Rhodes Outdoors and Departure: Seven Springs Forest, Embonas Wine Village, Ixia Windsurfing Beach, Elli Urban Beach, and the Final Day Circuit
The Rhodes outdoor and departure guide covers the Seven Springs forested oasis, the Embonas hilltop wine village, the Ixia beach windsurfing strip, the Elli town beach, and the final day circuit.
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Seven Springs: The Forested Oasis
Epta Piges, the Seven Springs nature park in the central Rhodes interior, is the most popular inland excursion from the east coast resorts, with the fresh mountain springs feeding the duck pond, the plane trees and the bamboo providing the shade corridor, and the tunnel through the hillside leading to the artificial lake that is the most unusual single natural feature in an island of limestone clarity. The Seven Springs waterfall and the restaurant under the trees is the most refreshing midday break from the summer beach heat.
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Embonas: The Wine Village at the Top
Embonas at 825 meters on the western slopes of Mount Attavyros, the highest village in Rhodes and the center of the Rhodian wine industry, produces the Athiri white grape and the Mandilari red in the vineyards that surround the village at the highest altitude in the Dodecanese wine regions. The village wine cellars of the Emery and the CAIR producers are open to visitors and the village tavernas serve the Rhodian cuisine with the local wine in the most authentically Rhodian dining environment accessible from the resort strip.
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Ixia: The Windsurfing Capital
Ixia beach immediately west of Rhodes Town, exposed to the afternoon Meltemi wind that blows consistently from the northwest throughout the summer months, is the most established windsurfing beach in the Dodecanese, with the windsurfing schools and the equipment rental that make it the primary water sport destination in the island for the board sports enthusiast. The Ixia beach also hosts the international windsurfing competitions that the consistent Meltemi conditions attract.
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Elli Beach: The Town Swimming
Elli beach in the Rhodes New Town, the urban beach of the Rhodes Town resident population and the most easily accessible beach for the visitor staying in the Old or New Town hotels, has the warm clear Aegean water, the beach bars, and the social atmosphere of the city beach that requires no transport from the hotel. The Elli beach diving platform is the traditional gathering point of the Rhodes youth in the summer afternoons.
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Rhodes Practical Complete: Hotels and Getting Around
The Rhodes accommodation spectrum from the Old Town boutique hotels within the medieval walls to the east coast resort all-inclusive properties at Faliraki and Kolymbia provides the full range from the most historically atmospheric to the most comprehensive family resort. The Rhodes Town local bus service covers the northern part of the island, the KTEL intercity buses reach Lindos and the south coast, and the rental car or scooter provides the most flexible exploration of the 220 kilometers of coastline.
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Rhodes Farewell: A Final Old Town Morning
The final morning in Rhodes, spent walking the Old Town street circuit from the Gate of Amboise through the Street of the Knights to the Suleymaniye Mosque and the Socrates Street bazaar before the harbor taxi to the airport, covers the essential medieval experience in 2 hours at the pace of the early morning walker before the organized tours begin. The morning coffee in the Old Town square beneath the plane trees is the most civilized departure ritual in the Dodecanese.