Visiting Rhodes usually means spending a lot of time along its coastline. But what is inland? We opted for a short road trip to find out. We were going to head towards the island’s highest peak, Attavyros, at 1215 meters above the sea. That is how we ended up in the small village of Agios Isidoros.
Driving Inland
From Vlycha Beach we drove west towards Lardos before getting out on the smaller roads leading further inland. The bigger roads on Rhodes are mostly concentrated along the coast and once leaving them you will encounter a completely different quality of the roads. The roads lead up and down the hills, with new turns every second meter. This results in a time-consuming drive even though the distance isn’t very long.
Fortunately, the roads were in better condition than we had expected. Passing Laerma we didn’t know exactly where we wanted to actually stop. No, we didn’t plan this trip but planned to stop somewhere interesting.
Village of Agios Isidoros
We eventually arrived in the small village of Agios Isidoros, located along the slopes of Attavyros. Our arrival was well-timed, as this was the time that Little A decided that she had had enough of driving for now and wanted a break.
Agios Isidoros is located at an altitude of 532 meters. This is a part of the island that is so far almost untouched by tourism. The owner of a small taverna where we stopped by, told us that there was not even a hotel in the village. We didn’t see many people in this sleepy village. The coffee was tasty in any case.
So this is what we did in this village: stopped at the small taverna for some coffee and orange juice, before taking a short stroll through the streets of Agios Isidoros. There is something very relaxing about mountain air and especially when there is barely the sound of an engine anywhere close by.
Back Towards the Coast
We were eventually on our way back towards the coast. This time we took the road towards Gennadi and we crossed the flood beds at the valley floor. It was a surreal feeling when seeing the signs that we should turn around in case of flooding. Luckily the river had dried up. However, the river vegetation had in some areas eaten up big parts of the road.
Also, this road had continuous turns and a lot of slopes up and down. In other words, the views continued to be impressive. Driving towards the coast also meant that we could see the sea at the end of the valley.
Once arriving in Gennadi, it was easier to stay on the bigger and straighter road towards Lardos and eventually Vlycha Beach.
