Rhodes🇬🇷

The largest inhabited medieval town in Europe (UNESCO 1988) — 4 km of intact 14th-century Knights Hospitaller walls enclosing the cobblestoned old town with 6,000 residents. Walk the entire wall circuit (€2 entry, accessed from the Palace) for the full panoramic perspective. The Street of the Knights (Odos Ippoton) — a perfectly preserved 600-metre cobbled street lined with the Inns of the seven medieval Tongues (national chapters) of the Order — is the architectural centrepiece.

A 14th-century Hospitaller fortress at the highest point of the Old Town — destroyed by a gunpowder explosion in 1856, then rebuilt by the Italians during their 1912–1943 occupation as a summer residence for King Victor Emmanuel III (the rebuild is somewhat fanciful). The 158 rooms now house Hellenistic and Roman mosaics from Kos and the wider Dodecanese, and Hospitaller-era artefacts. €10 entry; the upper floors are closed for restoration as of 2025–2026.

The second-most-photographed acropolis in Greece — a 116-metre cliff-top complex layered through three eras: a Byzantine chapel, a Hospitaller fortress, and at the heart, the 4th-century BC Temple of Athena Lindia (the original sanctuary that drew Alexander the Great as a pilgrim). Twin azure bays — St Paul's Bay (named for the apostle's reputed landing) and Lindos main bay — fan out below. €6 entry; reach the summit on foot (steep stepped path), by donkey (€8, ethics debated), or via private taxi up the back access road.

The ancient Greek acropolis of Rhodes Town — much less restored than the Athenian or Lindian ones — sprawls across Monte Smith hill 2 km west of the Old Town. The stadium (4th century BC, restored), the partly-reconstructed Doric Temple of Apollo Pythios, the small Hellenistic Odeon, and the 200-metre running track are the main remains. Free entry, atmospheric at sunset, and rarely crowded. The view back over the New Town and out to Symi island is exceptional.

A wooded river valley 25 km southwest of Rhodes Town where, from late June to early September, millions of Jersey tiger moths gather in the millions on the trunks of storax trees — drawn by their distinctive resin. The marked path through the valley climbs 1.5 km past waterfalls; the moths cluster so densely on tree bark that they appear at first as dead leaves, then explode into red flight when disturbed (visitors are asked NOT to disturb them). €5 entry June–September.

The northern harbour where the 33-metre Colossus of Rhodes stood from 280 BC until 226 BC — now flanked by two stone columns topped with a stag and doe (the Rhodian symbols) and three 15th-century Hospitaller windmills. The popular myth that the Colossus straddled the harbour with ships passing between its legs is medieval invention; archaeological consensus places it at the harbour entrance on the eastern side, on what is now Saint Nicholas Fort.

Housed in the 15th-century Hospitaller Hospital — itself one of the great surviving Crusader buildings — the museum holds the famous "Aphrodite of Rhodes" (1st century BC marble), Hellenistic and Roman finds from across the Dodecanese, and an extensive medieval collection. The hospital interior is at least as architecturally interesting as the contents. €8 entry, in the heart of the Old Town.

A 1 km arc of golden sand on the east coast 25 km south of Rhodes Town — one of the most beautiful beaches on the island, with shallow turquoise water excellent for families. Above it on a 300-metre rock pinnacle stands the tiny 18th-century Tsambika Monastery; locals climb the stepped path for fertility blessings (women who climb barefoot are said to be granted children). The walk takes 25 minutes; the views back over the beach and east coast are extraordinary.