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Rhodes Travel Guide:
Globetrotter Guide to Rhodes
This Rhodes travel guide in New Holland's Globetrotter series has been updated for 2009 and is now in its 6th edition. The updater is Robin Gauldie, an old Greek hand, and the original book was written by Paul Harcourt Davies. As well as writing Globetrotter guides to Cyprus and to the Greek Islands, Davies has also written books about Mediterranean wild flowers and photography. He's lived in Greece and led tours to Rhodes and elsewhere for his own specialist travel company. The guide has got all the right credentials, so how does it shape up?Maps
The publisher, New Holland, is always strong on maps. Although you can buy this guide on its own at a slightly cheaper price, we recommend you go for the Travel Pack version. This combines it with the Globetrotter Travel Map of Rhodes but adds only £2/$4 to the price. It's well worth it. The map unfolds to the size of a small beach towel, and is double-sided. One side has a map of the whole island of Rhodes, with a locator map showing where Rhodes sits in the Aegean, and an inset box providing some basic weather information.
The other side of the map provides a host of information. One map shows the whole of the Dodecanese islands, and there are also street plans for Rhodes Town, the Old Town of Rhodes, Lindos and the Acropolis (right), and for some reason Kos Town. There are also plans for the ancient site of Kamiros, the popular tourist attraction of Butterfly Valley, and the Seven Springs area. Thrown in for good measure are some language tips for travellers, and a calendar of annual Rhodes events. Top marks for mapping, then, in this particular Rhodes travel guide.Hotels and Restaurants
This is the weakest section of any Globetrotter guide. If you're the kind of person who, like us, enjoys reading restaurant reviews to help plan where to eat for the evening – forget it. The one-sentence reviews (and it's no fault of the author) tell you very little at all. "Greek and international dishes served in traditional courtyard" is the review for one Old Town restaurant, Kamares, and the wonderful Alexis, where we've dined, gets just ten words. The hotel reviews are no better. The entire review for the Hotel Hermes merely tells you that "Island hoppers can leave luggage here by arrangement". OK, but what's the hotel like? The Good News
The good news is that the rest of the book is closer to the standard of the maps than to the hotel and restaurant listings. These Globetrotter guides pack a lot into their pages, and we specially like the small side panels that appear on almost every page and give you little cultural insights or fascinating facts. The book's coverage is wide-ranging too, from the best beaches to the ancient archaeological sites like Kamiros and Ialyssos. The section on Rhodes Town is good and thorough, and there are useful maps and bright colour photos throughout the whole book. The Verdict
If you're only planning to visit Rhodes and aim to rent a car and tour the island, with maybe an excursion to a nearby island too, then this Rhodes travel guide is good value. If you think you'll be travelling elsewhere in Greece in the future, and do want helpful restaurant and hotel listings, you'd probably be better off with a Rough Guide or Lonely Planet. Practical Information
The Globetrotter Travel Guide to Rhodes is published by New Holland at $14.95 in the USA and £8.99 in the UK.
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