What's on in Rhodes (Rodos), Greece through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Greece, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Resorts shut for winter (1 Nov – 31 Mar), Olive harvest (1 Nov – 15 Jan (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Resorts shut for winter (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Resorts shut for winter (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Peak crowds — Orthodox Easter, Cruise calls in the Old Town

• Opening

  Resort season opens

  1 Apr – 10 May · usuallySummer season opens

  Charter flights, the east-coast hotels and the Lindos tavernas restart around Easter. Everything is open and nothing is full, which is the case for about six weeks. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Orthodox Easter

  10–13 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedClosures

  Greeks travel for it, so the ferries and the island hotels fill before the foreign season starts. Midnight on Holy Saturday is fireworks and church bells everywhere at once. Source ↗

• Season

  Cruise calls in the Old Town

  15 Apr – 31 Oct · usuallyCruise seasonCrowded

  Ships tie up beside the medieval walls and the Street of the Knights belongs to their tours between about ten and four. Before and after that the Old Town is a different place.

Busy — Cruise calls in the Old Town, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Resort season opens (1 Apr – 10 May (usually)), Orthodox Easter (10–13 Apr), Cruise calls in the Old Town (15 Apr – 31 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Cruise calls in the Old Town, Summer holidays in Greece

• Season

  Sea warm enough to swim

  10 Jun – 31 Oct · usually

  The east coast is the swimmable side and stays comfortable to the end of October. The west coast has the wind and the waves, which is why the kitesurfers are all at Prasonisi.

• Nature

  Moths at Petaloudes

  15 Jun – 15 Sep · usuallyWildlife season

  Jersey tiger moths gather in their thousands in the shaded valley at Petaloudes for the dry months, and the site is closed to visitors outside them. Clapping to make them fly is both banned and pointless. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Wildfire season

  15 Jun – 30 Sep · usuallySmoke season

  The island's interior burns in the worst summers and the 2023 fires emptied the southeast coast for a week. Risk is graded daily and access to the forested middle is restricted on the high days. Source ↗

Still on: Cruise calls in the Old Town (15 Apr – 31 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Cruise calls in the Old Town, Summer holidays in Greece

• Season

  The meltemi

  1 Jul – 31 Aug · usuallyWind seasonRisk

  The summer north wind gets up most afternoons and blows for days at a stretch. It makes the heat bearable, closes the west-coast beaches to swimmers and occasionally stops the small ferries.

Still on: Cruise calls in the Old Town (15 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 31 Oct (usually)), Moths at Petaloudes (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually)), Wildfire season (15 Jun – 30 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Cruise calls in the Old Town, Assumption on 15 August

• Holiday

  Assumption on 15 August

  12–18 AugNational holidayCrowdedClosuresBook early

  The biggest holiday of the Greek year outside Easter. Domestic flights and ferries fill, the village churches hold panigiria with food and lyra until dawn, and shops shut on the day itself. Source ↗

• Season

  Grape harvest at Embonas

  25 Aug – 30 Sep · usually

  The Athiri vineyards on the slopes of Attavyros are picked from late August, and the mountain villages hold their wine feasts once the presses are running. The coast is still full; the interior is not.

Still on: Cruise calls in the Old Town (15 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 31 Oct (usually)), Moths at Petaloudes (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually)), Wildfire season (15 Jun – 30 Sep (usually)), The meltemi (1 Jul – 31 Aug (usually))

Peak crowds — Cruise calls in the Old Town, Summer holidays in Greece

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Cruise calls in the Old Town (15 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 31 Oct (usually)), Moths at Petaloudes (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually)), Wildfire season (15 Jun – 30 Sep (usually)), Grape harvest at Embonas (25 Aug – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Cruise calls in the Old Town, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Cruise calls in the Old Town (15 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 31 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Closure

  Resorts shut for winter

  1 Nov – 31 Mar

  Outside Rhodes Town the island closes: hotels boarded, Lindos down to a couple of kitchens, charter flights gone. The town itself keeps working and is the only reason to come in winter. Source ↗

• Season

  Olive harvest

  1 Nov – 15 Jan · usually

  Nets go down under the trees across the interior once the resorts have shut, and the village presses run into January. It is the one thing happening on the island in those months.

Busy — Christmas holidays in Greece, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Resorts shut for winter (1 Nov – 31 Mar), Olive harvest (1 Nov – 15 Jan (usually))