Dodecanese
Rhodes Town
One of Europe's best-preserved medieval walled towns sits beside a New Town of beaches and hotels: sleep inside the walls for atmosphere or in the New Town for sand, and use it as a base for Lindos and the east coast.
Best length
2-3 nights for the town; 5-7 nights to add beaches
Airport
Rhodes Diagoras (RHO), ~16km southwest
Airport to centre
KTEL bus ~€2.60 (40 min); taxi ~€27-36 (25 min)
Best base
New Town near Mandraki for first-timers; Old Town for atmosphere
In short
Rhodes Town at a glance
Rhodes Town splits into two halves: a walled medieval Old Town that is one of the best-preserved in Europe, and a New Town with the beaches, the marina and most of the modern hotels. Stay in the New Town if you want a beach and easy parking, sleep inside the walls for atmosphere if you can handle the late-night bar noise, and use the town as a base for Lindos and the east-coast resorts rather than treating it as a beach resort itself.
The short version
- Stay in the New Town (around Mandraki and Elli Beach) for the simplest first trip: real beaches, modern hotels and a five-minute walk to the Old Town gates.
- Sleep inside the Old Town walls only if you want the medieval atmosphere more than quiet, and check the hotel is not on a bar street.
- The Palace of the Grand Master is the one paid sight worth the €20, but the free wander through the Street of the Knights and the walls is the real reason to come.
- Take the public KTEL bus from Diagoras for €2.60 if you travel light, or a taxi for around €27-36 with luggage; both reach the town in well under an hour.
- Use Rhodes Town as a base for day trips to Lindos and the east coast; a hire car pays off here in a way it does not in Athens or Barcelona.
Rhodes Town is really two towns wearing one name. Inside the walls sits one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe — a UNESCO-listed maze of knightly inns, the Street of the Knights and the Palace of the Grand Master — and a few minutes’ walk away the New Town carries the marina at Mandraki, the windmills, Elli Beach and most of the modern hotels. The mistake first-timers make is treating the Old Town as a beach resort. It is not one: it is a sightseeing and atmosphere quarter that empties of cruise day-trippers by evening, while the swimming and the easy hotels are next door in the New Town.
The honest planning call is where to sleep. The New Town around Mandraki is the better default — you get a real beach, modern rooms and quiet nights, with the Old Town gates five minutes away. Sleeping inside the walls is wonderful for the atmosphere but comes with summer day-crowds, no cars to your door and bar noise on the wrong streets, so pick the quarter carefully. Two or three nights covers the town itself; if you want Lindos and the east-coast beaches too, use Rhodes Town as a base and give the island a week. Below, the structured detail — where to stay, the real sight prices, the Diagoras airport transfer options and a budget in pounds — picks up from here.
Plan your Rhodes Town trip
Keep a first trip focused: book the big timed sights, then leave room for neighbourhoods and food.
Top things to do in Rhodes Town
Acropolis of Lindos
Go early. The Acropolis sits on a bare clifftop with almost no shade, so book the first 08:00 slot and climb before the heat and the cruise crowds land mid-morning. It's a genuine 10–15 minute walk up stepped lanes from Lindos village square — fine in trainers, brutal in flip-flops. The €20 ticket now uses timed entry, so reserve a slot on the official site a day or two ahead in summer. Allow about an hour and a half on top.
Palace of the Grand Master
Buy the €10 combined ticket, not the €20 single — it covers the palace plus the Archaeological Museum, the Decorative Arts Collection and Our Lady of the Castle, so it pays for itself the moment you see one of the others. The palace sits at the top of the Street of the Knights at the highest northwest corner of the Old Town; it's an easy walk from anywhere inside the walls. The headline inside is the first-floor mosaic floors lifted wholesale from the island of Kos, not the medieval shell. Allow about an hour, and go in the morning for cooler stone and quieter halls.
Where to stay first
The areas that make a first visit easier — not an exhaustive directory.
New Town (Mandraki / Elli Beach)
££ mid-rangeThe easiest first-timer base: modern hotels, the marina, the town beach and a five-minute walk to the Old Town gates. Less atmospheric than inside the walls, but you get real beach access and far quieter nights.
Best for: First-timers, beach plus sightseeing, families
Old Town (within the walls)
££ mid-rangeSleeping inside a UNESCO medieval town is the draw: cobbled lanes, courtyard hotels and the sights on your doorstep. The trade-offs are summer day-crowds, no cars to your door and bar noise on the wrong streets, so pick the quarter carefully.
Best for: Atmosphere, couples, history-led trips
Ixia / Ialysos (west coast)
£££ premiumA strip of larger resort hotels a short drive west of town, good for all-inclusive package deals and pebbly beaches. It is windier and not walkable to the Old Town, so you will rely on buses, taxis or a hire car.
Best for: Resort packages, all-inclusive, windsurfers
Faliraki
££ mid-rangeThe lively beach resort 15km south, with the big sandy beach, the water park and Bar Street. Choose it for a sun-and-nightlife week, not for a town-and-history trip; you will commute in for the Old Town.
Best for: Beach weeks, nightlife, families with teens
Airport to city centre
| Option | Time | Cost | Book ahead? |
|---|---|---|---|
| KTEL public bus to Rhodes Town | ~40 min | about €2.60 single | Cheapest; limited luggage room, runs to midnight |
| Taxi to Rhodes Town | ~25 min | usually €27-36 | Best with luggage; pre-book in July-August |
| Pre-booked private transfer | ~25 min | from about €30 | Worth it for late arrivals or families |
| Hire car from the airport | ~25 min drive | from about £20-30/day in shoulder season | Only if you plan island day trips |
When to go
Sweet spot: May, June, September and early October are the sweet spot: warm enough to swim, comfortable enough to walk the walls and the Old Town without melting, and cheaper than the school-holiday peak.
July and August are hot (regularly 33C+), busy with cruise day-trippers in the Old Town and most expensive on flights and hotels. Many Rhodes hotels and beach businesses run roughly April to October and wind down over winter, so a December trip is quiet, mild and limited rather than a beach break.
What it costs
UK return flights to Rhodes (RHO) are often £50-£120 in spring and autumn when booked a couple of months ahead; July and August peak-Saturday charter fares can run well above that. Direct flights run from many UK airports at roughly 4h15-4h40.
Daily budget per person
The fast way to overpay is eating on the Old Town's main tourist lanes near Sokratous Street. Walk a few streets into the quieter southern quarter or out to a New Town taverna and a gyros-and-salad dinner drops to taverna prices.
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Where to stay
Tours & tickets
Airport transfers
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