Rhodes holidays

Rhodes is the proud parent of a big family of beaches. The best-known stretches of sand slither down the island’s east coast, monopolising more than 80 kilometres of seaside. Resorts like Faliraki and Kolymbia occupy the northern part of this coast, while Lindos appears around half-way down.

About halfway between Kalithea and Lindos, Tsambika Beach flies below the radar of most tourists. It’s a natural beauty, with no hotels or souvenir shops nearby. It’s named after the monastery that overlooks the sand, which is dedicated to the Virgin of Tsambika. There are a few sunloungers on the sand and a restaurant by the beach, which serves just-caught seafood.

If you’ve got a pocket full of change, head to Rhodes Town. The Street of the Knights and Socrates Street in the walled old town are bumper-to-bumper with souvenir shops. You can pick up everything from jars of honey to Medieval-themed toys. The etch-a-sketch streets of Lindos are home to a handful of gift shops, too. If you’re staying in Kalithea there’s a token amount of gift shops in the pedestrian area, which runs parallel to the main road, Rodou Falirakiou.

Rhodian wine is award-winning. To get the best price for a bottle, cut out the middle man and head to one of the island’s wineries. Cair is two kilometres outside of Rhodes Town and Emery is in the village of Embonas. Visit during the week and you can tour the cellars before you buy. The Emery winery also has a distillery on Kolokotroni Street in Rhodes Town.

You can accessorise to the nines in Rhodes thanks to the number of jewellery shops. Head to Hippocrates Street in the capital’s old town to pick up delicate silver filigree, or make your way to Sokratous Street to eye up the designer pieces. There are a couple of jewellers on the main street in Pefkos, too.

Traditional restaurants come thick and fast in Rhodes Town, and live bouzouki music often provides the soundtrack to dining. You’ll find some of the best around Georgiou Leontos Street. If you’d prefer to spend your nights on a rooftop terrace in view of the acropolis, head to one of the restaurants in Lindos’ main square. In Kolymbia and Kalithea, evening entertainment tends to be taken care of in the hotels. Do the rounds of the reception notice boards to find out what’s on.

Faliraki earned its nightlife stripes a long time ago, and today it’s known as one of Europe’s biggest party towns. Bar Street and Club Street are criss-crossed with late night bars and clubs. Rhodes Town is no shrinking violet either. It’s got a casino near Ellie Beach and plenty of karaoke and music joints along Bar Street. Pefkos isn’t exactly a night owl, but it’s got a small collection of cocktail bars and live music places on its main road.

Most traditional Rhodian restaurants feature pitaroudia on their meze menus. The dish is made by frying a mixture of chickpeas, potatoes, onions and fresh mint. Get it while it’s hot and dunk forkfuls into a saucer of cool tzatziki – the dip will melt and smother the fritter with extra flavour.

Kapamas is the Rhodian equivalent of beef and Yorkshire puddings. It’s served on a Sunday and it’s made by stuffing a cut of goat with rice, onions, tomatoes and spices, before baking for a couple of hours in the oven. Look out for it on restaurant specials boards.

Despite what the menus tell you in Greek restaurants, stuffed vine leaves are not traditionally eaten as appetisers. In fact, head to any traditional ouzerie and you’ll find locals ordering them as ad hoc accompaniments to a stiff shot of ouzo. They’re filled with rice, herbs and sometimes tomatoes.

A moment on the lips is worth a lifetime on the hips for this indulgent Rhodian dessert. The fluffy pancakes in this dish come swimming in a sticky honey and cinnamon sauce. The whole thing is given a touch of crunch with chopped walnuts and sesame seeds.

Around 7,500 acres of land are dedicated to wine production in Rhodes. The best-known wineries are Cair and Emery, and the grapes used include an aromatic green variety called Athiri and a red grape called Mandilaria.