Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The east coast
From the capital as far south as Líndhos, the
east coast
of Rhodes has been built up
with a succession of sprawling towns and resorts. Some, such as
Faliráki
, have long
since lost any charm they may once have possessed, but there are still some pleasant
lower-key alternatives, including
Stegná
and
Haráki
.
Piyés Kallithéas
Daily 8am-8pm • €2.50
A prize example of orientalized Art Deco from 1929, the former spa at
Piyés Kallithéas
,
7km south of Rhodes Town, was the work of a young Pietro Lombardi who, in his old
age, designed Strasbourg's European Parliament building. Accessed via a short side road
through pines, the complex has an upmarket bar serving from inside artificial grottoes
at the swimming lido, just below the dome of the
Mikrí Rotónda
in its clump of palms.
he main
Megáli Rotónda
higher up is now a small
museum
, with changing modern
art exhibits.
Faliráki
The overblown and unappealing resort of
Faliráki
, 10km south of the capital, is a town
of two halves. The half-dozen high-rise family hotels in its northerly zone sit uneasily
alongside the cheap-and-nasty southern zone, notorious for its drink-fuelled brawls,
rapes and even murder. Since the island police forcefully curbed the local club-crawling
culture, the place is now a shadow of its former self.
Faliráki's sandy sweep is closed of on the south by the cape of
Ladhikó
. For the best
swimming, head for the main cove, south of the promontory. The scenic bay of
“
Anthony Quinn
”, on its northern flank, is named after the late Mexican American
actor, whom Greeks took to their hearts following his roles in
Zorba the Greek
and
he
Guns of Navarone
. Quinn bought much of this area and constructed the first road to
the beach, but during the 1980s the Greek government swindled him out of his claim;
legal battles continue to this day.
8
Afándou Bay
South of Ladhikó, the coastline is adorned, all the way to Líndhos, by striking
limestone turrets that punctuate long stretches of beach. The first is the pebble-and-
sand expanse of
Afándou Bay
, the least developed large east-coast beach, with just a few
showers and clusters of inexpensive sunbeds. Spare a moment, heading down the main
access road to mid-beach, for the atmospheric sixteenth-century church of
Panayía
Katholikí
, paved with a
votsalotó
floor and decorated with frescoes.
Kolýmbia
Immediately north of the Tsambíka headland, 25km south of Rhodes Town,
Kolýmbia
was laid out by the Italians, not long before World War II, as a model farming village.
Its original little grid of streets now serves a fast-growing resort that's become a
favourite with more upscale package travellers. Reasonable beaches lie to either side of
the low hill at road's end; the northern one holds more facilities.
Tsambíka and Stegná
The enormous promontory of
Tsambíka
, 26km south of town, offers unrivalled views
along some 50km of coastline. From the main highway, a steep, 1500m cement drive
leads to a small car park from where steps mount to the summit. On its September 8
festival childless women climb up - on their hands and knees in the final stretches - to
an otherwise unremarkable
monastery
to be cured of their barrenness. Shallow
Tsambíka
Bay
, south of the headland (2km access road), has an excellent if packed beach.
A kilometre or so south of Tsambíka Bay, a steep road drops for 3.5km down to the
sea from the main highway, in huge sweeping curves. It ends at the scruffy but
