Rhodes holidays

Stretching for more than 4 kilometres, Faliraki Beach offers plenty of soft, velvety sand that’s comfortable to walk on. Or if you’d prefer, the wooden boardwalk means you can travel almost the entire length of the beach without setting foot on the sand. During the day it’s perfect for families, as little ones can swim while older ones try out some watersports. At night, it transforms into a party hotspot.

The Blue Flag beach at Kolymbia offers a kilometre of pebbly sand, and amenities including a café, restaurant, and changing rooms. You can try all sorts of watersports here, like jet-skiing and banana boating. There are also some nice parks nearby for when you fancy chilling in the shade. The best thing about Kolymbia Beach, however, is the great views you get of the mountaintop monastery at Tsambika.

Lardos Beach, or Lothiarika Beach, shows off a different personality depending on which part of it you visit. The central area is the main hub of activity, with sprawling resort hotels backing onto the sands. Boasting Blue Flag status, the clean waters are perfect for swimming and watersports. The outer edges of the beach are quieter and more natural. Here, you can relax and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Even the smaller resorts in Rhodes offer shopping opportunities. Towns such as Lardos and Afandou have marketplaces and quaint gift shops where you can pick up some souvenirs. These places are ideal if the kids want to spend their holiday money on some bits and pieces. You’ll find all the usual things here, including beach essentials, along with fridge magnets, keyrings, stationery, and slogan t-shirts.

Ceramics are a popular buy across the Greek Islands, and it’s certainly no different in Rhodes where you can pick up all sorts of handcrafted pots and dishes. Local produce makes for excellent gifts, too, and you can grab different types of Rhodian honey, olive oil, and wine to take back home with you. If you’re looking for local items in particular, be sure to check out platters and frames made from olive wood.

Rhodes Town up on the island’s north tip is best for designer shopping and high-end stores. While the Old Town is bursting with tiny gift shops hidden down the narrow, winding alleys, the New Town is home to major international brands and retailers. The shopping district between Therme Park and the harbour is where you’ll find stores such as H&M, MAC Cosmetics, Marks and Spencer, Sephora, and Superdry.

The smaller towns of Lardos and Kolymbia are perfect for a chilled-out evening in Rhodes. While on the smaller side, these resorts are far from sleepy. In fact, they can become quite lively as the sun sets, although the nightlife is much more laidback and casual than it is in the party hotspots of Faliraki and Rhodes Town. Down by the beaches, you’ll find some low-key beach bars serving up colourful cocktails, while the towns themselves offer traditional Greek tavernas where you can mingle with the locals.

Boasting an Old Town and a New Town, nightlife in the city of Rhodes is very varied, and you’ll find people of all ages enjoying nights out here. There are lots of tiny bars and traditional tavernas nestled away in the Old Town, while the New Town offers a more modern nightlife experience. The place to be is Orfanidou Street, which is where many of the bars are located. Faliraki is slightly less diverse, and is primarily a party town that attracts a younger crowd. All the action happens around Bar Street and Club Street.

Due to both the location and extensive history of Rhodes, many places and many cultures have influenced the island’s unique cuisine. What you’ll find in the typical dishes of Rhodes are influences from the Ottoman Empire and the Venetian period, alongside flavours from Cyprus, Turkey, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Mixed with Mediterranean zest, the cuisine here is vastly varied and definitely delicious.

While you’ll find all sorts of international fast food joints in the larger towns, the more traditional restaurants on the island often base their menus on locally available ingredients. Rhodes is known for being a very fertile island, so products such as olives, wheat, and nuts are grown in abundance here. Main dishes are typically meat, fish, or vegetable-based, while desserts frequently feature local honey.

One Rhodes speciality is a chickpea fritter known as pitaroudia. These can be eaten hot or cold, and are typically served with a tzatziki dip. They're the perfect light bite for lunch when it’s hot outside. In the evenings, as the temperature gets a little cooler, warming dishes like spetzofai and karavolos are good choices. Karavolos is a tomato-based snail stew, while spetzofai is similar, featuring sausages instead.

The most common wines of Rhodes are made with Athiri, Moschato Aspro, and Mandilaria grapes, which are grown in the Aegean area. However, many vineyards on the island are located on the slopes of Mount Attavyros. The cooler mountain temperatures result in slow-ripening fruits that change the flavour and acidity of the wine. Rhodian wines are typically very dry, except the sweet muscats.