A Rhodes bus tour comes in four shapes: the hop-on hop-off loop around Rhodes Town, the full-day guided island tour built around Lindos, the half-day run to Lindos and Seven Springs, and the seasonal coach trip to the Valley of the Butterflies. Plan the rest of the island with Greece Tours.
This guide covers all four: the town loop and its stops, what the guided island day includes, the Lindos and Seven Springs pairing, the Butterflies valley and its season, the prices, the timings and pickup order, what is paid on the day, how the coach compares with a hire car, and when to book.
What does a Rhodes bus tour cover?
Four different products share the name: the hop-on hop-off loop around Rhodes Town, the full-day guided island tour, the half-day run to Lindos and Seven Springs, and the seasonal trip to the Valley of the Butterflies.
A Rhodes bus tour starts in Rhodes Town or along the resort strip. The town loop is transport with commentary. The island tours are guided days with a driver, a guide and fixed stops, covering ground that takes two days by hire car and removes the parking problem at every one of them. Booking a Rhodes bus tour ahead fixes the seat and the price. Silence is asked for in the valley to protect the moths. A Rhodes bus tour reaches no beach in the far south. The guided coaches run from April to the end of October. The open-top town bus carries no air conditioning by design.
The pickup order costs the first passenger up to forty-five minutes. All four leave from Rhodes Town or pick up along the resort strip at Ixia, Ialysos, Faliraki and Kallithea. The island as a whole is covered at Rhodes. Site entry is paid on the day rather than at booking. Petaloudes holds its Jersey tiger moths from June to September. Lindos acropolis takes three hours of the guided day. Monte Smith holds the ancient acropolis above the harbour.
How does the hop-on hop-off bus work?
An open-top double-decker looping Rhodes Town every thirty to forty-five minutes with commentary in ten languages, calling at Mandraki harbour, the old town gates, the acropolis of Rhodes on Monte Smith and the aquarium.
The hop-on hop-off loop runs every thirty to forty-five minutes. The ticket runs for twenty-four or forty-eight hours and lets you leave the bus at any stop and rejoin a later one. The full circuit without leaving the seat takes about an hour, which makes it a decent orientation on a first afternoon. Cancellation runs free to twenty-four hours with most operators. Ceramics and wine workshops break up the island day. The Butterflies valley walk takes forty minutes at a slow pace. The town loop runs year-round on a reduced winter timetable. Children pay roughly half on every Rhodes bus tour format.
Lindos has no car access and its car parks fill by ten. The stop that justifies it is Monte Smith, 3 km uphill from the harbour with the ancient acropolis, the stadium and the temple of Apollo. Walking there and back in August is an hour of climbing in the heat that the bus removes. Hotel pickup covers Ixia, Ialysos, Faliraki and Kallithea. A Rhodes bus tour costs less than a hire car for one day. Seven Springs sits in a plane-wooded valley near Kolymbia. The full-day Rhodes bus tour is built around Lindos.
What does the full-day island bus tour include?
A guided coach day covering Lindos and its acropolis, the east coast beaches, a village stop and a ceramics or wine workshop, running seven to nine hours with pickup between eight and half past nine.
Monte Smith holds the ancient acropolis above the harbour. The itinerary is built around Lindos, which takes three hours of the day: the climb to the acropolis, the medieval lanes below it and lunch on a roof terrace. The stops either side change by operator and season. A Rhodes bus tour starts in Rhodes Town or along the resort strip. Booking a Rhodes bus tour ahead fixes the seat and the price. Silence is asked for in the valley to protect the moths. A Rhodes bus tour reaches no beach in the far south. The guided coaches run from April to the end of October.
The open-top town bus carries no air conditioning by design. The guide is the difference against driving it. The acropolis rewards being explained, the village stops are chosen rather than stumbled on, and nobody spends the afternoon looking for parking in Lindos, which has none. The pickup order costs the first passenger up to forty-five minutes. Site entry is paid on the day rather than at booking. Petaloudes holds its Jersey tiger moths from June to September. Lindos acropolis takes three hours of the guided day.
What is the Lindos and Seven Springs bus tour?
A half or three-quarter day pairing the village and acropolis at Lindos with the Seven Springs valley inland, running five to seven hours with about three hours of free time at Lindos.
The full-day Rhodes bus tour is built around Lindos. Seven Springs sits in a plane-wooded valley near Kolymbia, with water channels, a tunnel through the rock and peacocks along the paths. It is twenty minutes of walking and a taverna under the trees rather than a monument, and it works as the cool half of a hot day. The valley is covered at Seven Springs. The hop-on hop-off loop runs every thirty to forty-five minutes. Cancellation runs free to twenty-four hours with most operators. Ceramics and wine workshops break up the island day. The Butterflies valley walk takes forty minutes at a slow pace. The town loop runs year-round on a reduced winter timetable.
Children pay roughly half on every Rhodes bus tour format. The bus-only version of the same run drops passengers at Lindos and collects them five hours later without a guide, which costs less and suits travellers who want the village at their own pace. Lindos has no car access and its car parks fill by ten. Hotel pickup covers Ixia, Ialysos, Faliraki and Kallithea. A Rhodes bus tour costs less than a hire car for one day. Seven Springs sits in a plane-wooded valley near Kolymbia.
What about the Valley of the Butterflies trip?
A half-day coach run to the Petaloudes valley on the west side of the island, where Jersey tiger moths cluster on the trunks from June to September, paired with a village or a monastery stop.
Lindos acropolis takes three hours of the guided day. The valley is a shaded gorge with wooden walkways and a stream, and the walk up takes forty minutes at a slow pace. The moths are there in high summer and absent either side of it, which is the one thing to check before booking. Monte Smith holds the ancient acropolis above the harbour. A Rhodes bus tour starts in Rhodes Town or along the resort strip. Booking a Rhodes bus tour ahead fixes the seat and the price. Silence is asked for in the valley to protect the moths. A Rhodes bus tour reaches no beach in the far south.
The guided coaches run from April to the end of October. Silence matters in the valley: clapping and shouting disturb the moths and are discouraged by the wardens. The site itself sits at the Valley of the Butterflies. The open-top town bus carries no air conditioning by design. The pickup order costs the first passenger up to forty-five minutes. Site entry is paid on the day rather than at booking. Petaloudes holds its Jersey tiger moths from June to September.
What does a Rhodes bus tour cost?
From about 15 to 25 euros for a twenty-four-hour hop-on hop-off ticket, 35 to 60 euros for the full-day guided island tour, 25 to 45 euros for the Lindos and Seven Springs half day, and 25 to 40 euros for the Butterflies trip.
Seven Springs sits in a plane-wooded valley near Kolymbia. Site entry is charged separately on most programmes: the Lindos acropolis, the Petaloudes valley and the Seven Springs taverna are all paid on the day. Lunch is included on part of the full-day tours and stated in the listing. The full-day Rhodes bus tour is built around Lindos. The hop-on hop-off loop runs every thirty to forty-five minutes. Cancellation runs free to twenty-four hours with most operators. Ceramics and wine workshops break up the island day.
The town loop runs year-round on a reduced winter timetable. Children pay roughly half on every format and travel free under six on the town loop. Hotel pickup is bundled into the guided tours and excluded from the hop-on hop-off, which starts and ends at Mandraki. Children pay roughly half on every Rhodes bus tour format. Lindos has no car access and its car parks fill by ten. Hotel pickup covers Ixia, Ialysos, Faliraki and Kallithea. A Rhodes bus tour costs less than a hire car for one day.
How long does each tour take?
An hour for a full circuit of the town loop, five to seven hours for the Lindos half day, seven to nine for the full-day island tour, and four to five for the Valley of the Butterflies.
Petaloudes holds its Jersey tiger moths from June to September. The pickup order costs the first passenger up to forty-five minutes on the guided tours. A coach working Ixia, Ialysos and Faliraki before it turns south leaves earlier than the printed hour, and the confirmation states the real time. Lindos acropolis takes three hours of the guided day. Monte Smith holds the ancient acropolis above the harbour. A Rhodes bus tour starts in Rhodes Town or along the resort strip. Booking a Rhodes bus tour ahead fixes the seat and the price.
A Rhodes bus tour reaches no beach in the far south. Return times hold better than departures. The coaches drop back along the same strip in reverse order, so the passenger picked up first is dropped last, which matters when an evening booking follows. The guided coaches run from April to the end of October. The open-top town bus carries no air conditioning by design. The pickup order costs the first passenger up to forty-five minutes. Site entry is paid on the day rather than at booking.
What is included and what do you pay on the day?
Transport, the driver and the guide are included. Site entry, lunch on the tours that exclude it, drinks at the stops and any optional extra such as the donkey ride at Lindos are paid on the day.
A Rhodes bus tour costs less than a hire car for one day. Carry cash. The Lindos donkeys, the village kiosks and the Seven Springs taverna take notes more readily than cards, and thirty to fifty euros per person covers the extras on a full day comfortably. Seven Springs sits in a plane-wooded valley near Kolymbia. The full-day Rhodes bus tour is built around Lindos. The hop-on hop-off loop runs every thirty to forty-five minutes. Cancellation runs free to twenty-four hours with most operators.
The Butterflies valley walk takes forty minutes at a slow pace. Air conditioning is standard on the guided coaches and absent by design on the open-top town bus, which is a consideration at two in the afternoon in August rather than a complaint about the ticket. The town loop runs year-round on a reduced winter timetable. Children pay roughly half on every Rhodes bus tour format. Lindos has no car access and its car parks fill by ten. Hotel pickup covers Ixia, Ialysos, Faliraki and Kallithea.
Is a bus tour better than a hire car?
For one guided day, yes: no navigation, no parking at Lindos, and the sites explained. For a week on the island a hire car wins on freedom, and the two combine well.
Site entry is paid on the day rather than at booking. Lindos is the argument. The village has no car access, the car parks above it fill by ten in summer and the walk down adds twenty minutes each way. A coach drops at the gate and collects at the same place. Petaloudes holds its Jersey tiger moths from June to September. Lindos acropolis takes three hours of the guided day. Monte Smith holds the ancient acropolis above the harbour. A Rhodes bus tour starts in Rhodes Town or along the resort strip.
Silence is asked for in the valley to protect the moths. The counter-argument is the beaches. No bus tour reaches Prasonisi, Fourni or the south, and the timetable ends in the early evening. The driving side is covered in Rhodes car rental. A Rhodes bus tour reaches no beach in the far south. The guided coaches run from April to the end of October. The open-top town bus carries no air conditioning by design. The pickup order costs the first passenger up to forty-five minutes.
When does the season run and how far ahead do you book?
April to the end of October for the guided tours, with the town loop running year-round on a reduced winter timetable. Book two to three days ahead in July and August and on the day outside them.
Hotel pickup covers Ixia, Ialysos, Faliraki and Kallithea. May, June, September and October are the months for a full island day. Lindos is walkable at midday, the coaches have space, and the Butterflies valley holds its moths from late June. August puts the acropolis climb at forty degrees. A Rhodes bus tour costs less than a hire car for one day. Seven Springs sits in a plane-wooded valley near Kolymbia. The full-day Rhodes bus tour is built around Lindos. The hop-on hop-off loop runs every thirty to forty-five minutes.
Ceramics and wine workshops break up the island day. Booking online holds the seat and the pickup and fixes the price against the resort desk rate. Cancellation runs free to twenty-four hours with most operators here. The old town, which the loop circles, sits at Rhodes old town. The Butterflies valley walk takes forty minutes at a slow pace. The town loop runs year-round on a reduced winter timetable. Children pay roughly half on every Rhodes bus tour format. Lindos has no car access and its car parks fill by ten.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a Rhodes bus tour cost?
From about 15 to 25 euros for a twenty-four-hour hop-on hop-off ticket, 35 to 60 euros for the full-day guided island tour, 25 to 45 euros for the Lindos and Seven Springs half day and 25 to 40 euros for the Butterflies trip.
How long is the hop-on hop-off circuit in Rhodes Town?
About an hour for the full loop without leaving the seat, with buses every thirty to forty-five minutes. Tickets run for twenty-four or forty-eight hours and allow any number of stops.
Does a Rhodes bus tour include site entry?
No. The Lindos acropolis, the Petaloudes valley and the Seven Springs taverna are paid on the day. Transport and the guide are included, and lunch on part of the full-day tours.