From the walls to the water.
The Lindos clifftop, the walled Old Town, boat days across to Symi and long gold evenings on the water: what each tour is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.
Seven that fill first.
First trip or fifth, these seven set the pace. The speedboat that beats the ferry to Symi, the all-inclusive catamaran that turns lunch into a whole afternoon, the sunset sail the whole harbour photographs. Start here.
High-Speed Boat to Symi Island and St George’s Bay
High-speed boat from Rhodes to Symi plus a swim stop at St George’s Bay. 3 hours ashore, with $55 value.
From $55 per person
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★ 4.0Safe betCruise to Symi Island and Saint George’s BayFrom $412,137 reviews
★ 4.8Books out fastAll-Inclusive Catamaran Cruise with Lunch and DrinksFrom $832,002 reviews
★ 4.5Crowd favouriteSymi Island & Panormitis Monastery Day Trip by BoatFrom $531,784 reviews
★ 4.5Worth the fareBoat Trip to Symi Island with swimming stop at St George BayFrom $481,753 reviews
★ 4.6Easy winLindos Cruise with 2 Swim StopsFrom $471,404 reviews
★ 4.0Traveller favouriteHop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Bus TourFrom $231,296 reviews
The big day out leaves the harbour.
Cast off from Mandraki, cross open water to the pastel amphitheatre of Symi town, swim off St George’s Bay where the cliffs drop straight into the blue, and be back before the evening ferries. This is the day most people rebook before they even fly home.
Symi, swim stops, or sunset?
Rhodes runs on boat days, and the right one depends on your kind of afternoon. Three ways to spend it, each its own sort of day. Pick the one that sounds like you, and every option behind it is already reviewed and priced.
Another island
The Symi escape
7 - 8 hours · from $35 · 4,265 reviews
Open water to a second island entirely: the pastel houses stacked up Symi’s harbour, the monastery at Panormitis, a swim off St George’s Bay on the run home. The furthest you’ll get from the resort strip in a single day.
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Lunch aboard
The lazy bays run
6 hours · from $83 · 2,002 reviews
A wide catamaran, three or four bays you can only reach from the sea, lunch and unlimited drinks that stretch the afternoon out. Anthony Quinn Bay, Kallithea, the coves past Ladiko. You swim, they pour, the boat drifts.
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Dusk run
The last sail of the day
3 hours · from $35 · 1,513 reviews
Cast off as the light turns, a Greek BBQ going on deck, the Old Town walls glowing amber behind you and the sun dropping into the sea off the west coast. Two or three hours, drinks in hand, nowhere to be.
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Late light suits Rhodes best.
The heat lifts, the day-boats come in, and the whole west coast turns to gold. A BBQ sail out of Mandraki, the Old Town walls glowing over the moat, a late table down a lamplit lane. Rhodes is a softer island after six, and the water is where to watch it happen.
Rhodes has poured its own wine for centuries.
The vines climb Attavyros above Embona, the cellars open for tastings, and the food-and-wine sails pair a Greek buffet with the sunset. Three to book if you like a glass with the view.
The clear water hides half the island.
The sea off Rhodes runs clear to the seabed, and there is more than one way under it: a yellow submarine out of the harbour, a first dive on the reefs, a snorkel cruise into Anthony Quinn Bay. Spend an afternoon looking down.
The walls have held for seven centuries.
The Knights of St John left the best-preserved medieval town in Europe, and people still live inside it. The Street of the Knights, the Grand Master’s Palace, the dry moat you can walk end to end. A good guide turns a maze of cobbles into eight hundred years of story.
One island, six different days.
The Old Town for the history. Lindos for the postcard. Anthony Quinn Bay for the water. Symi when you want a second island entirely.
Name the day you want.
A dozen shapes of Rhodes day, one tile each. Behind every tile: the tours worth the money, priced and reviewed.
Some day trips need a boat.
The speedboats make the map bigger. Symi’s stacked harbour, quiet Chalki, even Marmaris across the water in Turkey, plus the green heart of the island inland. All a morning away, and the return leg is part of the ticket.
The classic three-day run.
You can’t see all of Rhodes in one trip; you can absolutely do the right three days. This is the run we’d hand a friend landing at Diagoras tomorrow.
Day 1
Start inside the walls
Into the Old Town at opening, the Street of the Knights and the Palace before the coaches, lunch in a courtyard taverna, then the harbour and its forts. Easy pace, deep history.
Plan day one →
Day 2
Down the coast to Lindos
The acropolis on its cliff, a swim in St Paul’s Bay, the whitewashed lanes below, then the Seven Springs valley on the way home, when the afternoon wants shade.
Plan day two →
Day 3
Put out to sea
The speedboat to Symi and its pastel harbour, a swim stop at St George’s Bay, back into Mandraki as the sun drops. Save this one for the settled forecast.
Plan day three →
Reviews straight off the gangway.
★ 4.9Hiking Tour to the Summit of Akramitis with PhotosFrom $6628 reviews
★ 4.5Kamiros,Kritinia,Embona,Mt Profitis Ilias & Kallithea tourFrom $6029 reviews
★ 5.0Best Of Lindos & Rhodes – Guided Private Tour – Half Day – Groups Up 19 PeopleFrom $1,25529 reviews
★ 5.0Private Full/Half-Day Boat Trip in Greece with Food and DrinksFrom $68429 reviews
★ 4.6Free exploration of Rhodes City Transfer.From $2229 reviews
★ 5.0Private Day Tour to Lindos!From $60030 reviews
★ 5.0Discover Rodos on an E-Bike – 6-Hour Rental ExperienceFrom $2430 reviews
★ 4.7Lindos, Pefkos: Summer Breeze All Inclusive Sunset CruiseFrom $4530 reviews