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Dodecanese
First impressions
Running from Patmos in the NW via Kos and Rhodes to Kastellorizon in the SE, the Dodecanese hug the magical, always visible, Turkish coast. These islands are greener than the Cyclades; their architecture shows Italian influence on Leros, Kos and Rhodes and the elegant “sea-captains” style on Symi, Kastellorizon, Halki and Kalymnos. You can take a day excursion to Turkey from many ports: Rhodes-Marmaris, Kos- and Kalymnos-Bodrum, Symi-Datça and (unofficially) Kastellorizon-Kas. The northern Dodecanese may quite easily be combined with Fourni and/or Samos.
Getting there
The gateway airports are Rhodes and Kos, both served by charters from most UK regional airports, as well as by Olympic Airlines from London and Manchester via Athens, with onward domestic flights to Leros, Kalymnos and Kastellorizon as well as to Kos and Rhodes of course. There are frequent ferries, fast catamarans and hydrofoils serving all the islands – well, some better than others. Normally, Nisyros and the islands northwards up the chain (Kalymnos, Leros, Lipsi and Patmos) use Kos (or, via Athens, Leros) as the gateway, whilst those to the south (Tilos, Rhodes, Halki, Symi and Kastellorizon) use Rhodes, though Samos can work for Patmos. It follows that if you use OA via Athens you could mix and match islands in the northern group with the southern group, but it is less easy (because it involves long sea transfers) when you use charters which don’t permit open-jaw travel..
Plus points
The Dodecanese differ from many of the Cyclades in that the inhabitants live here year round, lengthening the season and making early and late holidays less prone to early hibernation and late emergence therefrom. The “sea-captains” style of architecture – notably in Symi, Kastellorizon, Halki and Kalymnos – is in its way just as attractive as the Cycladic cubist style.
Minus points
A little more prone to Martians because of the two big charter airports, but away from those islands they materialise as little more than day-trippers here and there.
Symi: Sea Captain style houses. Pile 'em high....don't sell 'em
Descriptions and pictures of each island in the chain, in geographical order from Patmos in the north to Kastellorizon in the south, follow below. A table of guide prices completes the Dodecanese section; the seasonal dates for each unit of accommodation may be found below each description in the RH column of this page.
Halki: the harbour-front