hodes lies 270 nautical miles from Piraeus and is surrounded by the islands of Symi, Tilos, Chalki and Alimia as well as rocky outcroppings like Tragoussa, Drosonisi, Prasonisi and others. It has an area of 1,400 sq. km. and a coastline length of 220 km. The land is by and large mountainous -the highest mountain is Attavyros with 1,215m. height-, with small plains, verdant ravines and river beds, valleys and plateaus and long sandy beaches.

he continual sunshine -an average 300 days of sunshine a year- and the mild climate make the island suitable for viticulture. Its superb climate, the fertile soil and the geographical position are the main factors which have made the island densely populated from antiquity up to the present. Its population today is around 90,000 and they are able to host more than 1,250,000 visitors a year.

Visitors who come to enjoy the island's natural beauty and to get aquainted with its long history. The airport of Rhodes has daily charter flights from many European cities as well as Cyprus, Tel Aviv and Cairo. You can also reach Rhodes by plane from Athens (about 50 minutes flight), Crete and Santorini. Large ferry boats go daily between Piraeus and Rhodes (the trip lasts from 13 to 20 hours), while there connections with Thessaloniki, Crete, the rest of the Dodecannese and international ports as Limassol (Cyprus),Haifa (Israel), Alexandria (Egypt) and Ancona (Italy). Welcome to the brilliant island of the sun!...

Photos and text taken from "Rhodes - the brilliant island of the sun" (Toubis Editions)