Rhodes is Greece’s fourth-largest island and its most historically layered: Dorian Greek, Hellenistic, Byzantine, Arab, Crusader, Ottoman, and Italian all left something behind. The Old Town alone is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here is what is worth seeing and how to see it properly, with specific products, prices, and honest assessments of each activity. All prices are approximate as of 2026.
Top Tours at a Glance
| Tour | Duration | Price (from) | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best of Rhodes Tour: Lindos and Medieval City | 6 hrs | from approx. €65 | First-timers, families |
| Rhodes Deluxe Tour: Lindos, Old Town and Wine Tasting | 7 hrs | from approx. €67 | Culture seekers, luxury |
| Rhodes Old Town Small-Group Walking Tour with Guide | 3 hrs | from approx. €75 | Solo travellers, culture seekers |
| Rhodes Town Private Walking Tour with Licensed Guide | 3 hrs | from approx. €85 | Luxury travellers, private groups |
| Rhodes Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour Bus | Flexible | from approx. €23 | Budget travellers, families |
| Symi Island and Panormitis Monastery Day Trip by Boat | 8-9 hrs | from approx. €40 | Culture seekers, adventure seekers |
| Full-Day Boat Trip to Symi Island | 8-9 hrs | from approx. €35 | Budget travellers, solo travellers |
| High-Speed Boat to Symi Island and St George’s Bay | 8-9 hrs | from approx. €50 | Couples, those short on time |
| Rhodes Sunset Cruise to Symi with 3 Hours Free Time | 5 hrs | from approx. €55 | Couples, romance seekers |
| Day Trip to Lindos from Rhodes | 7-8 hrs | from approx. €35 | Budget travellers, history lovers |
Browse all Rhodes tours on GetYourGuide
For Families and First-Timers
Families arriving in Rhodes for the first time face a clear choice: spend the day in the Old Town, or combine it with the Lindos acropolis. The Old Town is manageable independently, but Lindos benefits significantly from guided access - the site layout is complex and the heat on the unshaded acropolis path in July and August is intense enough to demoralise younger visitors without a well-paced guide.
Best of Rhodes Tour Including Lindos and Medieval City
This 6-hour guided tour is the most efficient single booking for first-time families in Rhodes. The Old Town section walks the Street of the Knights (Ippoton), one of the best-preserved medieval streets in the world - the national inns of the Knights of St. John, each built in the architectural style of its home country, line both sides in an extraordinary 600-metre stretch. The Lindos section provides guided access to the acropolis with its Temple of Athena Lindia and views over St. Paul’s Bay below, followed by free time in the whitewashed village. Hotel pickup is included. From approximately €65 per person as of 2026.
For families who want more time at each site, the Day Trip to Lindos from Rhodes focuses entirely on Lindos: transport from Rhodes Town, guided acropolis visit, and time to explore the village independently. From approximately €35 per person. A better option for families with older children who want to spend 2-3 hours on the acropolis rather than rushing through on a combined tour.
Duration: 6-8 hours. Difficulty: Moderate on the Lindos acropolis path (steep and uneven). Closed shoes rather than sandals are essential. Best season: May-June and September-October. July-August: the Lindos acropolis in afternoon heat is genuinely punishing.
For Solo Travellers and Culture Seekers
The Rhodes Old Town rewards careful exploration in a way that few medieval sites in the Mediterranean match. The Ottoman mosques and hammams built after the 1522 Turkish conquest layer over the Crusader foundation, which itself sits on Byzantine and Roman remains. A small-group walking tour brings this into coherent narrative. Solo travellers in particular benefit from the group dynamic: the Old Town’s maze-like street plan is confusing enough that self-guided exploration can become frustrating rather than illuminating.
Rhodes Old Town Small-Group Walking Tour with Guide
This 3-hour small-group tour covers the Jewish Quarter (one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities in the Greek world, established by Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 by the same decree that funded Columbus), Ippokratous Square, the Street of the Knights, the Grand Master Palace, and the fortifications. Groups are capped at 20, creating genuine engagement with the guide rather than a lecture delivered to a crowd. The Jewish Quarter section is particularly well-handled: its history spans Crusader tolerance, Ottoman administration, and the deportation of 1943 that reduced a centuries-old community to near-extinction. From approximately €75 per person as of 2026.
Rhodes Deluxe Tour Including Lindos, Old Town and Wine Tasting
For culture seekers who want the full island narrative in a single day, this 7-hour tour combines the Old Town and Lindos with an olive oil, honey, and wine tasting at a local estate. Rhodes was the largest wine exporter in the ancient world - the Rhodian amphora stamp is found across the entire Mediterranean archaeological record. A contemporary tasting with that context transforms what would otherwise be a routine stop into something genuinely interesting. From approximately €67 per person. Air-conditioned transport and a licensed guide throughout.
Duration: 3-7 hours depending on option. Difficulty: Easy in the Old Town; moderate at Lindos. Best time: Morning for the Old Town (cooler and better light); early afternoon at Lindos before the cruise ship passengers arrive.
For Budget Travellers
Budget travellers in Rhodes have genuinely good options. The Old Town is walkable independently, entry fees are modest, and the hop-on hop-off bus covers the island’s main sites at a price that undercuts most guided tours. The value of organised tours here is primarily logistics and guiding quality rather than access.
Rhodes Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour Bus
The hop-on hop-off bus is the most cost-efficient way to see Rhodes Town and the surrounding coastal sites if you are self-directing. Stops cover the Old Town city walls, the Acropolis of Rhodes at Monte Smith (with its partially reconstructed Temple of Pythian Apollo), the beach resorts of Ialyssos and Faliraki, and the town of Lindos. You ride the full loop in about an hour, hop off at whatever interests you, and board the next bus. From approximately €23 per person as of 2026. This is the budget traveller’s best tool for covering ground efficiently without committing to a guided format. It also pairs well with the Old Town self-guided walk: catch the bus at Mandraki Harbour, ride to Acropolis of Rhodes, then walk back to the Old Town through the New Town.
Full-Day Boat Trip to Symi Island
This catamaran day trip to Symi covers the Gialos harbour experience at the most accessible price point in the Rhodes tour market. From approximately €35 per person. No guide is included, but the harbour town is navigable independently: Gialos at the waterfront, Kali Strata (375 stone steps) climbing to Chorio village above, and Pedi beach on the far side of the hill. The 8-9 hour format leaves around 4 hours on Symi — enough for the harbour walk, the Kali Strata climb, and a harbour-side lunch.
The Day Trip to Lindos from Rhodes at approximately €35 provides return coach transport and guided acropolis access in one of the more affordable guided day-trip formats in the Dodecanese. Good value for history-focused budget travellers who want guided interpretation at the acropolis without paying a premium.
Duration: Flexible (hop-on hop-off) or 7-9 hours (day trips). Difficulty: Easy on the bus and boat; moderate at Lindos and Symi’s Kali Strata. Best season: May-October.
For Adventure and Nature Lovers
Rhodes’s coastline east and south of the tourist strip holds cleaner, quieter water. Boat excursions from Mandraki Harbour cover Anthony Quinn Bay, Ladiko Bay, and the Faliraki sea caves - coves and rock formations that are only accessible from the water. The island’s southern cape, around Prasonisi, is one of the best windsurfing locations in Europe.
High-Speed Boat to Symi Island and St George’s Bay
This fast boat crosses to Symi in significantly less time than the standard catamaran, adding a 30-minute swim stop at St George’s Bay - a sheltered cove with crystal-clear water that is difficult to reach by road. The faster crossing means more time on the island (around 3 hours in Gialos). From approximately €50 per person as of 2026. The speed and the bay stop together make this the most activity-dense Symi option for travellers who want to do more than sit on a slow ferry.
Coastal boat excursions from Mandraki Harbour (local operators, walk-up booking, approximately €35 per person) cover Anthony Quinn Bay and the Faliraki sea caves in 5 hours with snorkelling stops. Named after the actor who filmed The Guns of Navarone in the bay in 1960 and subsequently bought the cove, Anthony Quinn Bay has excellent snorkelling visibility over a clear sandy floor.
Duration: 5-9 hours. Difficulty: Easy. Best season: May-October.
For Couples and Romantic Travellers
Symi at sunset is one of the more memorable scenes in the Aegean. The neoclassical harbour mansions in ochre, terracotta, and yellow glow in late afternoon light in a way that photography rarely captures accurately. A sunset cruise covering the crossing in both directions - departing Rhodes in late afternoon, arriving Symi in golden hour, returning under stars - is the natural format for couples who want the island at its most atmospheric.
Rhodes Sunset Cruise to Symi Island with 3 Hours Free Time
Boarding the Aphrodite Princess in late afternoon, this cruise sails to Symi in time for the 3-hour exploration window that covers the harbour walk, a waterside dinner at one of the tavernas on the quay, and the walk up towards Chorio for the best elevated view of the harbour below. The return crossing at dusk and into dark has the Rhodian coast lit from the sea - a different perspective from the standard daytime arrival. From approximately €55 per person as of 2026. This is the most romantic single evening available from Rhodes Town.
Duration: 5 hours including crossing. Difficulty: Easy. Best season: May-October. Book ahead: 3-5 days in July and August - sunset departure times fill quickly.
For Luxury Travellers and Private Groups
Private touring in Rhodes removes the compromises of group formats: a licensed guide who can slow down for detailed discussion of the Grand Master Palace’s iconographic programme, or spend extra time in the Archaeological Museum’s Archaic statuary collection. Private transport makes Lindos manageable before the cruise-ship rush arrives at 10am.
Rhodes Town Private Walking Tour with Licensed Guide
This private tour of the New Town and Medieval City with a fully licensed guide allows depth and pace that small-group tours cannot match. The guide can adjust the itinerary around your particular interests: the Military Orders’ architecture, the Ottoman conversion programme, the Italian Art Deco buildings of the New Town (added under Mussolini’s administration between 1912 and 1943), or the pre-Ottoman Jewish community. From approximately €85 per person, competitive for couples or small groups sharing a single guide. One of the better private tour options in the southern Aegean for visitors who want genuine scholarly depth.
For luxury travellers who want the full island narrative in a single day, the Rhodes Deluxe Tour Including Lindos, Old Town and Wine Tasting with air-conditioned private transport covers more ground with more comfort than the standard coach options. From approximately €67 per person.
Duration: 3-7 hours. Difficulty: Easy to moderate. Best time: Early morning start to reach Lindos before 10am.
Booking Tips
Old Town walking tours can often be booked same-day, but book ahead for summer evening slots. The Lindos-only day trip should be reserved 2-3 days ahead in July and August. Symi day trips sell out during peak season: book a week ahead. The sunset Symi cruise fills faster than the daytime crossing - reserve 3-5 days ahead. The combined Lindos and Old Town tour is popular with cruise passengers, so availability can drop suddenly on port days.
Book Rhodes tours and excursions with GetYourGuide. Pick up a Greece eSIM before you fly. Compare car hire options in Greece for exploring beyond the main towns.
See Also
- Rhodes Island Guide - full island overview, beaches, and transport
- Where to Stay in Rhodes - Old Town vs beach resort positioning
- Things to Do in Rhodes - independent sightseeing alongside the tours
- Symi Island Guide - the day trip destination from Rhodes
- Rhodes vs Crete - comparing the Dodecanese’s two biggest islands