ferryann

Booked to go here last 10 days in October in Hotel Nireus in the harbour. Can anyone give me any idea what to expect in terms of weather at that time of the year? Also can you give me an idea of how long the transfer will take from Rhodes airport. Thanks

billbarr

You've chosen a good hotel ferryann. It is in a great location with some terrific views past the harbour and out to the Turkish coast. From the hotel to the harbour-front shops and restaurants is a 5-minute walk. In addition, on the walk you will pass other small taverna's. Look (or listen!) for the one with the parrot.

Weather will be changeable and possibly windy with perhaps a few showers. It should still be warm though daytime (possibly low to mid 20’s) but you will need a light jacket in the evenings.

Where are you arriving from and have you already arranged the boat tickets for the trip to the island? The hydrofoil we used left from the Mandraki part of Rhodes harbour and there are car ferries from the main commercial port. I have no idea which will be running at the end of October but I presume you’ll have already checked that out. For us the journey time to the island took about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Rhodes airport is about 10 miles from the old town, which is a very short distance to the harbour. If traffic is low I guess you could get to the harbour from the airport in less than an hour (we travelled down to Mandraki harbour from Lindos therefore didn’t do the airport to harbour route – my timings are only guesstimates).

Bill

yipper

Hi,

Symi is my favorite Greek island, but I have a lot more Greek islands to explore. According to "Underground Weather", lst year there was no rain for the month of Oct. and the temperature appeared to be around 73F during the day and 60F at night. Have a fabulous time.

Yipper

yipper

Hi Again,

Just in case you have not found the Symi web site here it is.

www.symivisitor.com

Yipper

ferryann

We are boooked as a package deal with Olympic Holidays so they will be making the transfer arrangements. You know what these companies are like they never seem to tell you all the details in advance. It's as though they think only the rep can cope with that information and passengers should be content to be herded everywhere.

I have been researching on the net and finding out more about Symi. Although it has a good amount of visitors it seems to have a little more class and style than some of the other islands. I was booked to stay in Linos and I changed it. Main reasons were that I have not been in great health and the thought of walking up and down through Lindo all the time did not apeal to me. Also many of the forums on Lindos were filled with English people who once again had the main concern of which bars to go to for the cheapest booze. I do get tired of being on holiday and being surrounded by English people overdoing it on the drink. To me Symi looks like it doesn't attract that so that's what made me pick it as well as the beautiful picutres I saw of the island.

billbarr

Yes, I understand what you say ferryann. Be aware however, that Symi also has a good size British ex-pat community plus many regular visitors from the UK. Possibly more than from anywhere else. Mind you, I never saw any of them drunk!

However, just wait until that hydrofoil from Rhodes turns into the bay. The panorama of those classical buildings climbing up from the harbour on three sides I am sure will astound you. For that alone it made more of an impression on me than Santorini.

Bill

ferryann

Thanks. The fact that there are ex pat's is not a negative for me it's just the "I'm here for a week so I'm going to drink all I can" brigade who do. It looks to me like the atmosphere on Symi is likely to attract old squares like myself whose idea of a wild night out is a night in a Taverna. It struck me that you said it "made more of an impression" on you than Santorini. That is praise of the highest order as Santorini is a lot of people's dream Greek destination.

joe4212

ferryann

We visited Symi about 10 years ago but I bet it hasn't changed much. Santorini we enjoyed and all that folks say about it is true. Symi though is very, very different. It's the style of the buildings I am sure and fewer tourists. Old classical-columned colored buildings provide almost a frame around the harbor. All in all, life on Symi is at a much slower pace and I'd love to be there in October.

You mentioned about your health situation. Can I suggest you don't attempt to walk up the famous steps called Kallistrati (I think!) to the area above town where the views are tremendous. The little local bus hopefully still has a service connecting both. Perhaps yipper will know if there is still a schedule for that route.

joe