Lindos Tour

A Lindos tour is a trip from Rhodes town to the white village and the ancient Acropolis of Lindos on the east coast of Rhodes. It is one of the Greece tours in the Dodecanese.

What is a Lindos tour?

A Lindos tour is a visit to Lindos, a place on Rhodes, one of the Dodecanese islands. The place is an archaeological site, a fishing village and a former municipality all at once. Visitors see old remains and village life together in one stop.

Lindos faces the sea on the eastern side of Rhodes. Roughly 40 km separate the village from Rhodes city, which lies to the north. Reaching it from the city means a drive down the island. A Lindos tour from the city follows that road south, so visitors arrive ready for the sights.

According to myth, Lindos was founded around the 10th century BC by Dorians led by King Tlepolemus of Rhodes. The tale is a legend, not a record. Still, it gives the town a clear origin story. This story marks the starting point of the town’s long past. Visitors view the ruins with that background.

The acropolis of Lindos is a natural citadel that rises above the modern town. The rock is a fortress by nature. Greeks, Romans and Byzantines each fortified it in turn. After them came the Knights of St John, then the Ottomans, who did the same. A Lindos tour brings that record into view.

• Dorian Hexapolis: Lindos was one of six Dorian cities in the area known by this name.
• Local status: The 2011 local reform made Lindos a municipal unit of the municipality of Rhodes.
• Population: The community of Lindos has a recorded population of 1,096 local residents.

The village of Lindos stands in a large bay. Across the water, it faces Charaki, a small fishing village and resort. This seaside setting frames every Lindos tour, from arrival to the last look across the bay.

How does a Lindos tour reach Lindos from Rhodes town?

A Lindos tour from Rhodes town follows the national road south to Lindos. This road covers about 48.2 km from the city. On the way, it passes Vrysia and Kolymbia. Each of these names marks clear progress along the drive south.

Rhodes City also has a two-lane road on its east coast. This road connects the city with the Kallithea monument and Faliraki resort. Faliraki sits on its own bay, roughly 14 km from Rhodes town, to the south. A Lindos tour on this coast road passes close to both places.

Kolymbia stands out for how it began. The place was built in 1938 as a planned model village. Its name at the time was Villaggio rurale San Benedetto. The village followed a design from the start. This history gives a Lindos tour a good story to tell.

Archangelos stands on the east coast, roughly 30 km from Rhodes town. It stands at 160 m elevation. Charaki comes near the end. It is roughly 35 km from Rhodes airport and just 10 km before Lindos. From there, a Lindos tour has a short final stretch.

• Afantou: This east-coast village sits just below the Faliraki resort, to the south.
• Tsambika monastery: This religious site is located halfway between Kolymbia and Archangelos on the island.
• Feraklos Castle: This ruined medieval fortress crowns an 85 m hill over Charaki.

Feraklos Castle stands out for its views. From the castle, the eye reaches Charaki bay and Agia Agathi beach. The Lindos acropolis is also in sight from the same spot. That sight shows where the trip ends.

What does a Lindos tour show on the Acropolis of Lindos?

A Lindos tour reaches the massive Temple of Athena Lindia on the Acropolis of Lindos. The temple took its final form around 300 BC. On the way up, a grand staircase leads to a stoa shaped like a D and a wall pierced by five doorways.

This temple of Athena was built in the late 4th century BC. Its footprint was 7.75 by 21.65 metres. That makes it a long, narrow building. Inside its walls, visitors find an offering table and the base that held Athena’s cult statue. Both pieces help visitors picture the old rites.

The Hellenistic stoa stands out for its sheer length. It stretched 87 metres from end to end. Along that line rose 42 columns. A Lindos tour lets visitors walk beside this row and judge its size. For photographers, the columns make a strong frame against the sky.

The ruins on view today were studied in a long dig. Two men headed the Lindos excavations from 1902 to 1914. One was Karl Frederik Kinch. The other was Christian Blinkenberg, a Danish archaeologist. A small-group Lindos tour turns these names into a clear story of discovery.

• Italian work: Under Italian rule from 1912 to 1945, restorers worked poorly and damaged the historic record.
• Staircase: The restorers rebuilt the staircase that leads up to the propylaea.
• Columns: The same restorers set columns of the Hellenistic stoa upright once more.

The acropolis gives wide views over the nearby harbours and the coast. The scene suits wide photos that take in both sea and shore. This view gives a Lindos tour a calm ending after the climb past ancient stone.

What does a Lindos tour show at the Knights’ castle?

A Lindos tour shows a medieval castle that wraps around the summit of the rock. This stone ring keeps the fine ancient monuments out of sight. Visitors see the knightly walls first, and the older stones come into view once inside.

The Knights of St John built the Lindos castle before 1317. They did not start from empty ground. Older Byzantine foundations already lay on the hilltop, and the knights raised their walls on them. A Lindos tour lets visitors read this layered story in the stone.

In the 14th century, the knights’ large fortress partly covered older buildings on the rock. Its job was to defend the island against the Ottomans. The castle also served as a refuge in times of danger. Warned by his chamberlain, the knights’ Grand Master once escaped to these walls.

Nicaean troops once came ashore near the fortress town of Lindos. The defences above the town answer that kind of threat. The castle walls and towers follow the natural shape of the cliff. On a Lindos tour, built stone and bare rock seem to blend into one line.

• Five-sided tower: On the south side, it watched the harbour, the village and the southern road.
• Southwest tower: A tower at the southwest corner of the castle still stands today.
• West tower: Another tower on the west side has also survived to this day.

The Orthodox Church of St John completes the picture. Built in the 13th or 14th century, it stands on the ruins of an older church. Faith and defence stand side by side, each built on older layers.

What does a Lindos tour show in Lindos village?

A Lindos tour shows a village famous for its narrow cobbled streets and its white houses. The walk winds through these tight lanes on foot. Along the way, the tour leader stops at old homes, a church and an ancient theatre.

Visitors on a Lindos tour soon notice the ground under their feet. Ornate pebble floors and patios, known as chochlakaki, appear along the route. Painted ceilings and bright plates add even more colour to the scene. Together, these crafts helped Lindos earn its status as a declared landmark.

The Captain’s Houses form another stop on the walk. These grand homes show high walls and vaulted entrances, known as pyliones. Coats of arms and heavy wooden doors complete the look. Of all the Captain’s Houses, only the house of Captain Papakonstantis is open to visitors.

In the village centre stands the Church of Panagia. This 14th-century church has a cross-shaped plan and an octagonal dome. Its floor is a black-and-white pebble design. The church also holds frescoes painted by Gregory from Simi. A Lindos tour pauses here so the group can study them.

• Dog-headed saint: A Panagia fresco shows Agios Christoforos with a dog’s head, not a human one.
• Theatre site: It lies where the west slope of the acropolis meets the ground, below the Athena Lindia temple.
• Theatre crowd: Dating to the 4th century BC, the theatre seated 1,800 to 2,000 spectators.

After the village streets, the route heads up toward the acropolis. Visitors make this climb from Lindos village either on foot or riding mules. Both ways end at the top of the rock, where the acropolis stands.

Which bays does a Lindos tour pass?

A Lindos tour passes two bays: Lindos bay and St Paul’s bay. St Paul’s beach lies in a small bay close to Lindos. A third beach, Vlycha, lies three kilometres from Lindos. The shore mixes swimming spots, a chapel and a stone tomb.

Lindos beach offers calm, clear water, so a swim there feels easy. On the headland at the north of Lindos bay stands a stone tumulus. People know this mound as the Tomb of Kleoboulos. For a Lindos tour, this bay joins sea time and history in one stop.

The bay of St Paul holds two small beaches with different styles. One beach has umbrellas and a canteen, so shade and snacks stay close. The other beach is isolated and suits a quiet swim. On a Lindos tour, this bay gives two choices in one place.

The chapel of the Apostle Paul stands beside the port that carries his name. The Acropolis rises above it. Tradition says the chapel marks the spot where the Apostle Paul preached during his visit to Rhodes. So a swim here comes with a piece of church history.

• Lindos beach: Two beaches here come with umbrellas and tavernas, so food and shade stay close.
• Vlycha beach: The sea here deepens slowly, so families choose this beach for their swim.
• Tomb of Kleoboulos: The tomb is a round building with careful stonework and a vaulted roof.

The great rock of Lindos rises from the sea between two natural harbours. That rock sits at the heart of the route. A Lindos tour moves from beach to chapel to tomb, with the rock linking each part.

What history does a Lindos tour cover?

A Lindos tour starts with the Dorians. On arrival, they built three important cities on Rhodes: Lindos, Ialysos and Kameiros. From there, the story runs through ancient rulers, Roman times and the Middle Ages. It then reaches Ottoman, Italian and modern times.

In the 6th century BC, Lindos was ruled by Cleobulus. Greece counted him among its Seven Sages. A Lindos tour presents him as a central figure of early Lindos. Lindos later faded in importance once the new city of Rhodes appeared in the late 5th century BC.

Inscriptions add another layer to the past. The Lindian Chronicle is one such text from Lindos, dated to 99 BC. Roman times left their own traces too. Remains of a Roman temple, built about 300 AD, still stand in Lindos. The temple was possibly dedicated to Emperor Diocletian.

The Middle Ages brought a change of rulers. The Byzantine era on Rhodes ended in 1306–1310. In those years, the Knights Hospitaller occupied the island. A Lindos tour treats this as a clear break between two ages. Lindos came under the knights with the rest of Rhodes.

• Ottoman rule: After the Ottoman conquest, Rhodes stayed a possession of the Ottoman Empire for nearly four centuries.
• Italian rule: Italy seized Rhodes from the Ottomans in 1912, during the Italo-Turkish War.
• Union with Greece: The Dodecanese islands formally joined the Kingdom of Greece on 7 March 1948.

The story also shows how sources can differ. Plutarch described Cleobulus as the tyrant. Clement of Alexandria gave him the title king of the Lindians. A Lindos tour sets both views side by side, so visitors judge the old ruler for themselves.

What art and crafts does a Lindos tour show?

A Lindos tour shows ancient art in stone. A Rhodian trireme is carved into the rock where the acropolis steps begin. Visitors see this carved ship right before the climb to the summit begins.

The ship carving dates from about 180 BC. Back then, the relief was more than a picture of a boat. The carved bow once carried a statue of General Hagesander. The sculptor Pythokritos made that statue. Today the statue is gone, yet the stone ship remains.

The sculptor behind that statue has a known family line. Pythokritos was the son of Timocharis of Rhodes. He was active around 210 to 165 BC. On a Lindos tour, that detail gives the carved ship a human story. Names like these make old stone easy to follow.

The relief carries writing as well as a carved shape. It lists the crews of two ships called trihemioliai. Each ship held 144 men, and 120 of them were rowers. Those numbers show how much muscle moved a ship. On a Lindos tour, the stone reads like a crew roster.

• Sanctuary offering: A smaller offering of the Samothrace base type was found in Athena’s sanctuary on the Lindos acropolis.
• Inscribed record: The Lindian Chronicle is cut into a marble slab about eight by three feet, now broken in two.
• Pottery name: Pottery obtained on Rhodes was wrongly thought to be made there, so the style became Rhodian ware.

Arthur Lane dated Rhodian ware from around 1555 to the early 18th century. That end point marks when the Iznik industry ended. The pottery story adds a later craft to a Lindos tour, beside the ancient stone art.

What nature surrounds a Lindos tour?

A Lindos tour takes place in the warmest area of Greece, on the island of Rhodes. The mean yearly temperature in Lindos sits around 22.0 °C. Beyond the village, the land rises into mountains, forest slopes and protected wildlife areas.

Limestone is the main bedrock of the island of Rhodes. Bedrock is the solid layer of rock beneath the soil. So much of the ground seen on a Lindos tour rests on this stone. At 1,216 metres, Mount Attavyros rises above every other point on Rhodes.

Pine and cypress forests cover the lower slopes of Mount Attavyros. Maquis shrubland, a dense cover of tough, low bushes, grows there too. Attavyros and nearby Mount Akramitis have formed one protected Natura 2000 conservation area since 2008. The label sets both peaks aside for nature.

Mount Profitis Ilias is a 798-metre mountain on the island of Rhodes. A rare flower, the Profitis Ilias bee orchid, carries the scientific name Ophrys fuciflora ssp. oreas. This orchid grows only on Mount Profitis Ilias. That gives plant lovers on a Lindos tour a reason to look beyond the village.

• Birdlife: The protected Attavyros and Akramitis area matters for breeding raptors, open dry-land species and seabirds.
• Fallow deer: In 2005, Rhodian fallow deer proved genetically distinct from all other populations and of urgent conservation concern.
• Jersey tiger moths: Petaloudes Valley fills with thousands of Jersey tiger moths, a Rhodes subspecies, once the wet season ends.

This wider setting turns a Lindos tour into a lesson in island nature as well as village life. Visitors who notice the land and wildlife leave with a fuller picture of Rhodes. A small-group tour leader can link the two.

Which legends does a Lindos tour tell?

A Lindos tour opens with the story of how the temple of Athena began. Legend says Danaus founded the temple at Lindos. He gave Athena Lindia a statue as a gift of thanks, because she helped him build a ship.

Another version of the founding gives the credit to women. The Danaid sisters Archedice and Helice founded the temple of Lindian Athena. Two others joined them, and those two were picked by drawing lots. On a Lindos tour, both versions point to the same temple on the rock.

The temple’s gifts appear in a record called the Lindian Chronicle. It lists about 45 dedications made to the goddess. Only 37 of those entries can still be read. Those readable lines hold the richest stories a Lindos tour can share about the temple and its visitors.

The Chronicle names Helen among the givers. She is credited with a pair of bracelets dedicated at Athena’s temple. Menelaus appears on the list too. The record says he gave a dagger at Lindos, plus a leather cap linked to Paris. Such entries tie figures of myth to Lindos.

• Teucer’s gifts: The Chronicle credits Teucer with a quiver and a bow dedicated to Athena at Lindos.
• Cleobulus the poet: Cleobulus of Lindos gets credit for lyric poems and for riddles set in verse.
• Cleobulina the riddler: His daughter Cleobulina became a famous poet who wrote riddles in hexameter verse.

Helios has a myth of his own. He was absent when the gods divided the earth. Instead, he was granted an island that he saw rising from the sea. That tale rounds off a Lindos tour of old legends.

What questions come up about a Lindos tour?

A Lindos tour raises four common questions before the trip. Travellers ask about boats from Rhodes town, the climb up the rock, the summer heat and the rules that guard the old village. Each point shapes how a traveller plans the visit and packs for it.

Do boats from Rhodes town reach Lindos on a Lindos tour?

Yes. Each day, cruise boats sail from Mandraki port along the south-east coast as far as Lindos. The island has five ports in total, with three in Rhodes City. Sea wraps the Lindos rock on every side. A Hellenistic epigram even pictures Lindos rejoicing in the ocean.

How steep is the climb to the acropolis on a Lindos tour?

The climb on a Lindos tour takes real effort. The rock rises to 116 metres and looks dry and imposing in its bareness. Visitors still climb the same steep road that people used in ancient times. The Ministry of Culture shows no disabled access to the acropolis.

How hot is the weather on a Lindos tour?

Heat is a serious factor for any visit to Lindos. Each year, the town records 6.1 days on average when the minimum temperature stays above 30 °C. In August 2021, the National Observatory station in Lindos made weather history. It logged Europe’s highest mean monthly temperature on record.

Is the village on a Lindos tour protected as a traditional settlement?

Yes, the village is protected. Lindos is a historic listed settlement under Greek law. The Ministry of Culture describes the traditional settlement of Lindos as very well preserved. Old archontika, or mansions, still survive among the houses of the village. The chief ones date from the 17th century.