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Day 20: Rhodes Arrival

July 25, 2021October 14, 2021, Rhodes Trip Reports
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This post is part of a series called Greek Odyssey 2021
Show More Posts
  • An Exciting Journey Begins
  • Touring Greece Without a Plan
  • Day 1: Crete Arrival
  • Day 2: It’s Windy in Palaiochora
  • Day 3: Palaiochora Morning Exercise
  • Day 4: Exploring South-Western Crete
  • Day 5: Grammeno Beach Again
  • Day 6: Finally the Wind Dies Down
  • Day 7: Elafonissi Beach
  • Day 8: Last Time at Grammeno Beach
  • Day 9: Last Day in Palaiochora
  • Day 10: Road Trip Across Crete
  • Day 11: Preveli and Agia Galini
  • Day 12: Phaistos and Matala
  • Day 13: Gortyn, Heraklion and Sitia
  • Day 15: Karpathos Arrival
  • Day 16: Karpathos Beach Day
  • Day 17: Karpathos Beach Day…Again
  • Day 18: Ammopi Beach by Bus
  • Day 19: Exploring Karpathos by Car
  • Day 20: Rhodes Arrival
  • Day 21: Exploring Rhodes Town
  • Day 22: Rhodes Town Beach
  • Day 23: Rhodes to Tilos
  • Day 24: Cutting Tilos Short
  • Day 25: Kos Town Beach Day
  • Day 26: Kos Car Hire
  • Day 27: Kos Beach Day Again
  • Day 28: Kos Town Hotel Move
  • Day 29: Why I’m Still on Kos
  • Day 30: Ed Arrives on Kos
  • Day 31: Boat Trip with Ed
  • Day 32: Road Trip (with Ed!)
  • Day 33: Ed Departs, I Remain
  • Days 34-36: Nothing But The Pool
  • Day 37: Back to Kos Town
  • Days 38-41: Living Life in Kos Town
  • Day 42: Visiting Tigaki
  • Day 43: Moving Hotel Room
  • Day 44: Moving Hotel Room Part 2
  • Day 45: Last Gym Session on Kos
  • Day 46: Kos Final Full Day
  • Day 47: Kos to Amorgos
  • Day 48: Amorgos to Naxos
  • Day 49: Relaxing in Agia Anna / Plaka Beach
  • Days 50-51: Agia Anna
  • Day 52: Exploring Naxos by Car
  • Day 53: Naxos to Ios
  • Day 54: Exploring South Ios Magganari Beach
  • Day 55: Ios Agia Theodoti Beach
  • Day 56: Ios Chill Day
  • Day 57: Ios Psathi Beach and Palaiokastro
  • Day 58: Ios Last Full Day
  • Day 59: Ios to Sikinos
  • Day 60: Relaxing on Sikinos
  • Day 61: Sikinos Sightseeing
  • Day 62: Sikinos to Sifnos
  • Day 63: Sifnos Cloudy First Day
  • Day 64: More Clouds Over Sifnos
  • Day 65: Sifnos Sunshine
  • Day 66: Mum and Dad Arrive on Sifnos
  • Day 67: Mum and Dad’s First Full Day on Sifnos
  • Day 68: Bus Trip to Apollonia
  • Day 69: Sun, Sand and Sea on Sifnos
  • Day 70: Exploring Sifnos by Car
  • Day 71: More Sifnos Sightseeing
  • Day 72: Our Last Full Day
  • Day 73: Homeward Bound
  • Greek Odyssey 2021: Retrospective

Sunday 25th July 2021

Packing Again

After a very enjoyable 5 nights on Karpathos, it was time to pack and get ready for another new island. I visited Rhodes once before, but it was way back in 1990 when I was 8 years old so it’s fair to say I don’t really remember it! I know we stayed in Pefkos and visited Rhodes Town for a day trip, but this time I will be based in Rhodes Town for all 3 nights.

My ferry, Seajets’ Paros Jet, was due to depart at 10:20 am so I had time for a relaxed breakfast before returning to my room to finish packing the last few bits of luggage. By 9 am, I was at the reception ready to check out and settle my bill.

The trip back to the port with my suitcase was much nicer than my arrival: all downhill and without the heat of the mid-afternoon sun beating down on me. It was early to start queuing for the ferry, so I sat down in a cafe and enjoyed a latte and read of my Kindle. I checked on MarineTraffic.com (an invaluable resource for ferry travel) and could see that Paros Jet was a bit behind schedule, so I didn’t bother leaving the cafe until 10:15.

Ferry Crossing

Before I left my hotel room, I’d taken a Covid-19 self-test in accordance with the travel restrictions currently in effect when unvaccinated and travelling between islands of the same regional unit. The test was negative and I filled out the self-declaration form, but when the ferry arrived and I got on board, nobody bothered to ask for it so it was a bit of a waste of time, though having the negative result was reassuring anyway.

The boat was only about 1/3rd full, so despite having a seat allocation on my ticket, I just picked a window seat on an empty row. I’m prone to getting motion sickness on ferries if the sea is rough and definitely prefer to see out of a window on boats where you can’t go outside. The journey was pretty smooth though, aside from a brief period when we left Chalki and it got a bit choppy! My early beer and doughnut didn’t help the situation, but I wasn’t sick and it calmed down again pretty quickly.

My last view of Karpathos as the ferry departed for Rhodes
Obligatory ferry beer – I can highly recommend Esa lager if you get the chance to sample it!

Rhodes Town

The journey to Rhodes took about 3 hours. We docked in Rhodes Town just before 2 pm having left Karpathos about 25 minutes behind schedule. I collected my suitcase, got off the boat and began walking down the harbour towards the town centre to the west. I was slightly annoyed to discover that the ferry had docked further east in the harbour than I’d anticipated, so the 20-minute walk to my next hotel turned out to be more like 30 minutes. I’ve booked 3 nights at the Hotel Lydia due to its central location in Rhodes Town: close to the old town but still within walking distance of the ancient sites to the west.

Once again, I arrived at the hotel a sweaty mess. Admittedly, I walk too fast as I’m always keen to reach the hotel quickly to get showered and dump my luggage so it’s my own fault I get so hot. Fairly nondescript from the outside, Hotel Lydia looked to be a step up from my room on Karpathos. The reception area was quite plush and I was soon given keys to a nice second-floor room with a large, comfortable bed, nice bathroom and decent balcony.

You know you’re on a more touristy Greek island when there’s a McDonald”s near your hotel!

Exploring Can Wait

Although I only have 3 nights here, being a last-minute decision to come to Rhodes meant I don’t have a packed itinerary. I had a nice cool shower in my room, then popped out to find a shop where I could buy some water and biscuits, then came back to the hotel to chill out for a few hours. You can probably tell by now that I’m not the kind of person who needs to fill every waking moment with activity – this is Greek exploration at a leisurely pace!!

Dinner Time

Although I hadn’t eaten badly on Karpathos, I had high hopes for some nicer meals in Rhodes Town, given its much larger size and popularity with tourists. Using a combination of Google Maps and TripAdvisor recommendations, I ended up at a nearby taverna called Greek Stories which turned out to be excellent, if a slightly expensive choice. For starters, I had mushrooms in a cream sauce with pita bread (tasty, but needed extra salt), followed by moussaka – and yes, it was in a bowl! It wasn’t quite as good as my previous one at Pantheon in Agia Galini (Crete), but pretty close.

Moussaka in a bowl, the way it’s meant to be 🙂

To walk off some of the food (and wine), I had a stroll around the area after dinner before heading back to the hotel to update my blog notes and have an early night.

Posted in Rhodes, Trip Reports
Tagged Karpathos, Lydia Hotel, Pigadia, Rhodes Town
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Will Appleby
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Day 21: Exploring Rhodes Town   

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Will Appleby

Listen to my ramblings about Greece and why I keep going back year after year.

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