Pefkos Beaches

Central Beach

There are three beautiful sandy beaches in Pefkos, the longest being central beach. We were surprised by how warm the sea was in June, and enjoyed the swimming and paddling. Many rocks at the town end of the beach make paddling out to water deep enough to swim in rather difficult, but we soon found out that a little further down the beach there are far fewer rocks and the going is easy.

Philosophia Beach Restaurant

The Philosophia Beach Restaurant is up the steps from Central Beach. During one of our visits I made this short movie.

AG Thomas and Plakia Beaches

On the edge of town are the AG Thomas beach and, right next to it, Plakia beach. We got up before sunrise to take photos and shoot some video of the changing light on the boats and rocks. Well worth the effort, I think you'll agree, and a good excuse for a little siesta later in the day.

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An Afternoon on the Beach in Lindos

Pefkos to Lindos

Our last Sunday on the island of Rhodes (17th June 2012) and we didn't have our rental car any more, so we caught the local bus from Pefkos to Lindos. It takes less than 15 minutes.

Lindos Bay

During our previous visit we'd busied ourselves checking out the bars and shops in the narrow streets leading up to the Acropolis, as well as climbing up to the Acropolis itself, so we'd only seen the beaches from on high. They are a delight. The bay of Lindos is well sheltered, as you'll see in this video, and the views are fantastic.

Clean beaches, good food, happy people. What else could you ask for? Oh yeah, lashings of Mythos!

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Thari Monastery

Asklipio to Thari Monastery

When we returned from the castle to our little rental car the steering wheel was too hot to handle. Baking! We turned on the air conditioning and studied the road map. If we carried on driving north we'd reach the monastery at Thari ("Moni Thari") where we could take a break. Then up to Laerma and then south-east from Laerma to Lardos and finally Pefkos. Sounded like a plan.

We didn't see any traffic on the way to Thari, which was a good thing. This is a narrow single lane and passing places are few and far between. Driving was fun though, and the landscape varied from blighted trees (there must have been a forest fire here in the not too distant past) to luscious greenery.

Thari

We were happy to have driven to Thari. We explored the monastery gardens and marveled at the church interior. It's all very quiet, as you might expect from a monastery. It feels like being in the middle of nowhere.



The road from Thari up to Laerma is a much easier drive, and then it's plain sailing from Laerma to Lardos, where we took a wrong turn and headed north through Pilonas and then south again through Lindos to finally reach our destination in Pefkos. With still plenty of time to return the car to Marathon, the car-hire firm, before they closed for the day!

Asklipio, 17 June 2012

Pefkos to Asklipio

Today would be our last day with the rented car. After breakfast at the Stella Hotel we looked at the road map and spotted Asklipio to the west of Pefkos. Our route would take us south along the coastal road with which we were now familiar and then at Kiotari we'd turn inland to the north west. First we bought fresh bread, olives, sausage, cheese, and tomatoes for a picnic lunch, and loaded the car with bottled water and other essentials such as our straw hats, cameras and spare batteries.

Asklipio

The drive to Asklipio was a joy, and we were grateful for the car's air conditioning. By the time we reached Asklipio the temperature had soared to the mid 30s Celsius. We explored the village and then returned to the car for the uphill drive towards the medieval castle. Just walking up to the castle from the car park, loaded with our picnic and cameras, was exhausting in the prickling heat, but the views are spectacular and the medieval castle is well worth the effort. Lunch was in the shade of the castle's fortifications.

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The Road to Prasonisi

Rental Car

We were planning on heading south from Pefkos down the east coast of Rhodes and then north along the west coast. Our first stop would be Prasonisi on the southernmost tip of Rhodes.

I made a fool of myself trying to manoeuvre our little rental car out of the forecourt of the car-hire firm. Well there's a first time for everything. Apparently I only needed to use one foot when driving an automatic.

When we finally got on the road the going was easy. It took me a while to get used to the automatic gear shifts as I negotiated sharp bends and steep inclines, and I was happy to be able to keep both hands on the steering wheel.

Prasonisi

At Katavia we took the road to our left which would bring us down to Prasonisi. We picked up a hitch-hiker on the way, a young Russian who told us he taught windsurfing here for three months (– the visa limit) every year. I mentioned we were planning on going up the west coast and he told us it's the most popular part of Rhodes amongst "rich Russians".

The road turned into a dirt track and then we could park the car on the sand near a couple of tavernas. Plenty of kites in the distance, I thought. Walking nearer to the beach it became apparent that the kites were attached to people on surfboards. I knew that with its predominant westerly wind Prasonisi was a paradise for windsurfers, but I'd never seen kitesurfing before. Here's a short movie I made that morning (14 June 2012) just to give you an idea. Wow!

Car Hire in Pefkos

First-time care hire

During our first few days in Rhodes I'd had an internal dialog that went a bit like this:

I've never driven a left-hand-drive car before – will I be able to manage the gears with my right hand if I do rent a car? On the other hand I'm used to cycling on the right-hand side of the road, and even rented a quad bike to explore Zakynthos less than two years ago.

Although I'm in my 50s I only learnt to drive about 10 years ago and had serious doubts about renting a left-hand-drive car in Rhodes. Then one day (13 June) it occurred to me that an automatic car might be the solution.

We checked out a few of the car-hire firms in Pefkos and either they didn't have an automatic, they had already rented out their only automatic, or they seemed too expensive and I'd have to think it over. Then on our way back to the Stella Hotel we realised there was another firm we hadn't tried which was right next door. Marathon Rent A Car had a lovely wee Renault 105 (see pic) which we could rent for three days for €110. Perfect! We arranged to pick it up early the next day and bought a road map.

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Rhodes City, 12 June 2012

Pefkos to Rhodes City

In the morning we take the local bus from Pefkos to Rhodes (€5.50 single). Plenty of seats, but not for long. On its circuitous route this coach is picking up many more people than are getting off. It seems that almost everyone's going to Rhodes today. When we think that there's no way the driver could admit any more standing passengers, we stop again to squeeze even more folk in. We're glad that the coach has air-conditioning.

An hour and a quarter after setting off we disembark opposite a park. The walls and towers of the "Old Town" are just beyond.

The Medieval City of Rhodes

This fortress town was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1988. Its surrounding wall is 4km long and dates from the time of the rule of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem.

I borrowed these photos from Genie, although she still owns the copyright, of course. The video I made myself. Rhodes – Medieval City was edited with mainly the architecture in mind. Shortly I will be uploading a follow-up movie showing more of the street life. Cheers!



Yiamas!
γεια μας

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7th of June in the afternoon, Pefkos, Rhodes

My Birthday

I'm 53 years old today and I may choose what we do for the rest of the day. Genie has given me a beautifully set moonstone which I can wear on the same necklace I usually have on for my lapis lazuli. Fab!

There's a snack bar near the beach serving, amongst other tasty dishes, the best kebabs ever. We'll have lunch here. I don't often eat pork but the Gyros proves to be irresistible. With lashings of Mythos beer. We will certainly be returning here.

I'm happy just to be wandering around, paddling in the sea, and topping up with Mythos from time to time. Genie enjoys swimming in the sea, and I enjoy watching her. A happy day.

Sunset at the main beach, Pefkos

In the evening I made this short film of the sunset at the main beach.

Philosophia Beach Restaurant

The perfect end to the perfect day. Supper at the Philosophia beach restaurant, which is a short climb up well-lit steps from the main beach, and offers excellent cuisine as well as a fantastic sea view. The people that run the Philosophia are a charming couple, and we are to return here time after time. We love fresh seafood!

"Philosophia" means lover of wisdom, and not lover of Mythos beer, by the way.

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First morning at Stella Hotel, Pefkos

Air Conditioning

Neither of us had slept very much that first night in Pefkos. It was quiet enough – the local bars turn off the music at midnight – but our apartment at Stella Hotel had been far too warm and stuffy. We really had to arrange for air-conditioning.

It cost less than €50 for the remote control for our air-conditioning unit for the remaining 13 nights, but the unit turned out to be faulty. Offered the apartment next door, which was identical in size and layout – spacious with a balcony overlooking the main strip – we spent half an hour moving in and spreading our belongings around haphazardly as before. Home again.

Shopping

Sunblock was at the top of our shopping list. When I'd looked online for the average maximum daytime temperature for Rhodes in June (24°C) I'd obviously been looking at Rhodes city temperatures. A few locals had already told us to add 10 degrees for Pefkos! The sun had risen by 8.30 and by 10.30 there was hardly any shade on our balcony. I'd spotted the local pharmacy across the road so the sunblock would be easy.

There are many supermarkets in Pefkos, but by far the handiest for us was the Stella supermarket which was 30 seconds away from our apartment and great for the heavy stuff such as the six-packs of 2L bottles of mineral water (which cost less than €2, which works out at around 16 cents per litre), not to mention the bottles of Mythos. We also got a discount there as guests at the Stella.

Shopping was a joy. The local produce was fresh and remarkably cheap. We bought freshly baked bread, tomatoes, cheese, olives, stuffed vine leaves, and water melons which were in season. And at the pharmacy, where we got our sunblock, we were recommended a natural mosquito repellant that was safe to use on our faces. Not that we'd been bitten yet, but if we were to hang around by the beach after sunset we wanted to be prepared.

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Glasgow to Rhodes

Booking

Genie and I booked our trip to Rhodes online. We'd been to Greece only once before – to Alykes on the island of Zakynthos (Zante) in October 2010, which we'd booked through Thomas Cook. That had been our first ever "package holiday" and was a great success, so we took the same route again and looked at last-minute deals on the Thomas Cook website.

After researching Rhodes online I reckoned we ought to be looking at accommodation about half-way down the east coast: Lindos or Pefkos. The whole of the east coast of Rhodes island is sandy beach broken up occasionally by rocks. My wife and I are in our 50s and the peace and quiet afforded by these more "out of the way" places appealed enormously. We booked for Pefkos, staying at Stella Hotel (self-catering). A good deal, as it turned out.

The Flight

Our flight was from Glasgow International airport on 6th June at 6.45 am. As we live in Dunkeld, Perthshire, we decided to travel by train to Glasgow the evening before and to stay at the Holiday Inn Express, which was inexpensive, comfortable and remarkably quiet – really handy for catching our flight the next morning. It's only a two-minute walk to the "check-in". Supper was bought at the airport's Tesco and eaten in our room watching rubbish TV, which reminded us why we chose to get rid of our telly 20 years ago.

Rhodes

Landed at Rhodes airport mid-afternoon and two hours ahead of UK time. Within 20 minutes we were on an air-conditioned coach to Pefkos, and an hour later, settling in to our apartment at the Stella Hotel.

Stretched our legs and checked out some of the local beaches and restaurants. The sunset was stunning from the beach.