Travelrat's Travels

To see Rhodes at its best, you need to have the timing spot-on.

We’d heard some bad reports about the place, mainly concerning loutish behaviour at the resort of Faliraki. When our friends, who live on the islands, met our cruise boat with their car, the first place we made for was Faliraki, to see if it was as bad as report claimed.

Maybe we arrived too early in the day, or too late in the season. But, if you like ‘kitsch’ … architecture so false and bogus it’s actually quite likeable, it’s a good place to stop for your coffee, even though, at the café we chose, they didn’t know how to make Greek coffee.

Then, we took a motor tour of some of the attractions. And, our friends had the happy knack of timing our itinerary so we left everywhere … the Acropolis, the Archaeological Museum, the Palace of the Grand Master and the city walls … just as the bus-tours from the ships were arriving.

The crowds finally caught up with us in King George Square. But, we’d just finished lunch, and so we were able to take a turn around the city walls before returning to the ship. That’s the trouble with cruises. They never stay long enough to see everything. But, maybe, they do that deliberately, so you’re tempted to return?