judyrose

We are in planning stages for our summer 05 trip. I am trying to decide how we should spend our 6 days in Rhodes. Should we take day trips to Simi, Marmaris, etc. or relocate and split our time and stay a day or two in hotels there.

Eloise

Do you have a current and up-to-date guidebook for Greece? Before you decide to stay in Rhodes for six days, I would suggest that you study it carefully.

I was in Rhodes in 1978 and again in 1994. Lindos, which had been a charming, quiet village with a beautiful beach, had become a totally commercialized mass-tourism trap. From things that I have read, it would seem that the town of Rhodes itself, where the Old Town was still quite lovely in 1994, has also been overwhelmed by mass tourism since then.

I think I would suggest staying on some of the smaller and less well-known islands.

AR

We were in Rhodes in 2001 and friends stayed in Lindos about a month ago. They said that the island, and Falaraki in particular, had been "cleaned up" from the alcohol fuelled place of the last few summers.
In 2001 we found Rhodes town to be charming and hardly over-run by mass tourists. Okay, it's touristy but not as bad as that. Lindos was really nice and quiter than the northen tip of the island.
I can't comment on whether it has changed since Eloise went in 1994, but we found it to be a place that we would like to return to.
I wanted to go to Marmaris - if only to say that I'd been to Turkey and set foot on the true Asian continent. However, the cost of leaving the island was prohibitive due to exit and landing fees on top of the boat trip. Many have commented that I had a lucky escape by not going to Marmaris due to the hawking.

judyrose

We've been to Santorini and Crete and this time would like to go to different islands. We chose Rhodes because we could fly there and take short trips out from there.But we are open to change. We have about 6 days. Does anyone have some good ideas? We do not do well on long boat rides. Two hours is tops.

flypet

Rhodes is still a great destination. I've been visiting Lindos/Pefkos for 20 years and yes, every visit seems more crowded, but the Greeks call that "progress". Oh well, it is still very easy to enjoy everything about the island. Marmaris is a good trip. You might want to keep Santorini on your intinerary. We do that every trip also. And another interesting island is Hydra. Whatever you decide you will probably enjoy!

yipper

hi,
I would diffenently go to Symi. It is a charming island. I would stay over night on Symi. I think the charm is not only in the town, but in the beaches that you get to by boat. If you go for a day trip, you do not have a lot of time before the ferry return to Rhodes. Also, there are other islands near Rhodes that you can take a day trip. I can not find my book about them, but go to Matt Barrett's web site. On Rhodes are wineries and a butterfly valley. It is not my favorite Greek island, but i like it and think you can find plenty to do for 6 days. Have a great trip.

ealing_calling

Hi Judy,

Yes, fly into Rhodes, but hop to other islands for charm and real island hospitality. Rhodos has some great archaeological sites though -- hit those then get out. Both Symi and Astipalea are very special places, here's that Matt Barret website mentioned:

http://www.greektravel.com/greekislands/

Unfortunately Rhodes has been sacrificed on the altar of mass tourism & some resorts are real disasters now:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/w...ds/3173129.stm

HTH.

judyrose

Thanks for the info and the great links. I think we will stay in Symi for 1 or 2 nights and take day trips like you suggested.