Rhodes Town Beaches

Choosing where to stay on Rhodes is hard. If you’re a history buff, you’ll want to be near the Medieval City of Rhodes with its Street of the Knights, Gothic style gates, Old Town tavernas, and the charming Mandraki Harbour with its yachts, boats and cruise ships. The big question, though, is whether there are good beaches in Rhodes Town.

If you want to enjoy your share of wandering the cobblestone streets and of cruise ship watching without giving up your beach time, you’ll be happy to learn that Rhodes Town beaches are up-to-par with any other blue Flag beaches in Greece.

Even though you won’t find here the best beaches of Rhodes island or the finest sand ever, you’ll still have your share of sun and fun. Furthermore, there are a few very good beaches near Rhodes Town, easy to reach by public bus. Faliraki, for instance, is at 30-45 minutes by bus from Rhodes Town. Kallithea is even closer.

This is the complete guide of Rhodes Town beaches with lots of details and photos. There’s also a list of hotels near each of these beaches.

In fact, the beaches in Rhodes Town are all located to the northern tip of the island. If you look on a map, you’ll see that the tip of Rhodes island is a big stripe of sand, as if the island had a hat.

In a nutshell, all you need to know is that you can stay in Rhodes Town and enjoy perfect beaches within walking distance from your hotel. The above photo is a panorama of Rhodes Town beaches stretching on the west edge of the tip of island. I climbed the hill very early in the morning to get there before the heat.

Elli Beach

Elli Beach stretches on the northeastern side of the island, from the Aquarium to Mandraki Harbour. It is a Blue Flag beach, suitable for people with mobility issues.

This sandy beach consists from several different sections, each of them managed by a different operator. I don’t know if they have different names, too.

As you walk along the sand, you’ll see that the colour and the design of umbrellas and sunbeds change. The last section before Mandraki, by Baia Restaurant & Beach Bar is the fanciest. It is also the most expensive.

You can find out more about Elli Beach here. Briefly, this is the place to be if you want to swim and snorkel. The sea is calm, the sand is manageable without water shoes, and the diving platform is waiting for you.

Also, if you have mobility issues, you’ll love the Seatrac device on Elli beach, just in front of Ibiscus Hotel, an automatic chair moving on a track that takes you directly into the water.

Aquarium Beach (Paralia Enidriou)

The Aquarium of Rhodes is the yellow building that marks the northern tip of the island. You can’t miss it as you walk along the seafront pedestrian promenade, as it is the only building on this side of the road.

The beach near this building is known as the Aquarium Beach or Paralia Enidriou.

On this beach you’ll find sunbeds, umbrellas, showers and changing cabins. There’s also a big area where you can use your own umbrella and your beach towel. The beach has sand and small pebbles. The water runs deep pretty quickly, so this may not be the best place to come with inquisitive toddlers.

There are several wheelchair ramps.

Psaropoula (Akti Miaouli) Beach

Psaropoula is an organized beach that stretches from the Aquarium, along the Miaoulis and Kanaris Coast, to the beginning of Rhodes Town.

I took the photo below from our hotel room at Riviera Hotel, right on Akti Miaouli street.

In fact, all these beaches are divided into smaller segments taking the names of hotels or restaurants nearby.

As such, Barbarossa Beach is the area by the Barbarossa Beach Bar & Restaurant. Here, sunbeds and umbrellas are free for the customers. Beware, though, this is a pebbly beach. The sea bottom is also full of rocks, so you’ll need water shoes to swim here.

Mitsis Grand Hotel has its own stripe of beach reserved for their guests, just nearby. I don’t know if these guests pay extra to use the beach, but I know for sure you can’t use it if you aren’t one of them.

Kato Petres Beach

As you walk along the west coast toward the south, you’ll find a trail just by the beginning (or ending) of the Psaropoula Beach. Follow this trail to get to a wild, pebbly beach with big rocks scattered around.

Kato Petres is a romantic spot easy to reach from Rhodes Town. It is one of the best places to watch the sunset in Rhodes.

If you want to go to Kato Petres beach, consider visiting also the Archangel Panormitis Cave and maybe catch the sunset there, on the rocks.

You can also take advantage of this walk to get on top of Monte Smith Hill to visit the Temple of Pythian Apollo, the Acropolis of Ancient Rhodes and the ancient stadium.

How To Choose the Best Beach for You

If you want rough sea with waves and wind, choose the west side beaches of Rhodes Town. This is the spot to catch some amazing sunsets and beautiful waves.

If you want to swim and snorkel, to have lunch on the beach and to order drinks right from your sunbed, choose the eastern side of the sandy stretch, choose Elli beach. This is the place to take the most amazing sunrise photos, as well.

These are water sports on both sides.

As we spent almost two weeks in Rhodes Town, there was plenty of time to try most of these beaches. Unfortunately, July-August 2021 was an extremely hot period, with wild fires and crazy temperatures, so we limited our travels outside Rhodes Town to a minimum. We only visited Faliraki Beach – an easy bus ride from Rhodes Town.

If you want fine, golden sand, Faliraki is the place to go on Rhodes Island. As far as I’m concerned, I was perfectly fine with the coarse sand and pebbles on Rhodes Town beaches.

Rhodes Town is fairly close to the Rhodes airport. If you want to take flights to other Greek islands, you may want to choose accommodation in Ixia or Rhodes Town, even though Faliraki, on the other side of the island, is only a few km away from the airport.

Before you go, check out this 6-hour cruise with lunch, snacks and unlimited drinks. You’ll swim, snorkel and relax on two of the most beautiful beaches in Rhodes.