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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Monolithos to Kamiros

Roads Trip

It's still the 15th of June 2012 and we've already been to see the Castle of Monolithos and are now heading north for the ancient city of Kamiros. Hiring this car has turned out to be a great idea, despite my earlier reservations. There's hardly any traffic and I can drive up the west coast of Rhodes at my own rather pedestrian speed. It's pretty exciting for both of us, in fact. I feel empowered now that I'm driving a car on the wrong side of the road and Genie loves the idea that we can go, well, anywhere we like. We are in no hurry, though. We'll stop off for a break as soon as we see something we fancy.

First stop: Siana

We park the car on the edge of town and are greeted with "Hello Scotland! How are you?" Last night we'd met this fellow selling local produce at his stall near the viewpoint overlooking the castle at Monolithos. There had been many liqueurs, most of which I'd sampled. He also has a shop in Siana and whilst Genie explores the village I'm introduced to his son who is very enthusiastic to meet me. These are lovely people. There's a cooperative of local growers and producers and a real sense of community here. I make a short movie. The clocks on the towers of the church are painted on so it's always 10 minutes to 7 here. I love this place.

Museum for Popular Art, Kritinia

Kritinia was our next stop en route to Kamiros. From the cafe by the Museum for Popular Art there's a great view of the coast and it's a good spot to snack and rehydrate. The small museum is free and a delight to visit. It's all local stuff – costumes, urns, farming tools – and well presented.

The Ancient City of Kamiros

This was once one of the three cities that made up the State of Rhodes. It was never overtaken but rather deserted by its population in favour of Rhodes city to the north. The draw of the big city is clearly nothing new. In this short movie you'll see large white parasols which mark the spots where archeological excavation is ongoing.

More Posts about Castles on the Island of Rhodes

Lindos Acropolis
The Castle of Monolithos
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The Castle of Monolithos

Christos Corner

Over breakfast we checked the road map and decided to visit Monolithos Castle before continuing our journey north. We had seen the castle on the horizon the evening before – indeed it's hard to miss, sitting atop a tall rock overlooking the sea – and it was only a short drive from Monolithos village.

Having parked the car we followed the path towards the castle (and the chapel of Saint Panteleimon which is within the castle walls). In the photo above you can see the castle through the trees on the left towards the top, and might imagine that there is not much more of a climb. There's a valley beyond, though, from which the real ascent begins. In fact the castle is 236m above sea level. The narrow path up the rock face is littered with debris and rather steep. How ever did they get supplies up there? And how did they get the stones up there to build the fortifications in the first place?

Monolithos Castle

The short video below shows my ascent and a quick tour of the castle, which was built in the 15th century on the foundations of a much older castle. You'll also see the chapel of Saint Panteleimon and a breathtaking view out towards Halki island.

More Posts about Castles on the Island of Rhodes

Lindos Acropolis
Monolithos to Kamiros
Asklipio

Monolithos

Christos Corner

Arriving at Monolithos we soon found very good accommodation at Christos Corner. Our double room with balcony cost only €30 for the two of us, including continental breakfast. We settled in and realised that although our room didn't have air conditioning we weren't going to need it. It's much breezier here than on the east coast and the temperature in the room was comfortable. Here's the view from our balcony:

As I wasn't intending to drive any more that day I ordered a Mythos in the restaurant downstairs and we spoke to our hosts. They suggested we walked up the road later to watch the sunset over Monolithos Castle, which we readily agreed was a good idea as it sounded like a good video/photo opportunity. First, though, we'd take them up on their offer of home-made beef sausages with salad and chips. Very good indeed. A wonderful family-run business. However, on 14 June 2012 we were the only guests.

Goat Bells

Our evening walk took an unexpected turn with the arrival of many goats on the road. I was happier filming these goats than filming the sunset. Their bells made a wonderful racket as you can hear in the video.

The Road to Monolithos

Prasonisi to Monolithos, 14 June 2012

We really enjoyed the drive from Prasonisi, particularly once we'd turned left off the dead-end Prasonisi road onto the road that follows the west coast. So much so that we forgot about our cameras most of the time as we enjoyed the westerly breeze through the open car windows and took in the breathtaking views, listening to a cheesy Greek tourist CD we'd bought in Pefkos along with our road map.

We were on the lookout for a restaurant or snack bar as the Prasonisi air had given us both a good appetite. Nothing for miles...

Lunch at a Seafood Restaurant near Apolakkia

Then we found a great seafood restaurant near Apolakkia, Restaurant Chrisama, offering plenty of shade, wonderful views, and friendly service. We were recommended a starter of deep-fried small fish, lightly battered, which were delicious. Marides, I think. It was such a generous starter that we couldn't possibly eat any more, given the bread and salad that came with it. A Russian party at the next table made more of a meal of it with a fantastic spread that made me even more determined to come back.

I shot some footage whilst waiting for our order. It's a very short movie (43 seconds) but will hopefully give you a feel of the place.