How Long in Rhodes Old Town?

[account4fun]

How much time do you need to walk around Rhodes Old Town and see the shops, eat, take pictures etc? We will be in port from 9-6 and we booked a trip to lindos from 9:30 - 2:00. Will we have enough time afterwards to see and appreciate Old Town before all aboard?

[cruisemom42]

If you're sure to get back by 2:00, you'll have about 3 hours to look around and that should be enough for a pretty good walk around the old town area. There are some self-guided walking tours online; I remember printing one out. I was a bit disappointed in the interior of the Grand Master's Palace.....although it was built originally in the 1300's, it was mostly destroyed and then rebuilt in the 1850's, so it seemed (to me) kind of an insipid recreation. There were some nice ancient Roman mosaic floor panels though. I say all this as a preface to the fact that you may or may not want to pay to do the inside of the Palace.

 

On the other hand, I did really like the Archaeology Museum (in the heart of the old town), which is housed in the building that was the hospital of the Knights. That building had a much more historic feel about it and in addition had some nice pieces.

 

If you finish up in the Old Town, a quick cab ride up to the Rhodes Forum is nice and only takes a few minutes. If it is a clear day, it offers a nice vista down to Rhodes Town, and you can also see over to the Turkish coast. But then, if you've been in Lindos, you may have had enough high views for the day. :D

[Hlitner]

There really is not a good answer to the OPs question. We have met folks who say that even a few hours in Paris is too much..or get bored with Rome after one visit, etc. It is all about personal preferences. Some folks would get bored with old town after 15 min and others would be content to spend an entire day in the area. For us, when in Rhodes, we do what a majority of visitors to Rhodes do which is go to one of the fine beaches (this is a huge beach resort island with many Europeans). Lindos is fine for ruined ruins and tacky T-shirt kiosks, and Old Town is quite nice for shops, cafes, etc. But the real draw of this island i(for a majority of visitors) s the sun and sand. On the other hand, it is a cruise passenger "thing" to go to the touristy places. We live in Puerto Vallarta several months a year (love the place) and have never bothered going to most of the places mentioned by our many cruise ship visitors. There are about 60,000 Americans and Canadians who live in the Puerto Vallarta region (around the Bay of Bandaras) and very few have ever visited the places or done the things done by many cruise ship passengers. We do a lot of our own cruising but are still trying to understand the cruise line passenger mentality of going to every touristy place and often ignoring the real charms of a port.

 

Hank

[account4fun]

We were thinking we would get good views and photos on the drive to Lindos and that was one of the primary reasons for going as I heard the ruins aren't spectacular.

 

Are the views not worth the drive?

 

Are there specific beaches you recommend? From what I've heard/read the beaches in Greece are more rock then sand and that's why we were tending to skip them. Maybe I am misinformed?

[cruisemom42]

We were in a somewhat different situation, as our ship stopped first in Lindos, where we tendered into the little port and walked up to the town (about halfway), then up to the Acropolis, a steep climb. The Acropolis itself is currently under restoration, and there was quite a bit of scaffolding there, at least as of early November 2011. Here are a couple of photos I took from various vantage points of Lindos. The first shows the town, with the Acropolis at the top.

 

 

 

This is a view of a typical street in Lindos. Lots of shops and restaurants and yes, kind of touristy:

 

 

 

If you walk through the town to the edge, you'll reach St. Peter's bay, where supposedly he arrived at this island:

 

 

 

Due to rough seas, our cruiseline arranged a bus transport for us to Rhodes rather than re-boarding the ship by tender. Enroute, we had an extra, unscheduled stop at this lovely small church:

 

 

Next I'll post a few photos from Rhodes Town for comparison....

[cruisemom42]

In Rhodes Town, most of the sights are very close to each other and very walkable.

 

The Street of the Knights is the most scenic, with the headquarters for each of the various nationalities of the Knights -- each building is unique:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A shot of the interior courtyard of the Knights' Hospital building:

 

 

 

View just inside one of the old town gates:

 

 

 

The Acropolis at Rhodes:

 

 

 

The famous gate:

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed both Lindos and Rhodes Town, but probably enjoyed Rhodes Town more.

 

For the record, I have zero interest in beaches, so I can't offer any help there. Still, I'd like to think the spots I visit aren't exactly tourist traps. ;)

[account4fun]

Thanks for sharing the pictures Cynthia!

[snow bunny]

Cynthia, how many trips have you made to this area?? We will be going for our first trip but don't particularly want to break the bank doing this trip. Any suggestions or highlights we won't want to miss? We are on the same ship as account4fun and would prefer DIY tours if possible!

 

Missy aka Snow Bunny

[Hlitner]

We were thinking we would get good views and photos on the drive to Lindos and that was one of the primary reasons for going as I heard the ruins aren't spectacular.

 

Are the views not worth the drive?

 

Are there specific beaches you recommend? From what I've heard/read the beaches in Greece are more rock then sand and that's why we were tending to skip them. Maybe I am misinformed?

 

I guess some would enjoy a drive through the countryside. There is actually a pretty decent view from the ruins (and they are truly ruined) at Lindos as long as you ignore all the T-Shirt vendors. As to beaches, the island of Rhodes has some very nice sandy beaches which is why many Europeans fly to Rhodes for beach vacations. While it is true that the continent of Europe does not have great beaches (although there are some nice beaches in Spain and Portugal) the various Greek Islands have some fantastic beaches. Rhodes has more then 40 beaches ranging from long, sandy, developed beaches to smaller quiet beaches with no facilities. If you are looking for a beach with plenty of facilities you might want to go to Kalithea which is only about 4 miles from Rhodes Town. This particular beach is very popular (some would say too popular) and has all the typical beach facilities. In fact the last time we were there they had a huge construction crane on the beach that was used to haul people high into the air so they could bungee jump from the crane.

 

Hank

[cruisemom42]

Cynthia, how many trips have you made to this area?? We will be going for our first trip but don't particularly want to break the bank doing this trip. Any suggestions or highlights we won't want to miss? We are on the same ship as account4fun and would prefer DIY tours if possible!

 

Missy aka Snow Bunny

 

Hi Missy, Rhodes is very easy to see on your own. I'd suggest just walking around the old town area as the easiest and most interesting thing to do for first-time visitors. The ships dock within easy walking distance of the old town -- you can't miss the imposing walls and gate.

 

There are several self-guided tours available if you do a search online, some are even GPS guided if that appeals to you. I can't find the one I had printed out (unfortunately I've tossed it now), but here's one that looks pretty similar:

 

http://www.greeklandscapes.com/greece/rhodes/rhodes-old-city.html

[aqua]

A bit of advice regarding walking around Rhodes; wear good shoes! As you can see from the photo of the Street of the Knights, most streets are stone. They are very sharp stones. My daughter,a marathon runner who wore stylish flats with no support, was in tears after walking around the town. She enjoyed the day, but was sorry about her choice of shoes!

[snow bunny]

Hi Missy, Rhodes is very easy to see on your own. I'd suggest just walking around the old town area as the easiest and most interesting thing to do for first-time visitors. The ships dock within easy walking distance of the old town -- you can't miss the imposing walls and gate.

 

There are several self-guided tours available if you do a search online, some are even GPS guided if that appeals to you. I can't find the one I had printed out (unfortunately I've tossed it now), but here's one that looks pretty similar:

 

http://www.greeklandscapes.com/greece/rhodes/rhodes-old-city.html

 

Thank you for the site. Would we have time to hit the beach and do the major sites? I'm thinking that runners would be the best footwear selection for this stop!

 

Missy

[Irish1978]

There really is not a good answer to the OPs question. We have met folks who say that even a few hours in Paris is too much..or get bored with Rome after one visit, etc. It is all about personal preferences. Some folks would get bored with old town after 15 min and others would be content to spend an entire day in the area. For us, when in Rhodes, we do what a majority of visitors to Rhodes do which is go to one of the fine beaches (this is a huge beach resort island with many Europeans). Lindos is fine for ruined ruins and tacky T-shirt kiosks, and Old Town is quite nice for shops, cafes, etc. But the real draw of this island i(for a majority of visitors) s the sun and sand. On the other hand, it is a cruise passenger "thing" to go to the touristy places. We live in Puerto Vallarta several months a year (love the place) and have never bothered going to most of the places mentioned by our many cruise ship visitors. There are about 60,000 Americans and Canadians who live in the Puerto Vallarta region (around the Bay of Bandaras) and very few have ever visited the places or done the things done by many cruise ship passengers. We do a lot of our own cruising but are still trying to understand the cruise line passenger mentality of going to every touristy place and often ignoring the real charms of a port.

 

Hank

 

What he said!

[cruisemom42]

Thank you for the site. Would we have time to hit the beach and do the major sites? I'm thinking that runners would be the best footwear selection for this stop!

 

Missy

 

Sorry, I didn't see your question until now. Definitely wear something with good cushioning; runners would be fine.

 

As to beaches, I assume you'd have enough time if you have a full day but as I said at the outset, I'm not a beach person so have no experience in that regard!