Lair Bear]

So Rhodes Old Town is very pretty and picturesque, but not necessarily historically authentic.

 

I agree with a lot of what you mentioned, however, if you had gone a bit further and explored the outside areas of the city walls you might have had another perspective of the historical significance. After the hussling inside the Old Town, we had fun exploring the outside with several 'tunnels' and pathways in this dry moat.

BTW the round boulders were intended to be used for the trebuchet or catapult.

 

[luvtocook]

We just spent a day in Rhodes late November and we hired Nicholas with Rhodes private tours for a tour of the entire island for 8 of us.

 

www.rhodesprivatetours.com

He & his brother met us right at the ship with 2 S class Mercedes cars & off we went. We saw so many interesting places & things, went to Lindos, a fabulous place for lunch and then they dropped us off in Old Town for a while before we walked back to the ship. Rhodes is a lovely island.

I highly recommend him. 45 Euro per hour per CAR!!!

[Goldygolfer]

Four of us had a great day in Rhodes in late November with Themis Gounaris. His website is http://www.viptaxitours.com. He provided a 5-hour tour which included the old town and a drive to Lindos. Lindos is quite spectacular and well worth the visit and the drive through the narrow streets of the old town was amazing. Themis grew up in the old town and provided lots of information and history of the area.

 

While it is possible to go to Lindos by public bus, you will travel along the highway. Themis took us to lots of little villages along the way - much more interesting.

 

Poster #11 quotes the going rate for a taxi to Lindos at 57 Euro each way.

Our 5-hour tour was not a whole lot more than that. Themis is also very entertaining and will have you laughing with his stories. I definitely recommend him.

[HiLo71]

Can anyone tell me what the accepted currency is in Rhodes? Will American dollars be good or do we need to convert to Euros?

[luvtocook]

They prefer Euros.

[Hlitner]

Can anyone tell me what the accepted currency is in Rhodes? Will American dollars be good or do we need to convert to Euros?

 

Greece is on the Euro which is what they expect. US dollars have become quite unpopular since the dawn of the Euro and many places will no longer accept the currency. If they do accept dollars you will normally get an awful exchange rate. The best way to get Euros is to simply use ATM machines (assuming your own bank does not nail you with fees).

 

Hank

[HiLo71]

thanks for the info...