When traveling on our Mediterranean cruise, we had a port of call in Rhodes, Greece. Rhodes was not on our original itinerary, but because of the turmoil in Ephesus, Turkey (where we were originally going) we had to switch ports of call and Rhodes was added to our itinerary.  As much as I would have liked to visit Turkey, Rhodes did not disappoint! We opted to make our own plans when visiting Rhodes, so if you plan to do the same, this post is for you!

Rhodes, Greece is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is also the island group’s historical capital. Historically, Rhodes was famous for the Colossus of Rhodes, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Our day began bright and early. Since we hadn’t had a beach day on our cruise, we had decided Rhodes would be a great place to do that. The beaches are very popular in Greece and since their beaches are not the type where you can lay your towel in the sand and call it a day (think more of black gravel instead of real sand), we had to get to the beach early in order to get beach loungers. We decided on Elli Beach! This beach is walkable from the cruise ship terminal and is actually pretty enjoyable since there is so much scenery.

To Get to Elli Beach:

  • Turn right once you come out of the cruise ship terminal and walk along the little sand beach in front of the first entrance in the wall.
  • Keep walking along the seafront following the outside of the walls.
  • When you come to an end and face the wall, find the little passage in the wall to go through or follow the road. That way you will leave the old town behind and head towards the new town.
  • Keep walking past the Mandraki Harbor waterfront and all its boats advertising diving tours and ferries/tours to Lindos
  • When you get to the big car park, cross it! By now you should see the sea in front of you and you’ve found the beach.  (It seems like it is complicated or you think you have gotten lost, but I promise you haven’t!)

Once we got to Elli Beach, we took our umbrella and chairs and ordered from the beach service. You can order drinks and food. There is also a restaurant right on the beach if you choose to sit for lunch on the beach instead. Be aware if you decide to go into the water that is it not your typical United States Beach that you might be used to. When you get into the water, the “sand” (gravel) is hard to walk in and can make it difficult to get in and out of the water. There is also a really cool diving platform if you decide you want to swim out to sea and jump off! The bar service was excellent and even brought a bucket with ice to keep our drinks cold. There are also public restrooms here, which is a great bonus. Remember, this beach can get very crowded, so make sure to get there early!

After a couple of hours of baking in the sun, we were ready for lunch. We wanted to explore more of Rhodes, so we packed up and started walking back toward New Town. We came up to Yachting Club Café which is on the water (with plenty of shade) and decided to have lunch here. The food and drinks were delicious! There were so many cute cafes that all looked good, so just know that you can’t go wrong with picking a place to eat.

After lunch, we kept walking back towards our cruise ship. We walked through the Nea Agora (known as the New Market) which has a lot of small cafes and restaurants in it along with traditional Rhodian and Greek products to buy. From there, we went into Rhodes New Town. This is across from Mandrake Harbor from Old Town and contains A TON of shops, markets, and restaurants. Rhodes New Town is an amazing combination of medieval and elective architecture with modern buildings. All of the shops are inside the castle walls, which makes it a fun experience just walking through and browsing the shops.

After doing a bit of shopping (I usually only stick to buying ornaments from each new place I visit) but couldn’t help myself with other fun things I was finding (Ok, it might have been the Greek beer and cocktails I had earlier that day that influenced me, hehe) we made the walk back to our cruise ship. What I liked most about Rhodes was how close everything was to the cruise ship terminal. You can easily have a nice and relaxing day while enjoying your time in Rhodes!

Love and Travel Dust,

Molly