Getting to Rhodes, Greece, presents few problems for travellers. Rhodes is one of the major holiday destinations in the Mediterranean and there are daily flights and ferries from all over the world.
There are several domestic flights daily from Athens and Thessaloniki on the Greece mainland as well as the daily arrival of charter flights from most European countries. Ferries to Athens (Piraeus) and many other Greek islands leave daily and schedules can be checked online. The most popular months to visit Rhodes are April to September, and the busiest months are in July and August.
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Diagoras International Airport is 16km southwest of Rhodes City, near Kremasti on the north coast. The airport has expanded in recent years and now handles about 3.2 million holiday visitors annually.
In addition to regular domestic and international flights there are charters to many countries. Ryanair now has cheap flights from Liverpool and easyJet has flights from Gatwick.
Rhodes Airport has a single terminal with 13 check-in desks and eight gates, and opens 24 hours a day.
The airport has ATMs. A VIP lounge offers limited business facilities. There are various shops and a café, restaurant and bar. Travel agencies and tour operators have desks at the airport.
Though there have been improvements, Rhodes airport is still chaotically Greek. Be prepared for long queues and organized chaos. Surrounding are drab, functional and depressing.
There is seating in the departure lounge but it is far from adequate. Flight information is sketchy with little information on terminals and announcements made over a creaky PA system in broken English. As flights can be called simultaneously, it's not always easy to tell which gate to use.
Gates are not always easy to find, down corridors with no signs etc. Baggage handling can be seriously slow and its not unusual to wait more than an hour. There is plenty of public transport from the airport with about 30 buses daily to Rhodes City.
There are usually plenty of taxis available outside the aiport although these get quickly snapped up when flights arrive. Several car hire companies have offices at the airport so car hire on arrival should not be a problem.
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Rhodes is a major port for ferry services and boat trips and there is no shortage of services to other islands, to the Greek mainland and to Turkey.
Rhodes Ferry Port is found at the north-eastern end of the old town. Regular ferries run regular daily services too and from Piraeus (Athens)but note that the ferry journey from Piraeus to Rhodes can take about 16 hours.
Car ferries include the Diagoras which calls at Astypalea, Kalymnos, Kos, Nisyros and Tilos; Blue Star which operates through Syros, Patmos, Leros and Kos on the way to Rhodes but calls only at Kos for the return trip and also has another Piraeus/Rhodes service that calls at Santorini, Kalymnos and Kos both ways; Hellenic Seaways calls at Paros and Kos both ways; ANEK Lines has a car ferry that calls at Milos, Santorini, Crete and Karpathos, another that goes via Patmos, Lipsi, Leros, Kalymnos, Kos and Symi and yet another that call at Santorini, Anafi, Kassos, Karpathos, Diafni and Chalki.
Many islands in the Dodecanese chain are connected by a fast daily catamaran service to Kos, Kalymnos, Leros and Patmos and via Symi to Kos, Kalymnos, Leros, Lipsi and Patmos. Agoudimos Ferries also operate a service to Alexandroupolis, Chios, Kalymnos, Kos, Lesvos, Thessaloniki and Vathi.
There are regular catamaran and car ferry sailings to Mamaris, Turkey, every day but Thursday with details here.
There are many daily boat trips around the island with the main coastal resort being Lindos, which seems to be included on every boat trip from Mandraki harbour. There are also daily boats to Symi, calling in at Panormitis Monastery on the way. Day excursions to Marmaris in Turkey are popular and the journey takes about 50 mins.
Summer ferry schedules may not be confirmed until April or May, and not published until then.
The information is as accurate as I can make it but note that ferry schedules can change at any time.
Rhodes offers visitors a vast choice of holiday accommodation, from luxury hotel resort complexes to cheap backpacker rooms. Rhodes City capital and the surrounding areas have the best of the modern hotels. Many sited in the medieval Rhodes Old Town are full of character while outside the city there is a good supply of cheap rooms to be had.
Youngsters may opt for Faliraki, the seaside and clubbing resort, but many hotels are overtaken by British tour companies and it is difficult to find a spare bed in the high season. But the rest of Rhodes is dotted with small hotels and homes offering rooms and a huge number of self-catering apartments. It is best to book in advance online, especially in July or August, but there should be little trouble finding good rooms at other times of the year.
Rhodes' most luxurious hotels are found at Ixia. The Rodos Palace is the biggest five-star hotel in Greece and set in 30 acres of manicured gardens and the nearby Sheraton is for those with money to burn.
Visitors who like luxury but shun the modern can head for restored Turkish and medieval buildings in the old town's 14th century citadel. Those on a budget should aim for the area between Sokratous and Omirou where there are several cheap small hotels and a youth hostel.
There is no camping site on Rhodes. There was once one near Ladhiko but that closed some years ago. Ad hoc camping is illegal although you can maybe get away with it on a remote beach for a night or two.
Lindos is the other big tourist draw and, thanks to a ban on hotel building, there are plenty of converted houses offering accommodation while elsewhere hotels, apartments, studios and rooms are scattered all around this popular island.
Road links around the island are pretty good but the further south you get, the worse it gets. Crowded buses serve the east and west coast cheaply and regularly but services peter out south of Lindos and a car or moped is essential if you want to see Rhodes island proper. Rhodes car hire prices vary but expect to pay double during the high season.
The main road that runs south from Rhodes is pretty good until Faliraki when repeated roadworks between here and Kolymbia have the locals in tears. The further south you go the rougher it gets with petrol stations few and far between.
There's a good public bus system in Rhodes, mainly serving the north-east coast resorts. The tourist office in the capital publishes a schedule of routes and times each year. Buses heading for the east, as far as Faliraki, leave from the East Side Bus Station on Plateia Rimini in Rhodes City, while buses heading west, mainly to the north coast resorts but including the airport, leave from the nearby West Side Bus Station which can be found on Averof.
Bus stops on the road are marked by a sign, but if you signal the bus driver he/she will stop pretty much anywhere. There are few bus services south of Lindos and those staying there tend to hire their own transport. Car rental outfits can be found in most resorts and all the big players will have a desk at the airport. For the best deals it is probably best to book ahead online (see panel right).
Rhodes City has, as you might expect, plenty of taxis for hire. The biggest of the many taxi stands is found just outside the old town, on the harbour front at Plateia Rimini (22410 27666) or you can call a taxi (22410 69800) but there is a standard surcharge. Taxis on Rhodes are coloured dark blue with white roofs and you can get a list of taxi charges from any tourist information office.
