Rhodes Cruise Port: Medieval Old Town & Lindos Acropolis
Rhodes is the port where you step off the ship and a set of medieval walls is simply standing there, doing what it has done since the Knights of St John got busy in the fourteenth century. It is not a ruin you drive to, it is a walled city people still live in.
Then there is Lindos, an hour or so down the coast, with a temple on a cliff above a blue bay. One day, two very good options, and a decision to make.
My quick take
The Old Town is the reason Rhodes is one of the best value cruise days in Greece, because it costs you nothing to walk into and it is right there. You can be inside the walls within minutes of clearing the terminal.
If your call is eight hours or more, I would do Lindos in the morning and the Old Town in the afternoon. The acropolis climb is brutal in the middle of the day and the walled city is more atmospheric when the light goes soft.
On a short call, forget Lindos entirely. Trying to squeeze it into six hours means a coach, a scramble, and a lot of clock watching.
Rhodes also handles crowds better than most Greek islands, because the Old Town has enough side streets to absorb them. For how it compares with the rest of the region, see my roundup of Greek cruise ports.
The quick facts
- Where you land: The Tourist Port in Rhodes town, just outside the Old Town walls, or the newer Akandia Port immediately to the south. Between them they can take up to five cruise ships in a single day.
- Dock or tender: You dock, which is one of the great mercies of this itinerary. Rhodes also works as a summer homeport for some lines rather than just a day call.
- Into town: From the Tourist Port quay it is a short flat walk to the Old Town gates. Akandia berths sit further out, so check your daily program for shuttle arrangements before you plan around it.
- Currency: The euro, and cards are accepted almost everywhere in town. Carry some cash for the public bus and the smaller tavernas.
- Headline activity: The medieval city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988, with the Palace of the Grand Master at the top of it. Lindos and its acropolis are the big out of town alternative.
- Accessibility: The Palace itself lists ramps, elevators, Braille signage, and accessible restrooms. The cobbled Old Town streets and the Lindos acropolis are a different matter entirely.
Berths, gates, and the walk into the walls
Rhodes town has several harbors and it helps to know which one you are in. Cruise ships use the Tourist Port and Akandia, while Kolona and Mandraki handle inter island ferries and yachts.
The Tourist Port is the one you want, because it sits directly against the eastern side of the Old Town. You clear the terminal, cross the road, and go through a gate in a wall that is roughly six hundred years old.
Akandia is the newer port just south of it, and on a five ship day some vessels end up there. It is a longer walk and shuttle arrangements vary by line, so read your daily program rather than assuming.
The terminal itself has duty free, a passenger waiting area with medical facilities, an information desk, and dedicated parking for excursion coaches. Port details are published by the Municipal Port Fund of South Dodecanese on the official Port of Rhodes pages.
One honest warning about the gates. The Old Town has eleven of them, they all look medieval and identical, and it is easy to exit through the wrong one and end up on the far side of the walls.
Getting around
Inside the walls you walk, and there is no alternative worth discussing. The lanes are cobbled, narrow, and mostly closed to traffic, which is exactly why they are pleasant.
For Lindos, the public bus leaves from the east side station at Mandraki, a walk of maybe fifteen minutes from the Old Town. The operator lists the one way fare at 5.50 euros, which makes it the cheapest way down the coast by a distance.
Departures are limited and the first few do not run on Sundays or public holidays, so check the timetable on the KTEL Rodou site before you commit. Missing the return bus on a port day is a very expensive mistake.
Taxis wait outside the port and will run you to Lindos for a fixed rate, and splitting one four ways is often no worse than a ship excursion. Agree the price and the pickup time in writing before you leave.
There are also boats to Lindos from Mandraki in summer, which is the scenic option. It is slower than the road, so it works better as a one way leg than a round trip.
The stops I would actually spend time on
Rhodes offers more than a single call can hold, so this is a menu rather than a checklist. Pick three and you will have had a proper day.
- Palace of the Grand Master: The administrative heart of the Knights of St John, rebuilt by the Italians and now holding mosaics and two permanent exhibitions on Rhodes from 408 BC to 1522. Entry is 20 euros and it closes on Tuesdays in winter.
- The Street of the Knights: A cobbled medieval street lined with the inns of the different national tongues of the Order. It is short, steep, and the most complete Gothic street you will walk down in Greece.
- Archaeological Museum of Rhodes: Housed in the Great Hospital of the Knights, built between 1440 and 1489. The building alone justifies the ticket, and the courtyard is a rare cool spot at noon.
- The Lower Town lanes: Where Gothic arches sit next to Ottoman mosques and bath houses, which is the whole reason UNESCO listed the place. Get lost here deliberately for an hour.
- Kahal Shalom Synagogue: In the old Jewish quarter, and generally described as the oldest surviving synagogue in Greece. The small memorial square nearby is a sobering ten minutes.
- Acropolis of Lindos: A Hellenistic sanctuary of Athena Lindia wrapped inside a Knights castle, on a cliff above the bay. Tickets are 20 euros and the Ministry of Culture states plainly that there is no disabled access.
- Lindos village: White cube houses, pebble mosaic courtyards, and streets too narrow for cars. Even if you skip the climb, the village is worth the trip on its own.
- Mandraki harbor: The old inner harbor with its windmills and the two deer columns at the entrance. Legend puts the Colossus of Rhodes here, though nobody actually knows where it stood.
- Valley of the Butterflies: A shaded gorge inland where Jersey tiger moths gather in huge numbers, roughly June to September. Outside those months you are paying to look at a very nice stream.
Fun fact: The Order of St John held Rhodes from 1309 to 1523, and after they lost it the city spent four centuries under Turkish and then Italian rule, which is why mosques and Gothic inns share the same lanes. UNESCO calls the Upper Town one of the most beautiful urban ensembles of the Gothic period, and the full citation is on the UNESCO listing for the Medieval City of Rhodes.
How I would plan the day
On a full day I would leave for Lindos early, climb the acropolis before the heat arrives, and be back in Rhodes town by mid afternoon. The Old Town is at its best in the last two hours anyway.
On a short call I would stay put and do the Old Town properly. Palace, Street of the Knights, an hour of aimless wandering, then lunch somewhere with no menu in four languages outside it.
Crowds funnel down the main shopping lane, Sokratous, and thin out dramatically two streets away in either direction. Turning off it is the single best crowd trick in Rhodes.
Watch the Tuesday problem if you are here in winter. Both the Palace and the Lindos acropolis close on Tuesdays outside the summer season, which can quietly gut a plan.
If the weather turns, the museums and the Palace are all indoors and within a few hundred yards of each other. Rain in Rhodes is a winter thing, and summer is essentially dry.
A realistic word on accessibility
The good news is that the Palace of the Grand Master lists ramps, elevators, Braille signage, and accessible restrooms. For a medieval fortress, that is a better showing than you might expect.
The bad news is everything around it. The Old Town is cobbles and steps, and the Ministry of Culture states outright that the Lindos acropolis has no access for disabled visitors.
If mobility is limited I would stay on the flat waterfront promenade and the Mandraki harbor front, both of which are smooth and genuinely pleasant. My roundup of wheelchair-friendly cruise ports has more on which calls repay the effort.
When to go, and the weather
Rhodes is one of the sunniest corners of Greece, with August highs averaging around 87F (30C) and January highs around 59F (15C). Winter days sit in the high 50s to low 60s Fahrenheit, which is mild but not beach weather.
May, June, September, and early October are the best of it. Warm enough for the sea, which peaks near 80F (26C) in August, and cool enough to climb a cliff without regretting it.
Rain falls almost entirely between October and March, and summer is close to rainless. Pack for sun rather than showers unless you are on a shoulder season repositioning.
The meltemi wind kicks in from around mid May and can be strong, which is lovely on the walls and less lovely on a small boat. It also means a hat you can actually secure is worth more than a stylish one.
Quick answers
Do you tender at Rhodes?
No, ships berth alongside at the Tourist Port or Akandia. The two together can handle up to five cruise ships in a day.
Can I walk to the Old Town from the ship?
Yes, if you are on the Tourist Port quay it is a short flat walk to the gates. Akandia berths are further out, so confirm shuttle details on board.
Is Lindos doable on your own?
Yes, by public bus from the Mandraki station at 5.50 euros one way, or by taxi. The catch is the limited timetable, so plan the return before you leave.
How much is the Palace of the Grand Master?
Entry is listed at 20 euros. Hours run roughly 8am to 8pm in summer and 8:30am to 3:30pm in winter, when it also closes on Tuesdays.
The last word
Rhodes gives you a genuine walled city about ninety seconds from the gangway, which almost no other Mediterranean port can claim. That alone puts it near the top of my Greek island list.
Add Lindos if the clock allows, skip it without guilt if it does not, and spend the saved hours getting lost inside the walls instead. The Old Town rewards wandering more than it rewards a list.
For the rest of the itinerary, my Santorini and Athens guides cover the usual Aegean neighbors, and Kusadasi is often the very next stop. Between them you get knights, temples, and one truly excellent set of ruins.
How this guide was researched: Unless a first-hand visit is explicitly identified above, this guide is based on independent research using official port, tourism, transit, government, and attraction sources where available. Logistics and time-sensitive details were reviewed in August 2026. See our Editorial Policy.
