Base yourself in or near the Old Town and give it two full days: the Grand Master's Palace and the Street of the Knights one morning, the Archaeological Museum and the Jewish quarter the next, the walls and the harbour in the evenings. Spend a third day at Lindos, early, before the tour buses, and a fourth on a beach or the boat to Symi. Avoid July and August midday heat.
Rhodes Town is two cities. Inside four kilometres of walls sits the medieval town the Knights of St John built and the Ottomans kept, a UNESCO site since 1988. Outside them is a modern harbour town with a beach on its northern tip, and most of the island within an hour.
The Knights' 14th-century citadel, wrecked by an 1856 gunpowder blast and rebuilt by the Italians in 1937 to 1940 as a summer residence for their king. The halls are a reconstruction; the floor mosaics brought from Kos and the ancient Rhodes galleries are real.
A cobbled medieval street climbing from the Archaeological Museum to the palace, lined with the Inns of the Tongues, where each nation of the order lodged. Their coats of arms are still carved over the doors.
The island's finds from the Mycenaean to the Roman era, housed in the Knights' 15th-century hospital. The courtyard, the long infirmary ward and the marble Aphrodite of Rhodes are the reasons to come.
A Hellenistic sanctuary of Athena on a sea cliff about 116 metres high, ringed by the Knights' walls, above a white village. The view down to St Paul's Bay is the island's best. Go at opening; the climb has no shade.
About four kilometres of walls, gates and towers enclose the Old Town, with a broad dry moat outside them. The moat path is the best walk in town: green, cool and nearly empty, between the bastions the Knights built against the Ottomans.
The old harbour where tradition puts the Colossus, now guarded by bronze deer on two columns, three medieval windmills and Fort St Nicholas. Day boats to Lindos and Symi leave from the quay.
The ancient city's high ground: a reconstructed stadium, a small theatre and the standing columns of the Temple of Pythian Apollo. Few visitors make the walk up, and the hill catches the sunset over the Aegean.
An Italian spa opened in 1929 and restored in 2007, all domes, pebble mosaics and palms above a rocky cove. The waters no longer heal anyone, but the cove is good for a swim and the architecture is the reason to come.
A shaded gorge of streams and sweetgum trees where thousands of Jersey tiger moths gather each summer. Outside June to August it is simply a pretty walk. In season, keep quiet: noise disturbs the moths.
A pine-covered hill with a Knights-era monastery, the ruins of ancient Ialysos and free-roaming peacocks. The Way of the Cross runs along the ridge to a tall cross with views over the west coast.
The pink-domed mosque built after the Ottoman conquest of 1522. Seen from outside.
A tower rebuilt in the 1850s on medieval foundations, the highest view inside the walls.
An Ottoman library opposite the mosque, with copies of its manuscripts and maps on show.
The seahorse fountain square, with a memorial to the 1944 deportation of the city's Jews.
A small rocky cove with clear water, named for the actor who filmed here. Busy by noon.
The wine village on Mount Attavyros, the highest on the island, with tastings at its wineries.
The upper town of palace, inns and hospital, still and stately after dark.
The old Jewish quarter in the southeast corner, quieter and full of courtyard restaurants.
The 1948 union with Greece, marked with a parade in Rhodes Town.
A national holiday with school and military parades along the seafront.
The biggest feast of the year: candlelit processions on Good Friday and midnight bells on Saturday.
Midsummer bonfires for St John, jumped over in villages across the island.
A national holiday, marked with village festivals and church feasts across the island.
Knights, markets and music inside the walls, held most years since 2006.
Parades marking Greece's 1940 refusal of the Italian ultimatum.
Carols on Christmas Eve, then the vasilopita cake cut on New Year's Day.
About 14 km southwest of town, with flights from Athens year round and charters from Europe in summer. Buses and taxis run to the centre.
Ferries to Piraeus and the islands leave the Commercial Port beside the Old Town. Fast boats to Symi and the Dodecanese also sail from here.
KTEL runs the east coast to Faliraki and Lindos; RODA runs the west coast and the airport. Both run from stops beside the New Market.
The Old Town is on foot only. For the interior, Kamiros and the southern beaches, a hire car beats the bus timetable.
Fried chickpea fritters with mint and onion, the island's own meze.
Rhodian stuffed vine leaves, often with minced meat and rice.
Sesame and honey bars, given at Rhodian weddings and baptisms.
Sun-dried, then charred over coals. Best with an ouzo by the harbour.
Kolokythoanthoi filled with herbed rice, a summer taverna staple.
The Dodecanese grape spirit, stronger than ouzo and unflavoured.
The crisp white grape of Mount Attavyros, tasted in Embonas.
Fried dough puffs soaked in honey syrup and topped with cinnamon.
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