Rhodes & Lindos Photo Guide: Medieval Old Town, Acropolis Light and St Paul's Bay

Rhodes Old Town: be inside the walls by 9am

The medieval town of Rhodes — a UNESCO World Heritage Site built by the Knights of St John — sits right beside the commercial harbour where the cruise ships dock. Passengers are through the gates by mid-morning, and from roughly 10am until late afternoon the main lanes around Sokratous street move at shuffle pace. The rule for photography is simple: be inside the walls by 9am, earlier still in July and August. Before the shops open, the Old Town belongs to the cats, the bakery vans and you.

Street of the Knights

The Street of the Knights (Odos Ippoton) is the frame everyone comes for, and it earns it: a straight, cobbled medieval street climbing between the austere stone inns of the knights' "tongues" up to the Palace of the Grand Master. Early in the morning the low sun rakes across the cobbles and arches, and a couple can stand in the middle of the street with nobody else in the picture. By late morning that is simply impossible. The palace facade at the top, with its twin round towers, works slightly later too — the square in front of it absorbs people better than the narrow street below.

Gates, walls and the dry moat

The d'Amboise Gate on the north-west side is the grandest way into the town and photographs beautifully with its stone bridge and massive towers. For something most visitors never see, walk the dry moat: a green corridor running between the outer and inner fortifications, shaded, quiet even in high season, with the walls towering on both sides — it gives portraits a sense of scale nothing else in the town matches. The Marine Gate faces the harbour and is the most ornate, but it is also the closest to the ships, so shoot it first.

Mandraki Harbour and the windmills

Just outside the walls, Mandraki Harbour is where the Colossus of Rhodes is popularly said to have stood; today two bronze deer, Elafos and Elafina, top the columns at the harbour mouth. Walk the pier past the three medieval windmills to the Fort of St Nicholas at the tip — in the morning you shoot back towards the town with the light behind you. There is almost always a breeze here, which flatters veils and loose dresses if you plan for it.

Lindos: the white village under the acropolis

Lindos lies about 50 kilometres south of Rhodes Town — under an hour by car down the east coast. The village is a knot of whitewashed captains' houses and pebble-mosaic courtyards pressed against the base of a sheer rock, with the ancient acropolis on top. Cars stay outside; everything inside happens on foot, which is exactly what keeps it photogenic.

Timing the donkey path

The path up to the acropolis is shared with the famous Lindos donkeys. It is steep, stepped in places and completely exposed — in July and August the climb is genuinely hot by 10am. Go up as soon as the site opens in the morning: you get soft light on the east-facing bays, an uncrowded path, and cooler air for anyone climbing in a wedding dress or a suit. Late afternoon is the alternative, when the stone warms in colour and the day-trippers have thinned out.

On the acropolis

At the top, the Hellenistic stoa and the columns of the Temple of Athena Lindia stand against open sea and sky — clean, graphic frames with no modern clutter. Walk the edges: from the south side you look straight down onto St Paul's Bay, and from this height its almost-closed loop of water reads as the famous heart shape. The main village beach curves away to the north. The east coast is usually gentler on wind than the island's west side, but the summit is exposed, so hold onto hats.

St Paul's Bay

Below the acropolis, St Paul's Bay is a near-enclosed circle of turquoise water with a small white chapel dedicated to the Apostle, who by tradition landed here. The chapel is one of the most requested wedding and proposal settings on Rhodes: whitewashed, simple, with the acropolis cliffs rising behind it. Morning gives you calm water and light on the cliff face; late afternoon puts soft light on the chapel itself. It is a small place — if a wedding is under way, give it room and work from the rocks on either side of the bay instead.

Ending the day

For sunset, either stay in Lindos and use the rooftops and lanes as the light turns honeyed, or head back towards Rhodes Town and finish on Monte Smith, the hill of the ancient acropolis of Rhodes, where the columns of the Temple of Apollo face west over open sea and the sun drops straight into the water.

Planning a Rhodes photoshoot

A strong plan for a photoshoot on Rhodes is one location done at the right hour, not three done at noon: the Old Town at 8am, or Lindos and St Paul's Bay from late afternoon into sunset. A local photographer will know which gate, lane or rooftop is quiet on any given day — you can browse Rhodes photographers and book online, with sessions from €279 all-inclusive.