Paradise is a Place Called Pefkos! (Pefkos)

Member Name: scottish20

Product:	Pefkos
Date:	15/09/01 (4883 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic place - see main text

Disadvantages: Very few and very minor - see text

I have just returned from a lovely week in the small(ish) resort on the East of the Rhodes. Unfortunately my boyfriend (Ross1979) and I were struck down with a bad sickness bug (which we got in the UK!!) for the first 4 days, but we still managed to have a wonderful holiday - probably because we were in such a wonderful place!

OUR ACCOMMODATION...
We stayed in the fabulous Pefkos Beach Hotel on a Bed and Breakfast basis. This particluar accomodation is offered by a range of tour companies but shop around for the best prices - we went with Kosmar and I believe we payed half the price that Airtours were charging. Our twin bedded room with a bathroom and a balcony, was spacious and clean (with a slight ant problem!!) and with the option of paying for a fridge and air conditioning. Safety deposit boxes are availably in reception. The hotel is situated up a steep but very short hill (100m max, depending on the location of your apartment) but the views are well worth it. We were ideally situated with a supermarket at the bottom of our hill, the first of many restaurants across the road and the beach just 5 minutes away. The hotel had it's own swimming pool - but it tends to be very busy during the day. There is a pool bar, an indoor bar and a TV room. And as far as I could tell, we had the best accommodation in the place!

WEATHER...
Last year we visited Zante at the same time of year and it rained on two days so I was determined to go somewhere really hot. And I got hot - it reached 40 nearly everyday!! The positioning of Pefkos and neighbouring resort Lindos, means it is prone to extremely high temperatures. But don't worry, there is a great wind which means that it's actually bearable to sit out all day!

**WARNING - it may not appear to be so warm, but the sun is still very strong and it is advisable to get out of the sun for a few hours in the middle of the day.**

THE BEACHES...
Pefkos Beach is q
uite busy with hundreds of sun loungers for rent (£2 a day I think), but if you walk beyond the loungers, there is a stretch quiet beach. However, don't stray too far as the sea gets quite rocky - both Ross and myself had some spectacular bruises and scrapes! However, just outside Pefkos there is another beach as you head into Lardos. This is not so busy and there are very few rocks in the sea. It does tend to get a bit windy during the middle of the day though. Pefkos beach is supposed to be the best beach in Rhodes, but in my opinion, this other beach is better!

EATING OUT...
One thing I love about going on holiday, is eating out every night! We visited these restaurants....
ARTEMIS - pretty average, reasonably priced food (avoid Musaka though, it was so salty!!)
GEORGES - recommended to us, but to be honest, nothing special.
SHANGHAI CHINESE - I was too ill to go out, but Ross had a lovely take away!
MACEDONIA - having just recovered from my bug, I could only eat a small amount but when the waiter collected our plates he made such a fuss because he thought I didn't like his food!! On the whole, the waiters were a bit rude.
THE LITTLE HOUSE - Delicious and a beautiful place under a ceiling of flowers! But takes ages to arrive...order a Carafe of wine (1 litre) and a starter and be prepared to wait - it's worth it!
THE COLISEUM - Great food, good choice - all British waiters.
ENIGMA - Our last night and we decided to share a Greek Plate for 2...gorgeous, our best meal in Pefkos. Wine was a little odd though.
LEE BEACH - a small snack bar next to Pefkos Beach with a great selection of things for lunch - the Greek salad was delicious (providing its not too windy!) but they also do great burgers, omlettes etc.

All menus in Pefkos had a range of food, traditional Greek things, Italian, British, vegetarian and some great but expensive fish dishes. My advice is to be adventurous - a package holid
ay is a bit of a sheltered foriegn experience so the food is really the only way to experience a slice of the Greek culture (try Sword fish!).

DRINKING(!)...
Having recovered from our illness, we were ready to make up for lost time!! There are many bars in Pefkos. We found two places which did fantastic and very cheap (less than £2) cocktails - with as many as 4 'shots'. ELASEMA is the cheapest but THE PEACOCK BAR has a roof garden (time you visit with the sunset and it's amazing!). Later in the evening, this bar gets very lively indeed. We also visited the reknowned PEFKOS BY NIGHT BAR which was pretty good, again selling cocktails (watch the barmen bounce the bottles off the ceiling!!) and a wide range of other alcoholic and soft drinks.

OVERALL..
We had a lovely, relaxing holiday soaking up the well deserved sunshine. However, if you want to do more things other than sit on the beach, Pefkos may be too quiet. There are mopeds for rent but they are not recommended as the emergency medical care in Rhodes (and Crete) is the worst in Europe (according to a recent report in the Times) and the roads are narrow and busy. If you do rent a moped it is interesting to know that if you don't wear a helmet you can be fined, at least 100! Peddle bikes are also available but again the roads are not really suitable for this. Car hire is common and I think Pefkos is a good base for exploring the rest of the island. There are regular buses to Lindos and Rhodes - investigate these before signing up for tours arranged by your tour operator as it is generally cheaper to arrange a trip yourself. There are also tours to the Water Park in Faliraki (£17 per person!!) and boat trips to Lindos and Turkey.

All in all, a brilliant holiday and I enjoyed every second (after the 4th day!). I have some great photos and some even better memories - I recommend Pefkos and the Pefkos Beach Hotel to anyone.

PS - Watch out for
an opinion by Ross1979 for the mans view!

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