One of the things you can do in Rhodes is take an excursion to the tiny picturesque island of Symi.
Symi has two ports. Symi’s main port is in Ano Symi. A picturesque port town with centuries old buildings, fishing boats, artisan shops, galleries and restaurants… lots of restaurants.
The other one is at the other end of the island and it serves as a jump off point for the famous Monastery of Archangel Michael in Panormitis.
The excursion boat from Rhodes makes two stops, one in the main port and the other at the Panormitis port for those that want to visit the monastery, which is a very worthwhile visit and the admission cost of €2 is worth it.
Our accidental find, due to the long conversation we had at one of the restaurants, and the fact that the ship does not blow its horn to warn the passengers of its departure, is that we were left behind on the dock watching as our excursion boat from Rhodes was sailing out of port on it’s way to it’s next destination at the other end of Symi.
Now Symi is a very small island and ferries & ships, other than the excursion boat, are not very frequent.
A stroke of genius from one of our party was to see if we could find a taxi to take us overland to meet with the excursion boat that had already left.
A mere €20 ride through the spectacular middle of the island with views of the Aegean from the highest point of the island landed us at the monastery 15 minutes before our original excursion boat arrived.
We had the whole monastery and its museum to ourselves… what a treat!
When the boat arrived, the rest of the passengers got off and crowded the serene place making us thankful we had missed the boat.
So, my advice is to miss the boat!
