Rhodes before Brexit 2019

Our trip to Rhodes this year took us through France and into Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Greece. We drove a distance of 3311 miles through 8 countries, and covered 5961 miles including ferries, making forever memories.

(Please click on a thumbnail to enlarge the image)

Route Map

France, Belgium, Luxembourg and France again – We crossed by ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe, arriving as the sun rose in France. We then drove through Belgium and Luxembourg, almost non-stop as we found them to be quite uninteresting with terrible roads! We then went back to France for the enjoyable drive to Kaysersberg.

Arriving in France at sunrise

Belgium

Kaysersberg

Germany, Switzerland and Italy – I’ve added Germany to the list, but we drove under it in tunnels nearly all the way. Switzerland on the other hand is a place to dawdle and enjoy the magnificent views, if only we had more time but we had a ferry booked in Italy. This was our third visit to Italy and we really wanted to enjoy it, but we found the north and east of the country to be camper unfriendly with only a few exceptions. At Lake Garda and Venice, we suffered the carnivorous mosquitos, and in general, received a less than friendly welcome from the people too. We did try to drive into Venice City, but the lack of suitable parking, and being turned back by both police and army having ventured a little too far, meant that although we enjoyed the adventure, we never did get to do any sightseeing. We caught the ferry from Venice to Igoumenitsa, stopping at Ancona on the way.

Swiss Alps

Melano, Switzerland

Lake Garda

Driving into Venice

Venice

Parking at Fusina Dock, Venice

Our overnight view of Venice

Stopping off at Ancona

Mainland Greece – we arrived on mainland Greece after the 28-hour ferry from Venice. The first stop was Meteora again as we felt we had not been able to do it justice during our previous visit, this is a staggeringly beautiful World Heritage site, with monasteries perched precariously on huge outcrops of rock. We then slowly made our way across Greece to the east coast, hugging the coast as much as possible, before arriving at Piraeus to catch our ferry to Rhodes. Piraeus is a chaotic suburb of Athens to drive through, and the loading at the port is almost gladiatorial so we are always relieved to get on the ferry unscathed.

En-route to Greece

Leaving the ferry at Igoumenitsa

Driving, mainland Greece

Camping Meteora

Meteora from our campsite

The pilgrims walk up to Meteora

Meteora

The third cause of blindness is cataracts. The first two are religion and politics

Paleokarias Ropotou falls and bridge

Roadside onions, Greece

Overnight at Agios Konstantinos, mainland Greece

Agios Konstantinos, mainland Greece

Sunflowers, Greece

Driving into Pireaus, my nemesis!

Lining up at Pireaus

Rhodes – the ferry from Piraeus stops at several islands on the way to Rhodes, the prettiest being Kos and Symi. As usual, our ultimate destination though was Rhodes, and spending 4 weeks with Greek friends and touring the island. And as usual, we had a blast, quite literally when on the last day we experienced an earthquake measuring 5.2!

Leaving Kos

Symi

Rhodes

Tsambika

The charm tree at Tsambika

Haraki Castle

Haraki

Overnight at Haraki

St. Pauls Bay, Lindos

Tight squeeze, Lindos

Lindos, Rhodes

Lindos

Cave house Lindos

Swimming through the cave at Lindos

Camping under the Acropolis, Lindos

The Acropolis, Lindos

Cove hopping, Rhodes

Damsel Fish, Rhodes

Unidentified, they hang lifeless in the water then shoot away as you approach

Plaice, Rhodes

Garfish, Rhodes

Spider anenome, Rhodes

Weaver Fish, Rhodes

Pufferfish (Toxic Fish), Rhodes. These voracious predators are killing many of the local species

Ragworm, Rhodes

Ornate wrasse

A shoal of Picarel, Rhodes

Under the reef, Rhodes

Underwater garden

One of several octopuses we found

A monster octopus

Freshly caught octopus

Blessing the communion bread at Pefkos festival

Waiting to be blessed, Pefkos

Pefkos, Rhodes

One of many sunset swims

Lardos beach

Lardos port

Camping at Lardos port

Mojitos beach bar

Off-grid, St. Georges

Off the beaten track, Rhodes

Mavros Cavos beach

Turtle nest site

Curious optical effect of the evening sun of raised footprints in the sand

An irreverent beach chapel, Rhodes

Where ever I lay my hat…………..

The Old Silk Mill – used as an Italian prison camp after WW2

Dragon flies dry their wings

Prasonisi, where two seas meet

A victim of man? Limni

Another victim of man? Corinth

Overnight at Limni, Rhodes

Sunset at Limni

Monolithos Castle

Souma still, Sianna

The islands of Chalki, Alimia and Tilos

Another track, another sunset

Kopria Bay

Kopria Bay to ourselves for the night

A rare ancient vertical tomb at Kamiros Skala

Kamiros Skala

Another overnight stop, another sunset. Kamiros

Ancient Kamiros

Chilling, Ancient Kamiros

The late Byzantine church of Ayios Nikolaos Foundoukli (St Nicholas of the Hazelnuts)

Fresh produce to the door

Cricket

Swallow tail butterfly

In the mountains, Rhodes

Sunset in the mountains, Rhodes

Leaving Rhodes

The Turkish coast

Sunset at sea

Mainland Greece, the return journey – leaving Rhodes is always difficult, made only slightly easier as the storm clouds marking the end of summer start to roll overhead. Our return journey across Greece to catch the ferry at Patras took us over the Corinth Canal and up to Acrocorinth where we were caught in the mightiest of Mediterranean storms, before the tranquil drive along the Old National Coast Road.

Camping Corinth

Over ripe

Corinth

The breakwater, Corinth Canal

The submersible bridge at the Corinth Canal

Corinth Canal

Acrocorinth

The storm over Acrocorinth

The storm approaches Acrocorinth

Flooding after the storm at Acrocorinth

Above the clouds, Acrocorinth

The Old National Road, North Greece

The famous Rio-Antirrio Bridge

Patras

Migrants overlook Patras port hoping to jump on a lorry

Italy and France, the return journey – our ferry from Patras was delayed by 14 hours which unfortunately meant that we had to put in some long days driving in Italy to catch up, and unfortunately we had to miss sightseeing at Pisa. By the time we got to the Italian Alps, the weather had well and truly broken, and we spent most of the return journey in driving rain which added a manacing touch to some of the mountain passes. Despite the weather, we thoroughly enjoyed the sights and friendliness of western Italy, and plan to go back one day to explore a little more. The sun did appear again occasionally while we were in France, and it was with sadness that our odyssey ended as we drove onto the ferry at Cherbourg with plans already forming to go for longer and go further next year.