Rhodes Island Greece

829 Cruises availables At departure or passage at this port

Azamara Club Cruises (53 Cruises)

Cruise Aza Azamara Club Cruises Journey ship

Azamara Journey

1114 Passengers
30277 tons
Visit the ship's page

Azamara Onward

30277 tons
Visit the ship's page

Celebrity Cruises (43 Cruises)

celebrity infinity

Celebrity Infinity

2170 Passengers
90940 tons
Visit the ship's page

Celestyal Cruises (169 Cruises)

Celestyal Discovery

1828 Passengers
Visit the ship's page
Celestyal Journey1

Celestyal Journey

Visit the ship's page

Costa Cruises (69 Cruises)

Cruise COS Costa Cruises Pacifica ship

Costa Pacifica

4118 Passengers
114500 tons
Visit the ship's page

Cunard (30 Cruises)

Cruise Cunard Queen Elizabeth ship

Queen Elizabeth

2081 Passengers
90400 tons
Visit the ship's page

Explora Journeys (21 Cruises)

Holland America Line (18 Cruises)

MSC Cruises (33 Cruises)

Oceania Cruises (57 Cruises)

Princess Cruises (76 Cruises)

Enchanted Princess.

Enchanted Princess

3660 Passengers
145000 tons
Visit the ship's page

Regent Seven Seas Cruises (26 Cruises)

Seabourn Cruise Line (34 Cruises)

Seabourn Ovation.

Seabourn Ovation

40350 tons
Visit the ship's page

Silversea Cruises (13 Cruises)

Viking Ocean Cruises (133 Cruises)

Viking Jupiter1

Viking Jupiter

Visit the ship's page
Viking Neptune1

Viking Neptune

Visit the ship's page

Rhodes Greece | Medieval Heritage & Greek Island Cruise Guide

From the pier, they're all you can see: honey-coloured walls, several metres thick, running for kilometres between round towers and fortified gates. Rhodes welcomes its passengers at the foot of the largest inhabited medieval town in Europe, and access is a privilege: five to ten minutes' walk separates the ship's gangway from the first gates of the walls. No shuttle, no motorcoach; you walk into the Middle Ages.

The City of the Knights

For more than two centuries, the Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John made Rhodes its fortress facing the East. The knights left behind a complete town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site: ramparts, inns, a hospital, a palace. Past the gates, pebble-paved lanes plunge beneath flying buttresses, between Gothic façades and Ottoman squares, for the Turkish centuries added their mosques and fountains to the ensemble. About two thousand people still live within the walls: laundry dries at medieval windows, and it's this blend of monument and ordinary life that makes the place so precious.

The Street of the Knights and the Palace of the Grand Masters

The town's most solemn thoroughfare climbs in a straight line to the top of the hill: the Street of the Knights, lined with the inns where the brothers of each "tongue" of the order lodged, those of France, Spain, Italy and England. The carved coats of arms can still be read above the doors. Ten minutes of easy climbing lead to the Palace of the Grand Masters, as massive as a fortress, whose halls house ancient mosaics and period furniture. The ramparts themselves can be walked in sections and offer a fine bird's-eye view of the rooftops and the gardens in the moats.

Mandraki and the memory of the Colossus

Following the waterfront north, a fifteen-minute stroll leads to Mandraki Harbour, the ancient military port. Three restored windmills stand on the breakwater, and two columns topped with a bronze stag and doe, emblems of the island, frame the harbour entrance. Tradition places the feet of the Colossus of Rhodes here, the statue of the sun god Helios counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and toppled by an earthquake more than two thousand years ago. Nothing remains of it, but imagination happily does the rest, facing the yachts and excursion caiques.

Lindos, the classic excursion

For long port calls, Lindos beckons about fifty kilometres to the south: a village of white houses huddled beneath an ancient acropolis perched on its rock, with a bay below. The site has to be earned, by road and then on foot or by donkey, and takes a full half day. Passengers who prefer to stay in town don't lose out: the old town is more than enough to fill the hours ashore.

Flavours and souvenirs

Taverns within the walls serve souvlaki, grilled octopus and island wine; shops offer natural sponges, olive oil and ceramics with Lindos patterns. The inner squares, such as the one with the seahorse fountain, offer shaded breaks away from the flow of visitors.

Crossing the wall in the other direction

Come evening, you simply pass back through the ramparts to find the ship, a few hundred metres away. Few port calls offer such a shortcut between two worlds: on one side, air-conditioned passageways; on the other, seven centuries of open-air history. As you pull away, the golden walls slowly slip behind the stern, and you understand why the order defended this rock for so long: some places never entirely surrender.

Frequently Asked Questions

At the foot of the walls themselves: five to ten minutes' walk separates the gangway from the first gates of the medieval enclosure. No shuttle or coach is needed to enter the old town.
The largest inhabited medieval city in Europe, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Knights Hospitaller of Saint John left a complete town here: ramparts, inns, hospital and palace, to which the Ottoman centuries added mosques and fountains.
The old town is more than enough: the Street of the Knights, the Palace of the Grand Masters, sections of the ramparts and a break at a taverna inside the walls. A quarter-hour walk north adds the Mandraki basin.
The most solemn axis of the city, climbing in a straight line to the top of the hill, lined with the inns that housed the brothers of each 'tongue' of the order, France, Spain, Italy, England. The carved coats of arms are still legible above the doors.
Nothing at all. Tradition places the statue's feet at the entrance to Mandraki basin, where two columns now carry a bronze stag and doe, but the Colossus was toppled by an earthquake more than two thousand years ago and no trace survives.
Only on a long call: Lindos lies about fifty kilometres south and needs a full half day. The white village and its perched ancient acropolis must be earned, by road and then on foot. Staying in town is no loss: the old city easily fills the hours ashore.
Yes, around two thousand people still live inside the walls. Laundry dries at medieval windows, and it is this blend of monument and ordinary life that gives the place its value.
Natural sponges, olive oil and ceramics with Lindos motifs, sold in shops inside the walls. The taverns serve souvlaki, grilled octopus and island wine.
Good shoes: the lanes are paved with pebbles and the climb to the Palace of the Grand Masters takes about ten minutes. Inner squares, such as the one with the seahorse fountain, offer shaded pauses.
The euro and Greek, with English spoken throughout the old town. Cards work in most shops; keep cash for small stalls.