Rhodes, Greece 2.0
- chebelladonna
- Jul 28, 2025
- 4 min read
The first post about Rhodes spoke more to our arrival, and the small apartment we rented. I didn't dive into our actual adventures on the Island. Note that two of our major adventures were off the Island - to Symi and to Marmaris, Turkey which I wrote about separately.
The old town of Rhodes, a labyrinth of narrow streets that flow into plazas, is both a walled medieval city and a UNESCO world heritage site. The centre piece of interest is the Palace of the Grand Master built by the Knights in the 14th century, which boasts a blend of Gothic and Renaissance styles. The palace is grand and stately, and yet quite austere. It's definitely not feminine. The tour includes a reception hall, armoury, courtyard, chapel and quarters for both the Knight's and the Grand Master. It was particularly interesting for us, as we tried to wrap our head around this history as a prequel to everything we have marvelled at in Malta.
The most famous street is the Street of the Knights which leads to the Palace. This is where many of the Knights lived. The street was designed to host a number of aubereges or inns. Each of these catered to the seven different nations of the various Knights which included France, Italy, Provence, Auvergne, Aragon, England and Germany.
Rhodes was a delightful place to spend a few days. I found a favourite bakery where I would slip out in the morning for coffee and bring sweet and savoury pastries back for the sleeping crew. How do I live with people who don't start their day with coffee? In the various plazas and side streets there were plenty of restaurants and shops to stroll around at leisure. Socrates Garden, a beautiful garden restaurant is tucked in behind a wall and well worth a visit. It's particularly stunning at night with rattan lights swinging from gorgeous palm trees. Outside the walls of the old town you'll find the sea lapping quietly. This is where the ferries and the cruise ships come into port. It's fun to walk around the boats and see the fortified walls from the outside of town.
The other day trip we made on Rhodes, was to the acropolis of Lindos, which is why I wasn't too upset that we didn't have time to explore the acropolis in Athens. From Rhodes we took a bus from the new town, which is walkable from the old town. The journey took about 90 minutes or so.
The bus drops passengers off at the edge of Lindos, leaving people to walk down into the village of white washed houses, only then to walk back up to the top of the acropolis. I made the walk in flip flops, but it hindsight, I should have worn proper footwear. It's quite steep at points, and at times without railings. While I'm not overly scared of heights, I do appreciate a railing on a steep set of narrow stairs when climbing up a mountainside. Wear sneakers, and a hat.
As as wound our way out of the town, and up toward the acropolis, we neared the ticket gate, and friendly staff waived us through. It was Good Friday and in honour of the holiday admission was free. It was going to cost us nearly $100 to go in and this was a much appreciated gesture.
Like many sights in the Mediterranean it's ancient and has been touched and built upon by successive ruling groups over time. In Greece an acropolis refers to a citadel or fortified part of an ancient city, typically built on a hill. The Lindos Acropolis dates back as far as the fourth century BC through to the 14th century AD. This was our last full day in Rhodes, and the view from the top was another one for the memory book. Will the sight of the Mediterranean ever tire? I don't think so.
At a certain point we each wandered at our own pace taking it all in. I overheard a woman giving her husband the gears because his photography skills weren't up to snuff. She was trying to take pictures for the Gram. It did not look like they were having fun in this stunning landscape. They irritably baked in the sun as she tried to get the perfect angle, over and over again. We live in weird times.
In the end we snapped a few drama free shots of our own and wound our way back down the mountain. We stopped half way at a little bar/coffee shop for a drink to enjoy the view. From there we meandered the little village, walked around and enjoyed our final Greek feast together on a roof top for an early dinner. And then we hopped on the bus to return to Rhodes Town.
On the ride we noted that there were huge swathes of resorts on the Island, which I hadn't realized. We watched people disembark the bus as they walked back to their modern hotels, which felt light years away from our small apartment in the Old Town.
And then the next morning we walked out to the city gate with our wheeled suitcases on the cobbled streets, just after sunrise with no one in sight, where we met a driver who whisked us back to the airport. In Athens, my youngest kiddo kept travelling on to Malta and Pablo and I stayed close to the airport for our flight home the next morning.
Thank-you Greece!
