Airport transfers · 2026-09-19 · 8-minute read
Rhodes Diagoras International (RHO) sits on the island's west coast fifteen kilometres from Rhodes Town, and from May to October it is one of the busiest airports in Greece, handling the British, German, Scandinavian, Italian and Israeli holiday traffic to an island whose resorts stretch sixty kilometres down the east coast to Lindos and beyond. The airport is a single terminal that is at capacity on summer Saturdays; the roads are good on the main coastal route and slow through the villages; and the transfer market is mature, with a large private-transfer segment built on the villa and boutique-hotel visitors who have grown in number in the last decade. This guide explains how a private transfer works at Rhodes, what it costs, and how far each resort really is.
Rhodes airport has a single terminal; arriving passengers exit into a public hall where a pre-booked chauffeur waits with a name board. Drive times: Ixia and Ialyssos 10-15 minutes, Rhodes Town 20-25, Faliraki 30-35, Afandou and Kolymbia 35-45, Tsambika and Archangelos 45-55, Lindos 60-75, Kiotari and Gennadi 75-90, Prasonisi 100-120. Indicative private fares: EUR 30-55 for a sedan or executive van to Rhodes Town or Ixia, EUR 45-75 to Faliraki, EUR 75-120 to Lindos, EUR 90-140 to Kiotari; a Sprinter for a group EUR 60-200. Book on the airport limo service page with the flight number and the fare is fixed.
The airport
Diagoras airport was expanded in the 2000s and again more recently under the Fraport Greece concession, which took over fourteen regional Greek airports in 2017 and rebuilt the terminals; the Fraport Greece site has the current arrangements. Arrivals from the Schengen area walk to baggage claim; arrivals from the UK, Israel and outside Schengen clear passport control first, and the non-EU lane for British passengers can take thirty to sixty minutes on a Saturday in July or August, when the arrival bank fills the hall. The single arrivals hall has the car-hire desks and the tour-operator representatives; a pre-booked chauffeur stands in the hall or, when it is at capacity, just outside the exit doors, with a name board, and the morning text says which. The taxi rank and the coach bays are in front of the terminal; the short-stay car park where chauffeurs leave their vehicles is a two-minute walk.
The island, and how far each resort is
Rhodes is a long island and the airport is near the top of it on the west coast. Rhodes Town and the northern resorts are close; everything down the east coast is a drive on the main road, which is good as far as Faliraki, adequate to Lindos, and slower beyond.
| Destination | Coast | Typical drive time |
|---|---|---|
| Ixia / Ialyssos / Trianda | west, near | 10-15 min |
| Kremasti / Paradisi | west, near | 5-10 min |
| Rhodes Town (the old town, the new town, Elli beach) | north | 20-25 min |
| Koskinou / Kallithea | east | 25-30 min |
| Faliraki | east | 30-35 min |
| Afandou / Kolymbia | east | 35-45 min |
| Tsambika / Stegna / Archangelos | east | 45-55 min |
| Haraki / Kalathos | east | 55-65 min |
| Lindos / Vlycha / Pefkos | east | 60-75 min |
| Lardos / Kiotari / Gennadi | east | 75-90 min |
| Prasonisi / Kattavia | south | 100-120 min |
| Theologos / Kalavarda / Kamiros | west | 20-40 min |
Lindos is the resort that surprises visitors: it is marketed everywhere and it is an hour and a quarter from the airport on a road that is busy with coaches and scooters in summer. The southern resorts at Kiotari and Gennadi, where several of the largest five-star hotels are, are an hour and a half. A private transfer is the difference between a pleasant drive with the sea on the left and two and a half hours on a tour coach visiting every hotel on the coast.
The options and what they cost
The taxi rank. Licensed taxis with a meter and posted approximate fares to the main resorts: about EUR 25-30 to Rhodes Town, EUR 35-45 to Faliraki, EUR 70-85 to Lindos, EUR 85-100 to Kiotari. Honest, and the queue on a summer Saturday afternoon runs to an hour, because the island's taxi fleet is small for its summer traffic.
The tour-operator coach. Included in package holidays; slow, with many stops.
The shared shuttle. EUR 10-25 per person to the northern and central resorts, sold online.
The bus. KTEL buses run from the airport to Rhodes Town and from Rhodes Town down the coast; cheap and fine for a solo traveller without much luggage.
The private transfer. Indicatively, in euros:
- Sedan or executive van to Ixia, Ialyssos or Rhodes Town: EUR 30-55.
- Sedan or executive van to Faliraki, Afandou or Kolymbia: EUR 45-75.
- Sedan or executive van to Archangelos, Haraki or Kalathos: EUR 60-95.
- Sedan or executive van to Lindos or Pefkos: EUR 75-120.
- Sedan or executive van to Kiotari, Gennadi or Lardos: EUR 90-140.
- Sprinter (up to 14, with luggage): EUR 60-100 to the north; EUR 130-200 to the south.
- Round trip: about 10 percent less than two one-ways.
The private transfer costs EUR 10-40 more than the taxi and buys the name board, the direct journey, the chosen vehicle, the child seats and a fare fixed before you fly - and, on a Saturday in August, the absence of an hour's queue at the rank. The comparison is in airport transfer vs taxi; the European context in how much does a limo cost.
Which vehicle
Rhodes's private-transfer fleet is built on the Mercedes Vito and V-Class executive van for up to six with luggage, which suits most families, with sedans for couples and business visitors and Sprinters for groups. Greek law requires child seats for young children and the chauffeur fits them when requested at booking. The fleet page lists capacities and the Sprinter limo article explains why the van is right for a villa party.
The return transfer
Departures from Rhodes on a summer Saturday are the airport's hardest hours: the check-in, security and non-EU passport queues stack up when the British, German and Scandinavian flights leave in a bank, and the terminal's departures side is small for the load. Allow two and a half hours at the airport in July and August, two otherwise. From Faliraki that means a pickup three hours before the flight; from Lindos, four; from Kiotari, four and a quarter. The chauffeur proposes the time when the return is booked; the IATA baggage guidance is the reference for hold luggage.
Rhodes Town and the medieval city
The old town of Rhodes is a walled medieval city and a World Heritage site, closed to most vehicles; hotels inside the walls are reached on foot from one of the gates, and the chauffeur drops at the nearest gate with a porter arranged by the hotel where one exists. Tell dispatch the hotel's name and gate at booking. The new town, Elli beach and the Mandraki harbour are reached by car in the ordinary way. For a day out - Lindos's acropolis, the Valley of the Butterflies, Kamiros, the Seven Springs, the west-coast villages, the Prasonisi kite beach - a chauffeur for the day at EUR 300-550 is the comfortable way to see an island whose roads are demanding in August.
Weddings, ferries and the other islands
Rhodes is a wedding island, with venues from the Lindos chapels to the Kiotari resorts; the wedding limo service page covers packages. The Mandraki and Kolona harbours have ferries to Symi, Kos, Halki and the Turkish coast at Marmaris, and transfers from the airport to the ferry (thirty minutes, timed to the sailing) are routine. Kos, Crete and Athens are on the airports page, and the Greek islands on the destinations page.
Booking
Enter RHO, the flight number, the hotel's or villa's full address and village, passengers and bags, and the vehicle in the booker. The fare is shown in euros and fixed. The chauffeur's name, photo, vehicle and meeting point arrive by text on the morning of arrival.
The resorts, briefly, for a first visit
Ixia and Ialyssos are the west-coast resorts nearest the airport, windier (the kite and windsurfing beaches are here) with large hotels and quick access to Rhodes Town. Rhodes Town is the medieval city inside the walls and the new town outside them, with Elli beach, the casino, the harbours and the best restaurants on the island; it suits visitors who want a city and a base for the ferries. Faliraki is the lively resort with the long sandy beach, the water park and the nightlife; it suits younger visitors and families who want everything on the doorstep. Kolymbia and Afandou are the quieter, mid-coast family resorts with the golf course. Tsambika and Stegna are the small beaches under the monastery. Lindos is the white village under the acropolis, with boutique hotels in the lanes, the twin bays and the most photographed view on the island; cars stop at the top and the village is on foot or by donkey. Pefkos is the family resort beside Lindos. Kiotari and Gennadi are the five-star resort zone in the south, with long quiet beaches and the biggest hotels. Prasonisi at the island's tip is the kite beach. The destinations page lists them.
Lindos, specifically
Lindos is closed to vehicles: the road ends at a car park above the village and everything below is on foot. A chauffeured transfer drops at the car park, where the hotel's porter or a luggage cart meets guests; tell dispatch the hotel's name so the chauffeur can call ahead. The transfer to Lindos is the one most often quoted wrongly by visitors who assume it is near Rhodes Town; it is an hour and a quarter, the last part on a road with coaches, and the fixed fare of EUR 75-120 reflects it. The private airport transfer vs shared shuttle article explains why the shuttle's extra hour becomes two on a route like this.
Business, conferences and the shoulder seasons
Rhodes hosts conferences and incentive groups at the large Kiotari and Faliraki resorts in May, June, September and October, when the island is warm and the airport is quiet, and the corporate pattern - a corporate account, fixed fares, a receipt in euros - is the same as anywhere; the event transportation page handles the group moves. In the shoulder seasons the transfer market is calm, the fares sit at the bottom of the band, and the drive down the coast is at its best. The how much does a limo cost article places the Greek islands at the lower end of the Western European band.
Two transfers, priced
A couple arriving from Manchester for a week in Lindos: an executive van at about EUR 95 to the car park above the village, met in the hall, seventy minutes down the coast with the sea on the left, against a taxi at about EUR 80 after an hour's queue on a Saturday. A villa party of eight arriving from Stockholm for Kiotari: a Sprinter with luggage at about EUR 170, or EUR 21 a head, against two taxis at EUR 95 each that would arrive separately. The how early to book article explains why a Saturday in August is a week's-notice booking on an island with a small fleet.
