Solo travel · Rhodes · Greece
Solo travel in Rhodes
How to enjoy Rhodes at your own pace.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Quick answer
Rhodes Town is the easiest base for solo travellers, with walkable sights, buses to the rest of the island and the most year-round life. Day boats and organised tours make it simple to see Symi, Lindos and the west coast without a car. Many solo travellers base themselves in Rhodes New Town.
Key facts
- Base
- Rhodes New Town
- Getting around
- Bus
- Emergency number
- 112 (European emergency number)
- Language
- Greek
Solo travel tips
- Base yourself in Rhodes New Town or the Old Town to have buses, boats and evening life on foot.
- Join a boat trip to Symi or along the east coast to meet other travellers.
- Eat at the counter of the New Market grill stalls or in Old Town mezedopoleia, where single diners are common.
- Hire a car for a day with others from your hotel or a tour to split the cost of seeing the west coast.
- Keep bags zipped in the crowded Old Town lanes when cruise ships are in port.
Where to stay
$$ · Best for first-timers, budget, nightlife and solo travellers
Rhodes New Town
The Italian-era new town north of the walls holds Mandraki Harbour, the New Market (Nea Agora), the casino and Elli Beach on the island's northern tip. It has the widest choice of mid-range hotels, the bus stations for both coasts and boats to Symi and Lindos, plus the bars of Orfanidou Street. It suits travellers who want a town base with a beach on the doorstep.
- Good
- Transport hub for buses and boats; Town beach and Old Town within walking distance; Good-value hotels and apartments
- Watch out
- Busy traffic along the seafront roads; Elli Beach is crowded in July and August
- Nearby
- Elli Beach, Mandraki Harbour, Rhodes Aquarium, Monte Smith
Great on your own
Palace · Rhodes Old Town
Palace of the Grand Master
Visit early in the morning before cruise-ship groups arrive, then walk down the Street of the Knights while it is still quiet.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Iconic
- History
- Architecture
- Rainy day
Historic site · Lindos
Acropolis of Lindos
Climb as early as the site allows; the path from the village takes 15–20 minutes, has no shade and gets very hot by late morning.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours with the climb
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Iconic
- History
- Views
- Photo spot
Neighbourhood · Lindos
Lindos village and St Paul's Bay
Stay for the evening if you can: once the tour buses leave, the lanes are calm and the acropolis is floodlit.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Couples
- Photo spot
- Architecture
- Iconic
Street · Rhodes Old Town
Street of the Knights
Come back after dark, when the street is lit and almost empty.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Architecture
- Photo spot
- After dark
Historic site · Rhodes Old Town
Old Town walls and moat
Enter the moat near the d'Amboise Gate by the Palace of the Grand Master and follow it south; go in the morning or late afternoon in summer.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Outdoors
- Photo spot
_02.jpg){kind=link}
Museum · Rhodes Old Town
Archaeological Museum of Rhodes
Combine it with the Palace of the Grand Master on a hot afternoon; the stone halls stay cool.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Art
- Rainy day
Meeting people
- Wine tasting in Embonas — Drive up to the mountain village of Embonas, below Mount Attavyros, to taste Athiri whites and Mandilaria reds at family wineries, then continue to Siana for souma and honey.
- Fish lunch at Kamiros Skala — The small west-coast harbour of Kamiros Skala has fish tavernas by the water, where boats leave for Halki; combine lunch with ancient Kamiros and Kritinia Castle.
- Orfanidou Street, New Town — Rhodes Town's 'Bar Street', a run of music bars and clubs near Elli Beach that stay busy until the early hours in summer.
- Rhodes Old Town — Courtyard bars and wine bars in the lanes off Sokratous Street and around Hippocrates Square, in medieval settings.
Sensible precautions
Rhodes is generally relaxed for visitors. Take care with heat and sunburn in July and August, strong currents on windy west-coast beaches, and scooter and quad-bike accidents on narrow roads. Keep an eye on bags in the crowded Old Town lanes when cruise ships are in port.
- Emergency number
- 112 (European emergency number)
- Staying connected
- Hotels, cafés and beach bars widely offer Wi-Fi; EU roaming applies to European SIMs, and Greek prepaid SIMs and eSIMs are easy to buy.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Rhodes good for solo travellers?
Rhodes Town is the easiest base for solo travellers, with walkable sights, buses to the rest of the island and the most year-round life. Day boats and organised tours make it simple to see Symi, Lindos and the west coast without a car.
+Where should solo travellers stay in Rhodes?
Rhodes New Town: Mandraki Harbour, Elli Beach and the island's main bar streets.