Table of Contents
Between ten in the morning and four in the afternoon, Symi's harbour holds several hundred more people than it does the rest of the day. The cruise boats come in from Rhodes, every table on the front fills, and then around four o'clock they all leave at once.
What's left is the island most visitors never see: about 2,500 residents, a harbour of pastel mansions built on 19th-century sponge-diving money, and 500 stone steps climbing to a village where people still hang washing from neoclassical balconies. There's no airport and no bridge — you come by ferry from Rhodes, 50 to 90 minutes depending on which boat you get, and that inconvenience is most of the reason Symi still feels like this.
I've watched the sunrise from that harbour more times than I can count. Below is the practical version: which ferry to take and what it costs, which beaches you can walk to and which need a boat, where to eat the shrimp the island is famous for, and why I'd argue for three nights over six hours.
What the Day-Trippers Miss
Here's the shape of a normal Symi day, and it explains almost everything about the island.
The cruise boats from Rhodes arrive between 10 and 11am and leave around 4pm. In those six hours the harbour holds several hundred more people than it does the rest of the day: every taverna table on the front is taken, the shops along the quay are three deep, and the Kali Strata has a slow queue on it.
Then they go. By five the harbour is half empty, the light comes round onto the mansions, and the island belongs to the people who live here and whoever booked a room.
What to do in Symi for a few hours
If you're coming for the day, don't try to see everything. Take the earliest boat out of Rhodes, walk straight up the Kali Strata before it gets hot and before the queue forms, and have lunch in Chorio rather than on the harbour front — same food, two-thirds the price, and you'll be eating where the island eats. If there's time left, walk ten minutes north to Nos for a swim before the return boat.
That's a good day. It is not the island.
Is Symi worth staying on?
Yes, and I'd argue for three nights. One to see the town properly at both ends of the day, one for the beaches and Panormitis, one to do nothing at all.
The case against is honest: Symi is small, it has no sandy strand, the nightlife ends around midnight, and if you have mobility issues the steps are genuinely difficult. The case for is that everything people love about the Greek islands and complain has disappeared — quiet mornings, tavernas full of locals, a harbour that isn't a film set — is still here between 4pm and 10am.
Why Visit Symi
Symi delivers something rare in the Greek islands: architectural coherence without the theme-park feel.
The neoclassical mansions ringing the harbour weren't built for tourists. They're what's left of a sponge-diving and shipbuilding economy that made this island genuinely wealthy in the 19th century — at its peak Symi had more people than it does now by a wide margin, and the money went into ornate three-storey houses stacked up the slopes of a natural amphitheatre.
Walking through Chorio, the upper town, feels like an open-air museum where people still live. Some houses are immaculately restored; plenty are roofless shells with fig trees growing through them. That mix is the thing. It hasn't been tidied.
Perfect for: couples, architecture and photography, slow travel, food, anyone who wants a Greek island that isn't performing.
Skip if: you need long sandy beaches, want nightlife, prefer all-inclusive resorts, or have difficulty with steps. There are a lot of steps.
Quick Facts
- Best time to visit: May, June, September, October
- How many days: 3–5
- Budget estimate: €120–180 per day (budget) · €205–305 (mid-range)
- Getting there: Ferry from Rhodes only — 50–90 minutes. No airport.
- Island size: 58 km², about 2,500 residents
- Main town: Gialos (harbour) and Chorio (upper town), linked by 500 steps
- Language: Greek; English widely spoken
Best Time to Visit Symi
Spring (April–May): Wildflowers on the hillsides, temperatures around 22–25°C, and most places open by mid-April. Accommodation runs 30–40% below summer rates. The sea is still cold in April and swimmable by late May.
Summer (June–August): Hot and busy. July and August reach 35°C, and the harbour is a natural bowl with very little shade — it holds heat. This is also peak day-tripper season, so the 10–4 window is at its most crowded. Book everything well ahead.
Autumn (September–October): The best of it. The sea is at its warmest after a summer of heating, temperatures sit at 25–28°C, and the Rhodes cruise crowds thin noticeably after the first week of September. If you can only go once, go in September.
Winter (November–March): Most hotels and restaurants close. Ferry connections thin out and are weather-dependent — a strong meltemi or a winter storm can cancel sailings outright, and you may be stuck a day either way. Only worth it if solitude is the point.
How to Get to Symi
Symi has no airport. Every route in goes through Rhodes, and that's the one thing to plan around.
The ferry from Rhodes to Symi
Two very different boats run this route, and the difference matters more than most guides admit:
- Catamaran / high-speed (Dodekanisos Seaways) — about 50 minutes, roughly €18–25. Usually one or two sailings a day in summer.
- Conventional ferry (ANES Ferries) — 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 30, roughly €12–15. Slower and cheaper, and in August the open deck is considerably more pleasant than an enclosed high-speed cabin.
Both leave from Rhodes Town's commercial port at Kolona — not the smaller Mandraki harbour, where the excursion boats tie up. That distinction is worth getting right at eight in the morning with a suitcase.
Sailings run year-round, but winter services are weather-dependent and do get cancelled.
Book ahead in July and August. Less because the boats sell out for foot passengers, more because the schedule is thin — miss the last return and you're buying a room on Symi at short notice.
From Athens
There are no flights to Symi and no fast route. Two options:
Fly to Rhodes, then sail. Athens–Rhodes takes about an hour and runs €60–150 depending on season and how far ahead you book. Add the ferry and you're at roughly 3 hours plus connection time. This is what almost everyone does.
The direct ferry from Piraeus. Blue Star runs it, and it takes 16 to 20 hours — a genuine option if you like ferries and hate airports, and the overnight cabin is comfortable. It is not a shortcut, and it doesn't run daily. Check the current schedule before building a trip around it.
From Kos and the rest of the Dodecanese
Symi connects by ferry to Kos (about 2 hours), Tilos, Kalymnos and Kastellorizo. If you're island-hopping the chain rather than flying in and out of Rhodes, Symi slots in naturally between Rhodes and Kos and you never need to backtrack.
Arriving
Ferries dock in Gialos, the main harbour, and you step off into the middle of town. Most harbour-front hotels are a five-minute walk. If you're staying up in Chorio, arrange a taxi in advance — there are only a handful on the island and they meet the boats.
Where to Stay in Symi
Two choices, and they're genuinely different trips.
Gialos (the harbour) — where most people stay. Waterfront tavernas, the ferry two minutes from your door, and the mansions outside your window. The trade-off is noise: ferry horns from seven in the morning, and day-trip crowds from ten.
Chorio (the upper town) — quieter, better views, and a properly local feel in the evenings once the boats have gone. The trade-off is the Kali Strata: 500 stone steps between you and the harbour. Charming on day one, less so with luggage.
Book 2–3 months ahead for July and August. Many properties close November–March.
→ Our full guide to the best hotels in Symi — compared by area, price and view, with current rates.
Both areas book out for July and August well in advance. Browse Symi hotels on Booking.com or compare the same properties on Expedia— rates differ more than you'd expect on an island this small.
Things to Do in Symi
Gialos and the Kali Strata
Start early. The light hits the harbour mansions properly between about seven and nine, before the boats arrive, and the whole place is quiet enough to hear the fishing boats.
The walk from Gialos up to Chorio is the Kali Strata — a broad stone staircase built in the 19th century when the island was rich. There are 500 steps. Count them if you like; everyone does. It takes about 15 minutes at a steady pace, and the views improve with every landing. Do it in the morning or the evening, not at two in the afternoon in July.
At the top, Chorio spreads out along the ridge — narrow lanes, restored mansions next to ruins, and the Archaeological Museum (around €2) for context on the sponge-diving and maritime history that paid for all of it.
Kastro — the Castle of the Knights
At the top of Chorio, past the last of the houses, the Kastro occupies the island's ancient acropolis. The Knights of St John built the current walls in the 15th century on top of far older foundations, using stone from the classical temple that stood here — you can see recycled blocks in the masonry at the base of the walls if you look.
The church inside, Megali Panagia, is a 1930s rebuild. The original was destroyed in 1944 when an ammunition store exploded during the German withdrawal; the bell is said to be made from a ship's propeller.
The reason to come up is the view: the whole harbour below in one frame, the Turkish coast a few kilometres east, and on a clear day the Dodecanese running north. It's about 15 minutes above Chorio, so 40 or so from the harbour if you're walking the Kali Strata. Free, always open.
Symi's Beaches
Symi has no long sandy strand — the coast is rock and pebble, and the water is correspondingly clear. Roughly half the good beaches need a boat.
Walkable from Gialos
Nos — the town beach, ten minutes north along the harbour past the clock tower. Small, pebbled, a couple of bars, and it faces west so it holds the sunset. It's where locals swim after work.
Nimborio — about 40 minutes on foot from Nos along the coast road, or a short water-taxi hop. Wider than Nos, quieter, a taverna behind it, and early-Christian mosaics in the ruins just inland that almost nobody walks up to see.
By bus or road
Pedi — the bay over the ridge from Chorio, a working fishing settlement with a proper beach and a bus every hour or so from Gialos. From Pedi you can walk on to Agia Marina in about 25 minutes — a small chapel on an islet close enough to swim out to.
Marathounda — down a long track on the east coast. Pebbles, one taverna, and goats that will take a serious interest in your lunch. Bus in summer, otherwise a taxi.
Boat only
Agios Georgios (St George's Bay) — the one on every cruise itinerary, and it earns it: a cliff drops several hundred metres straight into the water behind the beach.
Agios Emilianos — a chapel on a tiny islet linked by a causeway on the far west coast. Furthest from town, emptiest.
Seskli — the island off Symi's southern tip, where most of the day boats stop for a swim and lunch.
How to actually get to them
Local sea taxis leave Gialos every morning for the beaches — roughly €10–20 return depending on distance, with a fixed pick-up time in the afternoon. Boards on the quay list the day's departures and prices.
Take the first boat. You get the bay to yourself before the Rhodes cruises start arriving around eleven, and on the popular beaches that's the difference between a swim and a scrum.
Panormitis Monastery
The Monastery of the Archangel Michael Panormitis sits in a protected bay on the island's southwest coast, about 45 minutes by road from Gialos and a world away from the harbour.
It's one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Dodecanese — sailors have left offerings here for centuries, and the museum holds a collection of votive gifts, including messages in bottles that were thrown into the sea and, according to the tradition, found their way to the bay on their own.
The Byzantine-style bell tower, the pebble-mosaic courtyard and the setting are worth the trip whether or not you're religious. Buses run from Gialos; check times at the port, because service is infrequent and getting stranded is easy. Most Rhodes day cruises stop here too.
Modest dress is expected — shoulders and knees covered
Βοοκ Panormitis Monastery Private Tour with Photos Stop
Boat Trips and Sea Taxis
Half of Symi's coastline is only reachable from the water, so at some point you get on a boat.
Sea taxis are the everyday option — small local boats leaving Gialos each morning for Agios Georgios, Agios Emilianos, Marathounda and Nanou, with a set return time. Around €10–20 return. No booking needed; just turn up at the quay by nine.
Full-day boat trips around the island are the more relaxed version — several bays, swimming stops, usually lunch on Seskli. Ask at the harbour rather than booking online; the local operators are cheaper than the Rhodes-departing equivalents and you're not spending three hours of the day in transit.
A tip from the harbour: if you're staying more than two nights, ask the sea-taxi skippers about doing two beaches in one day. Several will do it for a few euros extra, and it's the cheapest way to see the island properly.
Day Trips to Symi from Rhodes
If you're based on Rhodes rather than staying on Symi, these are the trips worth considering. All depart from Rhodes.
Speedboat with free time — around €35, roughly 6.5 hours. The cheapest way across, and it leaves you the most independent time in Symi Town.
Cruise with St George's Bay — around €59, about 6 hours. The standard trip: Symi Town plus a swimming stop at Agios Georgios, which you can't easily reach otherwise on a day visit.
Symi and Panormitis Monastery — around €45. The cultural version, combining the town with the monastery on the far side of the island.
Where to Eat & Drink
Symi shrimp are the thing. Tiny, thin-shelled, deep-fried whole and eaten shell and all, like a savoury crisp. You'll see them written as shrimp, prawns or garides Symis — same creature, caught in the deep water off the island, and they don't travel, which is why you order them here and not in Rhodes Town. Expect €12–18 as a starter.
Beyond that: lamb with artichokes in spring, local thyme honey (the island's other export, and the best thing to take home), Symi's oregano, and the small sweet Symi onions that turn up in salads.
Tholos — seafood on the harbour. Grilled octopus and a daily fish selection that doesn't disappoint. €25–35 per person.
Pantelis — up in Chorio, away from the front. Traditional taverna cooking; the moussaka and the slow-cooked lamb are the orders. €18–25 per person.
Haritomeni — specialises in the shrimp. Expensive for what it is, and worth it once. €35–45 per person.
For breakfast, the bakery near the clock tower does fresh tyropita and strong Greek coffee for under €5.
One habit worth adopting: eat lunch at the expensive harbour places and dinner up in Chorio. Lunch menus run about 30% cheaper for identical dishes, and Chorio at night is where the island eats once the day boats have gone.
Getting Around Symi
Walking is the main answer. Everything in Gialos is within five minutes, and Chorio is 500 steps up the Kali Strata — about 15 minutes if you don't stop, longer if you do.
Buses run from Gialos to Pedi, Chorio and Panormitis, and to the road-accessible beaches in summer. Cheap, and infrequent enough that you plan around the timetable rather than the other way round. Schedules are posted at the port.
Taxis — there are only a handful on the entire island, and they meet the ferries. A ride from the port to a hotel runs €8–15. Book ahead for early departures.
Sea taxis to the beaches, roughly €10–20 return per person.
Do you need a car on Symi? No — and you'd struggle to use one.
Symi is 58 km² of very steep terrain with a minimal road network. There is no meaningful car-rental market here and you don't need one. The island is built for walking, buses and boats, and that's not a limitation — it's most of why it feels the way it does.
If you want the freedom of your own transport, a scooter or quad is the local answer, available from a couple of operators near the harbour.
Insider Tips for Symi
Timing: the harbour belongs to you before 10am and after 5pm. Plan around that window rather than fighting it.
The steps: pack light if you're staying in Chorio. 500 steps with a heavy case is a genuinely bad afternoon. Some hotels will arrange a porter or a taxi round by road — ask when you book.
Water and shade: the harbour is a natural bowl and it holds heat. There's very little shade around the front in the middle of the day. Carry water on the Kali Strata.
Cash: plenty of smaller places prefer it, and ATMs are limited. Bring more than you think.
Photography: golden hour on the harbour mansions, around 6–7pm in summer, is the shot everyone comes for. The other one is from the Kastro looking down.
Honey: the local thyme honey is genuinely excellent and reasonably priced. Best gift on the island.
Ferries: check the return time twice. The schedule is thinner than people expect and there is no later option.
Staying connected: non-EU visitors face high roaming charges on Greek networks. Activate a Yesim eSIM before you fly — instant setup, no physical SIM, working the moment you land at Rhodes.
Sample 3-Day Itinerary
Day 1 — Arrival and the harbour
- Morning: ferry from Rhodes, check in, coffee on the front while the day boats are still out
- Afternoon: wander Gialos, the clock tower, the sponge shops. Swim at Nos.
- Evening: dinner at Tholos with the harbour lit up, and an early night
Day 2 — Chorio, the Kastro and the light
- Morning: up the Kali Strata before it gets hot. Archaeological Museum, then the Kastro for the view.
- Lunch: Pantelis in Chorio
- Afternoon: back down, sea taxi to Agios Georgios for a swim in the late afternoon once the cruises have left
- Evening: shrimp at Haritomeni
Day 3 — Panormitis and the far side
- Morning: bus or boat to Panormitis Monastery
- Afternoon: Pedi and the walk on to Agia Marina, or a full-day boat around the island
- Evening: last dinner in Chorio, then down the Kali Strata in the dark with the harbour lights below — the best walk on the island
Budget Breakdown
Prices are per person in summer season. Spring and autumn run 20–30% less.
Budget level assumes simple rooms, tavernas away from the harbour front, buses and free beaches. Mid-range covers a good hotel, a mix of harbour and Chorio dining, sea taxis and a boat trip. Comfort covers the top harbour-view properties and private boat hire.
On top of the daily budget: flights to Rhodes (€60–150 from Athens) and the Symi ferry (€12–25 each way). If you're coming direct from Piraeus by Blue Star, budget more for time than money — it's a 16–20 hour crossing.
If you're planning a longer Greek adventure, check out our Greece Itinerary 7 Days: Perfect Week-Long Adventure or Greece Itinerary 10 Days: The Ultimate Journey for inspiration.
For more budget planning, see our complete How Much Does a Greece Trip Cost: Complete Budget Guide.
Final Thoughts
Symi captured me on a first early-morning walk around the harbour, before any of the boats had arrived — the light coming down onto the mansions, one café open, and an old man insisting I try his mother's honey cake.
This isn't an island for everyone, and I'd rather say so plainly. No big sandy beaches. No nightlife worth the name. A lot of steps. If those matter to you, Rhodes is 50 minutes away and does all of it better.
But if you want architectural beauty that hasn't been curated, water you can see the bottom of, and an island that goes quiet at five in the afternoon — Symi is one of the last places in the Dodecanese doing it.
Give it three nights. The day-trippers get six hours and a photograph. You get the other eighteen.
The island works beautifully as part of a larger Greek islands adventure focused on beaches and food, or combined with Rhodes for cultural exploration.
If you're considering multiple Greek destinations, our Trip to Athens Greece: Complete 2026 Travel Guide covers the perfect starting point for any Greek adventure.
Ready to plan your perfect Greek adventure? Try our AI Greek Trip Planner to create a personalized itinerary based on your preferences, travel style, and available time.
Written by
Athens-born engineer · Coordinates a 5-expert Greek team · 50+ years combined field experience
I write every article on this site drawing on real, first-hand expertise — mine and that of four colleagues who live and work across Greece daily: a Peloponnese tour operator, a transfer specialist across Athens, Mykonos & Santorini, a Cretan hotel owner, and a Northern Greece hotel supplier. Nothing here comes from a single visit or desk research.
Informed by 5 Greek experts
Every destination we cover has been visited and vetted by at least one team member — not for a review, but as part of their daily work in Greek tourism.