Arriving this May to Symi Island via ferry from Rhodes at 1:30. Return trip is at 5:15. What are some first hand suggestions to sightsee, shop and eat?
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France Southwest - Occitanie
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We stopped briefly in Symi last year on our way to other islands. It's certainly quite pretty with its colorful houses. Apparently, it's a great destination for walking and hiking if you stay for several days, but since you'll only be there for a few hours, here is what guidebooks that take a more critical look have to say (apologies, these aren't exactly "suggestions"):
Its 3,000 permanent residents host around 500,000 visitors a year, including 1,000 to 5,000 day-trippers per day from May to October, coming from Rhodes or Turkey for three hours. The waterfront is packed from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, prices at the harbor cafes and restaurants match those of a much wealthier island, and both water usage and waste exceed what the island can handle. In July 2025, Mayor Lefteris Papakalodoukas requested an entry fee of 3 to 5 euros for day visitors from the relevant ministries, to be collected by ferry companies, as of the last check, the measure had not been implemented.
There were, in fact, an awful lot of people, and that was around 9:00, before the majority of the day-trippers from Rhodes had arrived. So be prepared for crowds, even if you take a ferry on your own rather than an organized day trip.
Since you're taking a Dodekanisos Seaways ferry, note that the departure port in Rhodes is Kolona harbor , located here: