Going to Rhodes and looking for tips

JohnN

JohnN

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Hi,

Not so much for photos (I will have the camera but its a family holiday) but more for everything else - we're going to Rhodes later in the year but haven't been aboard in many many years, and never as far as Greece.

We've booked somewhere all inclusive but bar for a day or two plan to use it more as a base and bus around the island or walk into the town as we'd be pretty close.

So in short I'm after tips - ie places to see, things to avoid, tips on currency exchange all that sort of thing.

Looking forward to the trip and as it'll be for my lads seventh birthday and a big trip we'll not be able to afford again for many years (sold a camera and a couple of lenses to fund), I hope it will be special with few if any bad experiences.

Cheers for looking.

John
 
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Rhodes is lovely. At some point hire a car to get around the island, easy driving.
Rhodes town is really nice, talk a walk around the various alleys, do not take any offers up for free taxi rides, they are trying to sell you timeshare.
There's beautiful old ruins on the hill tops, the cross on the top of the hill near Rhodes is worth a visit, you can climb to the top of it. Butterfly valley and 7 springs are worth a visit. Take a small torch and walk through the tunnel at 7 springs.
I'll throw some photos up later
 
Lindos (spellings vary, even on the local signposts!) is nice - plenty of places to eat and drink and a few things to see. Rhodes town is hot, dusty, touristy but again, plenty to eat and drink and a bit more to see. I would hire a car if possible and explore a bit off the beaten track - most places that the bus takes you to are much nicer before the busses arrive or after they've gone. In particular, the beach at the far South.

Learn a little Greek. Even just please (parakalo), thank you (effaristo), good morning [up until evening!] (kali mera) and the like will be appreciated BUT might get a stream of Greek back at you!

Don't bother bringing any wine back - it's deliciously slurpable there but doesn't travel! House wine is usually the way to go - ask for a taste to make sure it's not too resinous for your tastes, since most restaurants will make their own and it can be very variable.

Can't advise as to which are currently the best places to eat - it's been a few years since we were there.
 
Thanks guys, so no free taxis (I think I might have been a bit suspicious :)) and thankfully none of us like wine, so dodged that one.

Thanks for the location tips.

Just applying for a EHIC card - not heard of one of those until just now, but even though we have insurance and so on seems insane not to get one.
 
JohnN said:
Just applying for a EHIC card - not heard of one of those until just now, but even though we have insurance and so on seems insane not to get one.
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Make the most of it while you can. It's a benefit of being a citizen of the EU.
 
EHIC is a must have as we found out when the g/daughter needed hospital treatment last year in Zante .not been to Rhodes for a good few years but as it sounds like your going mid summer-ish I would re.formulate your travel around sightseeing plans a bit ,especially if you haven't been that far south before you will find the heat curtails to much travelling around I.e 40 degs. plus at times and trust me travelling on a Greek bus in that heat isn't pleasant .
I think the others have outlined places of interest fairly well ,the only thing you have missed out is your actual holiday town ,as it's a far bigger island than you think .and what might seem a short walk into town can be a long slog sometimes.

And don't forget to say thank you/ cheers. When served its " yammos" they really appreciate it ,the main thing you will find though is the Greek people genuinely like the British unlike other European countries
 
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So valley of the butterflies is aptly names - thousands eberywhere on the trees. It's a climb up the valley but beautiful. Good cafe at the top. Take water!
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Lindos is stunning, well worth the walk around. Go just south of Lindos, next bay is this, quiet, stunning shallow water
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Rhodes town

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Been twice now and I never generally go back places.
 
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Thanks again, lovely pictures, I'll have to head over that way.

Temperature wise we dodged August and July as we thought they'd be too hot, especially for the kids, so it's supposed to max out at around 27 which should just be like a hot summers day, or at least that's the plan.
 
Sorry @the black fox I got cut off, cheers for the "cheers" funnily enough I went to Luxembourg many years ago with work and butchered French when trying to order some chocolates and apart from being hilarious the lass on the counter really did appear to appreciate the effort but quickly switched to English :)

@Byker28i, you really did the place justice, again lovely shots.

Just thinking what are they generally like over there, are they pushy or laid back?

Anything I really should avoid doing or saying?
 
You'll love it. Grab the tourists maps, have a look around and go explore, (with a car for a couple of days) so much to do and look at.

Don't ignore the signs to the little chapels, churches. Some stunning views. Tiny places hardly anyone visits

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JohnN said:
Sorry @the black fox I got cut off, cheers for the "cheers" funnily enough I went to Luxembourg many years ago with work and butchered French when trying to order some chocolates and apart from being hilarious the lass on the counter really did appear to appreciate the effort but quickly switched to English :)

@Byker28i, you really did the place justice, again lovely shots.

Just thinking what are they generally like over there, are they pushy or laid back?

Anything I really should avoid doing or saying?
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In rhodes town near the bus station are the timeshare people, just say no thanks. Rest of it was fine, no issues at all. I'ver so many photos, just trying to pick a few to get you excited :D
 
JohnN said:
Sorry @the black fox I got cut off, cheers for the "cheers" funnily enough I went to Luxembourg many years ago with work and butchered French when trying to order some chocolates and apart from being hilarious the lass on the counter really did appear to appreciate the effort but quickly switched to English :)

@Byker28i, you really did the place justice, again lovely shots.

Just thinking what are they generally like over there, are they pushy or laid back?

Anything I really should avoid doing or saying?
Click to expand...


I've not been to Rhodes but in general travelling is quite simple; basically don't be a knob and all will be ok (and maybe don't talk about EU loans or the economy). You will be forgiven a multitude of faux-pas if you are friendly with it - a smile is the same in any language, so if you are anything like your forum persona you'll be fine. Greeks are very accommodating so just enjoy your trip :)
 
Last time I saw time sales people was when I was ten in Tenerife with my uncle and I remember someone coming up to him asking if he spoke English, he just said "No", smiled and walked away, loved it.
 
Nawty said:
I've not been to Rhodes but in general travelling is quite simple; basically don't be a knob and all will be ok (and maybe don't talk about EU loans or the economy). You will be forgiven a multitude of faux-pas if you are friendly with it - a smile is the same in any language, so if you are anything like your forum persona you'll be fine. Greeks are very accommodating so just enjoy your trip :)
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Thank you :)

No, I do try to be polite and if at all possible even witty, so with any luck it'll carry across language barriers.

We'll all be learning key phrases, please, thank you, cheers, excuse me and the like so that'll be a fun build up.

I'm not the most confident driver (sadly the only driver in our house) but I may do as you say and hire one, after all where we're staying there is literally one across the road!
 
Prasonisi Beach - meeting place of the Aegean sea and the Med. Southwest part of the island. Really worth the journey down there.
 
JohnN said:
Thank you :)

No, I do try to be polite and if at all possible even witty, so with any luck it'll carry across language barriers.

We'll all be learning key phrases, please, thank you, cheers, excuse me and the like so that'll be a fun build up.

I'm not the most confident driver (sadly the only driver in our house) but I may do as you say and hire one, after all where we're staying there is literally one across the road!
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I travel a LOT, for work and pleasure and for many years I used to try and learn the language of wherever I was going (please, thank you, beer please etc) and in the end I have given up as pretty much everywhere in the world English is the second language and most people want to practice with you. I've lost count of the number of times I've been having a conversation with people in English and then they ask where you're are from... It truly is the international language and they will speak English in Rhodes and no need to feel guilty for it, the days of "the lazy English tourist" are long gone - the Germans, Swiss, Swedish will all be speaking English.

But still, I find please, thanks and, in particular, 'the bill please' are great things to know in the local language.

Also, having driven a lot in many places around the world I would say that the UK is the most difficult place to drive as it is just so crowded, so driving in a relatively empty Greek island will be a doddle. In fact the first place I hired a car abroad was in Zante and it is very easy as there is so little traffic, it makes you realise how rammed our roads are. When driving abroad the mantra I have in my head is: look left, go right. It works well for me and becomes second nature surprisingly quickly.
 
sounds like your going in june 35-to-40 degrees is the actual norm .be aware there sun tan oils (carrot oil is best ) works far better than ours ,just take one bottle from here to get you started then buy there .

rhodes takes me back a few years we went as a family kids ,grandkids etc the locals love that ,anyway one day we are round the swimming pool and the wife wanted some grub ,so she asked me to pop over to the money changer we used over the road to cash a travellers cheque this was about 12.30am dinner time ,so off i trots when i got there it was apparently closed (siesta time) as i went to leave a curtain pulled back and it was george asking what i wanted (there all bloody well called george) i told him i needed some drachmas .so he called me into the back ,and he politely asked if i would like a rum and coke o.k no problem .he changed my money as we chatted and drank which i put in my travel bag .well we chatted and drank ,and drank and chatted and laughed and when i eventually staggered back to the swimming pool at 5.30pm to find the wife there with folded arms and a face like thunder .think she said where the f*** have you been before she hit me and although she denies it pushed me in the pool . however she sent me to change £50 into drachmas and every penny was there .
i really do love the greek people :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::beer::beer::beer:
 
Lol, great story :)

Sounds great, I'm actually going in September, so hopefully not too hot
 
Lindos is always hotter than anywhere else on Rhodes, it's in a horseshoe shaped bay surrounded by cliffs that really seem to reflect the heat. It was well over 40 C when we were there (in August though). It's a beautiful spot though and worth walking up the hundreds of steps to see the ruins at the top.

We've been to Rhodes a couple of times and loved it. Beautiful island and the local people are usually very friendly and happy to see tourists, sure you'll have a good time.
 
JohnN said:
Lol, great story :)

Sounds great, I'm actually going in September, so hopefully not too hot
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We went in mid September, expecting hot compared to the UK but not TOO hot compared to Crete (where we'd been in the June.) 34°C when we arrived was a bit of a shock - 02:00 local time! We tend to keep a couple of bottles of water in the freezer compartment of the fridge and they act as freezer blocks in the cool bag on the beach so keep the bottles that were only fridge cold refreshingly chilled.

As said above, Petaloudes (Valley of the Butterflies [actually Jersey Tiger moths]) and Prasonissi beach are the 2 places we'd definitely revisit if we went back.
 
Quoth said:
Prasonisi Beach - meeting place of the Aegean sea and the Med. Southwest part of the island. Really worth the journey down there.
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I think thats the beach at the south end, where you can put one foot in either sea and feel the two different temperatures...
Lots of wind when we went, huge amount of kite surfers
 
JohnN said:
Lol, great story :)

Sounds great, I'm actually going in September, so hopefully not too hot
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oh dear oh dear
as i said earlier we went to zante last year ,mid september ,zante is further north than rhodes the average temperatures through the whole week were 40deg +and not really cooler at night ,the night we flew back there was a massive thunderstorm though .i think that bothered us more than the two earthquakes we had while there .
but you will love it ,get yourself a go-pro clone before going there a fun camera for either the pool or sea or paragliding etc .
 
Damn... and I thought I'd picked wisely - still as my wife just said "we'll get what we get" - thanks all and fingers crossed its not 40c!
 
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