Mark Read

Dodecanese

Ever pined for the old Greece, where timeless islands beckon modern-day adventurers just as they did Odysseus and Alexander? Enter the far-flung Dodecanese archipelago, curving through the southeastern Aegean parallel to the ever-visible shoreline of Turkey. The footprints of everyone from Greeks and Romans to crusading medieval knights, and Byzantine and Ottoman potentates to 20th-century Italian bureaucrats, are found here. Beyond better-known Rhodes and Kos, enigmatic islands beg to be explored.

Hikers and naturalists flock to Tilos, while climbers scale the limestone cliffs in Kalymnos. Aesthetes adore the neoclassical mansions of Symi, Halki and Kastellorizo, and kitesurfers blow in to Karpathos for its legendary winds. Elsewhere around the Dodecanese, divers can explore underwater caves and ancient wrecks, archaeologists and history buffs let their imaginations loose on a bevy of ancient sites, while sybarites worship Helios on myriad beaches, far from the package crowds.

Explore Dodecanese

Acropolis of Lindos
A short, steep-stepped footpath climbs the rocky 116m-high headland above the village to reach Lindos’ beautifully preserved Acropolis. First fortified in…
Archaeological Museum
A weathered, sun-kissed stone lion, visible from the street, invites visitors into the magnificent 15th-century Knights' Hospital that holds Rhodes’…
C
Caldera
A visit to the caldera is like stepping into a science fiction movie, cows grazing amid strange coloured rocks in what resembles a lunar landscape.
A
Ancient Kamiros
Cradled in a natural hillside amphitheatre 1km up from the sea, the remarkably complete ruins of ancient Kamiros stand 34km southwest of Rhodes Town…
A
Apella Beach
However determined you may be to reach Olymbos, allow time to take the precipitous spur road that drops seawards from the east-coast highway 17km north of…
A
Asklepieion
The island’s most important ancient site stands on a pine-covered hill 3km southwest of Kos Town, commanding lovely views across towards Turkey. A…
S
St Valsamidis
This unorthodox collection is the life's work of a local Kalymnian man, Stavros Valsamidis, who for 48 years undertook private dives, and amassed items…
A
Archaeological Museum
This showpiece modern museum, on Mandraki’s main pedestrian street, displays a fascinating collection of Hellenistic and Roman pottery and sculpture, as…
Knights’ Quarter
Essentially an occupying army, the Knights of St John transformed the northern segment of the Old Town during the 14th and 15th centuries, to create what…

Acropolis of Lindos
A short, steep-stepped footpath climbs the rocky 116m-high headland above the village to reach Lindos’ beautifully preserved Acropolis. First fortified in…
Archaeological Museum
A weathered, sun-kissed stone lion, visible from the street, invites visitors into the magnificent 15th-century Knights' Hospital that holds Rhodes’…
C
Caldera
A visit to the caldera is like stepping into a science fiction movie, cows grazing amid strange coloured rocks in what resembles a lunar landscape.
A
Ancient Kamiros
Cradled in a natural hillside amphitheatre 1km up from the sea, the remarkably complete ruins of ancient Kamiros stand 34km southwest of Rhodes Town…
A
Apella Beach
However determined you may be to reach Olymbos, allow time to take the precipitous spur road that drops seawards from the east-coast highway 17km north of…
A
Asklepieion
The island’s most important ancient site stands on a pine-covered hill 3km southwest of Kos Town, commanding lovely views across towards Turkey. A…
S
St Valsamidis
This unorthodox collection is the life's work of a local Kalymnian man, Stavros Valsamidis, who for 48 years undertook private dives, and amassed items…
A
Archaeological Museum
This showpiece modern museum, on Mandraki’s main pedestrian street, displays a fascinating collection of Hellenistic and Roman pottery and sculpture, as…
Knights’ Quarter
Essentially an occupying army, the Knights of St John transformed the northern segment of the Old Town during the 14th and 15th centuries, to create what…

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Dodecanese.

See
Acropolis of Lindos
A short, steep-stepped footpath climbs the rocky 116m-high headland above the village to reach Lindos’ beautifully preserved Acropolis. First fortified in…
See
Archaeological Museum
A weathered, sun-kissed stone lion, visible from the street, invites visitors into the magnificent 15th-century Knights' Hospital that holds Rhodes’…
See
Caldera
A visit to the caldera is like stepping into a science fiction movie, cows grazing amid strange coloured rocks in what resembles a lunar landscape.
See
Ancient Kamiros
Cradled in a natural hillside amphitheatre 1km up from the sea, the remarkably complete ruins of ancient Kamiros stand 34km southwest of Rhodes Town…
See
Apella Beach
However determined you may be to reach Olymbos, allow time to take the precipitous spur road that drops seawards from the east-coast highway 17km north of…
See
Asklepieion
The island’s most important ancient site stands on a pine-covered hill 3km southwest of Kos Town, commanding lovely views across towards Turkey. A…
See
St Valsamidis
This unorthodox collection is the life's work of a local Kalymnian man, Stavros Valsamidis, who for 48 years undertook private dives, and amassed items…
See
Archaeological Museum
This showpiece modern museum, on Mandraki’s main pedestrian street, displays a fascinating collection of Hellenistic and Roman pottery and sculpture, as…
See
Knights’ Quarter
Essentially an occupying army, the Knights of St John transformed the northern segment of the Old Town during the 14th and 15th centuries, to create what…

Guidebooks

Learn more about Dodecanese

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