Kastellorizo

Getting to Kastellorizo

The small

1. 01
   Kastellorizo

Worth seeing

Castle of the Knights. A medieval castle with wonderful views Archaelogical Museum. Palaiokastro. Ancient settlement Galazia Spilia. Visually striking cave where you may spot a Mediterranean monk seal.

Things to do

Faro. Near the port, in the rocky area around the castle. Mandraki. Can be reached by boat only. Plakes. Can be reached by boat only.

Where to eat

Alexandra. Seafood mezes and slipper lobster. Platania. Octopus in tomato sauce with shallots.

1. 01
   Paragadi

Getting around Kastellorizo the local way

Kastellorizo is 125 km from Rhodes and 2 km from Turkey, and the second distance is the one that shapes daily life: the short crossing to Kaş runs most days in season and takes minutes, while the Greek ferry to Rhodes is a 2h20–5h trip that most weeks runs only two to five times. A daily weekday Olympic Air turboprop from Rhodes and a twice-weekly Blue Star sailing from Piraeus fill the gaps. On the island itself there is one asphalt road, one taxi and a summer minibus that meet the airport; everything else is done on foot or in a small boat, and the beaches, the Blue Cave and the islet of Ro can only be reached by water.

1. 01
   Rhodes – Kastellorizo ferryboat

   Rhodes (Kolona / commercial harbour) to the port of Kastellorizo, in the island's only village

   Where

   Three companies share the line and none of them runs it daily, so the practical method is to look at the whole week at once rather than at one operator. Blue Star Ferries runs the conventional overnight-network ship, Dodekanisos Seaways runs the fast catamaran, and Saos Ferries runs the slow, cheap, long-way-round sailing that calls at other Dodecanese islands first. Ferryhopper, openseas and the operators' own sites all sell the same departures; in Rhodes town the harbour-front agencies also issue tickets. Kastellorizo's port is the village, so there is no transfer at the far end – you step off onto the quay.

   When

   Year-round, with all operators combined giving roughly 5 to 7 sailings a week. Per operator, Ferryhopper's month-by-month table for 2026 shows Blue Star Ferries at 2–3 days a week all year, Saos Ferries at 2–5 days a week, and Dodekanisos Seaways at 1–2 days a week and absent in some months

   Fare (2026)

   Seen on Ferryhopper in September 2026: Blue Star Ferries from €14.00 to €17.50 one way, Saos Ferries from €14.99 to €15.00, Dodekanisos Seaways from €24.50 (€35.00 in the peak month). Two adults with a car from €46.50. Discounts up to 50% for children 5–10, students, people with disabilities and island residents; children up to 4 normally free

   Takes

   2h 20m on the Dodekanisos Seaways catamaran, 2h 55m to 3h 30m on Blue Star Ferries, 4h 30m to 4h 55m on Saos Ferries. Greek Wikipedia gives the range as 2–4 hours

   Season

   Year-round. The meltemi blows from about mid-May to mid-September, is strongest in the afternoon and can reach force 7–8 in clear weather, which most inter-island ferries cannot sail in

   Booking

   Online through Ferryhopper or the operators; also at harbour agencies in Rhodes. Worth booking ahead because there may be no second sailing for two or three days

   Sources: ferryhopper.com (2026-09) · ferryhopper.com (2026-09) · el.wikipedia.org (2026-09) · confidence high

2. 02
   Piraeus – Kastellorizo Blue Star ferryboat

   Piraeus (Athens) to Kastellorizo, calling at Dodecanese islands on the way

   Where

   This is the long mainland lifeline rather than a way to reach a holiday quickly. Blue Star Ferries runs it as part of the Dodecanese network, so the ship that reaches Kastellorizo has already called at several islands. Book a cabin: it is an overnight-plus crossing. Kastellorizo is the end of the line, which also means a delay anywhere earlier in the chain reaches the island last.

   When

   Normally twice a week, year-round

   Fare

   Not confirmed. Ferryhopper lists the route but the fare was not visible on the page fetched

   Takes

   About 22 hours

   Season

   Year-round

   Booking

   Online through Blue Star Ferries or Ferryhopper; cabins sell out on the long crossing

   Sources: ferryhopper.com (2026-09) · ferryhopper.com (2026-09) · confidence medium

3. 03
   Olympic Air flight from Rhodesscheduled flight

   Rhodes International Airport to Kastellorizo Public Airport (KZS), 4 km from the port on the island's only asphalt road

   Where

   Olympic Air is the only airline at Kastellorizo. The aircraft is small – the apron holds one Dash 8-sized plane – and the flight from Rhodes is the fast alternative to a three-hour boat. From Athens or anywhere else in Greece you connect at Rhodes; there is no direct mainland flight. Book early: the airport handled about 5,400 passengers in its last published year, so a single flight filling up removes the day's only air link.

   When

   Wikivoyage records one flight per day from Rhodes on weekdays; Wikipedia's transport section records 4 flights a week in the winter period

   Fare

   Not confirmed – no fare was visible on any source reached; the Olympic Air site blocked access

   Takes

   About 45 minutes

   Season

   Year-round, with fewer flights in winter

   Booking

   Online with Olympic Air or Aegean Airlines, which codeshares on Olympic Air's subsidised routes

   Sources: en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · en.wikipedia.org (2026-09) · en.wikipedia.org (2026-09) · confidence medium

4. 04
   Kaş – Kastellorizo crossing to Turkeyboat

   Kaş ferry pier, at the south end of the marina in Kaş, to Kastellorizo port. Turkish name for the island is Meis

   Where

   Two Turkish operators, Meis Express and Meis Ferry Lines, run small fast boats between the Kaş marina and the Kastellorizo quay. Both publish a rolling timetable on their own sites and sell online. In practice this is the island's busiest link: Kaş is 2 km away and has hospitals, shops and bus connections that the island does not. A day trip from Kaş gives about six hours on the island; the reverse day trip is not possible, because the boat overnights on the Turkish side. Both directions are a full international border crossing with passport control at each end.

   When

   Most days one crossing each way, with extra sailings on some days. The Meis Express timetable read on 21 September 2026 showed Kaş departures at 09:30 or 10:00 daily, returning from Kastellorizo at 16:00 or 16:30, plus additional 11:30 and 18:00 departures from Kaş and 10:30 and 23:00 returns on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Wikipedia records the winter service dropping to about one trip a week

   Fare (2026)

   Meis Express fare table read in September 2026: adult €25 one way, €35 open return, €25 same-day return, €35 different-day return. Child €15 one way, €20 same-day return. Infant €5 one way. Meis Ferry Lines advertises a €25 day-trip ticket. No vehicles are carried

   Takes

   Meis Ferry Lines advertises 7 minutes on its Kalimera fast ferry. Wikivoyage's Kaş and Kastellorizo articles both say 20 minutes. Treat 7–20 minutes as the range depending on the boat

   Season

   Year-round but heavily seasonal; the daily pattern above is the late-season schedule and thins out in winter

   Booking

   Online with either operator, or at the Meis Express office at Andifli Mah. Hükümet Cad. 1-2, Kaş. Turkish citizens can use a visa-on-arrival scheme for the island that started on 20 May 2024: it is a single-entry Greek visa valid up to 7 days for that island only, costs €95 for age 12 and over and €30 for under-12s, is capped at 6 people a day, needs paperwork lodged 5 days ahead, and the return ferry ticket must be bought from Meis Express

   Sources: meisexpress.com (2026-09) · meisexpress.com (2026-09) · meisferrylines.com (2026-09) · confidence high

5. 05
   Taxi boats to the Blue Cave, Ro and the swimming isletswater taxi

   Kastellorizo port to Galazia Spilia (the Blue Cave) on the southeast coast, and to the islets of Ro, Strongyli, Agios Georgios, and the Mandraki and Plakes swimming platforms

   Where

   Ask on the quay in the morning. These are working fishing and day boats rather than a scheduled service, and the owners tie up along the harbour front in the village. The Blue Cave is the standard trip and is entered from the water; Ro is the islet with the chapel and the sandy landing that most visitors want. Mandraki and Plakes, the two swimming spots off the town, can be reached by boat only. Trips to the cave depend on a flat sea, so they go early and are cancelled when it is choppy.

   When

   On demand in the summer season, mostly morning departures; boats do not run in rough weather

   Fare

   Not confirmed – no operator published a price on any page reached

   Takes

   A Blue Cave trip is a short morning outing; Ro and Strongyli are longer half-day runs

   Season

   Summer season; the meltemi shuts the cave trips down on windy afternoons

   Booking

   None, arrange on the quay the day before or the same morning

   Sources: ferryhopper.com (2026-09) · en.wikivoyage.org (2026-09) · confidence medium

6. 06
   Airport taxi and summer minibusminibus

   Kastellorizo port to Kastellorizo Public Airport, 4 km along the island's only asphalt road

   Where

   There is one taxi on the island and one small bus, and the bus runs only in summer. Both exist mainly to meet the aircraft, so they turn up at the port and the terminal around flight times rather than on a timetable. The airport sits at 144 m above the town, so this is the one trip on Kastellorizo that is not sensibly done on foot with luggage. Taxi number is +30 6938739178.

   When

   Tied to flight arrivals and departures; the minibus operates in summer only

   Fare

   Not confirmed

   Takes

   Under 10 minutes for 4 km

   Season

   Taxi year-round, minibus summer only

   Booking

   None; ask your accommodation to call the taxi for an early flight

   Sources: el.wikipedia.org (2026-09) · en.wikipedia.org (2026-09) · ferryhopper.com (2026-09) · confidence medium

7. 07
   Getting around the village and up to Palaiokastrowalking trail

   The harbour front of Kastellorizo village, and the footpath west and uphill to the Palaiokastro acropolis past the summit known as Vigla

   Where

   The road network barely leaves the north of the island, so walking is the default. The village wraps around the harbour on three sides and you can cross it in minutes; the quay runs along all three sides. From above the eastern quay a path climbs to the Castle of the Knights, and a longer stony path goes west over the hill to Palaiokastro, the ancient acropolis with its tower and cisterns. There is no shade and no water on the hill, so go early.

   When

   Any time

   Fare

   Free

   Takes

   Minutes to cross the village; an hour or more up to Palaiokastro and back

   Season

   Year-round; avoid midday in summer

   Booking

   none

   Sources: ferryhopper.com (2026-09) · en.wikipedia.org (2026-09) · confidence high

8. 08
   Supply and water by seacargo boat

   Rhodes and Piraeus to Kastellorizo port; water tankers to the island's cisterns

   Where

   The island has no source of drinking water and produces almost nothing, so supplies arrive on the same ships passengers use. Blue Star Ferries carries vehicles, which is why the ferry fare tables quote car prices on a route that serves a village with one road. Water has historically come by tanker ship, including navy tankers; two desalination units were brought into service in 2018 and were meant to end that, but a Rhodes newspaper reported a water tanker sailing to Kastellorizo again in May 2026, so the tankers are still a fallback. For a traveller, the practical consequence is that if the ferries stop for weather, so does resupply.

   When

   With the passenger ferries; water tankers as needed

   Fare (2026)

   Vehicle carriage on the Rhodes ferry: two adults with a car from €46.50, seen 2026

   Takes

   As for the ferries

   Season

   Year-round; weather interruptions in winter and during strong meltemi

   Booking

   Vehicle space on the Rhodes ferry must be booked in advance

   Sources: en.wikipedia.org (2026-09) · web.archive.org (2018-03) · rodiaki.gr (2026-05) · confidence medium

Not yet confirmed: Correction to the brief: the Kaş crossing is not reliably 20 minutes. Meis Ferry Lines advertises 7 minutes on its Kalimera fast ferry, while Wikivoyage's Kaş and Kastellorizo articles both say 20 minutes. Both were fetched; the real figure depends on which boat runs.; Correction to the brief: Sky Express does not serve Kastellorizo. Its own destinations page, fetched September 2026, lists Rhodes but not Kastellorizo. Olympic Air is the only carrier named by Wikipedia and Wikivoyage.; The subsidised status of the Rhodes–Kastellorizo flight could not be confirmed directly. Wikipedia's Olympic Air article says Aegean codeshares on all PSO flights operated by Olympic Air, which implies it, but no Greek civil aviation source could be reached: ypa.gr and olympicair.com both returned 403 to this session. Check the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority's aging-routes (άγονες γραμμές) tender list.; No fare found for the Rhodes–Kastellorizo Olympic Air flight, the Piraeus–Kastellorizo ferry, the airport taxi, or the taxi boats to the Blue Cave and Ro. Ask the Municipality of Megisti on +30 2246049269 or the port authority on +30 2246049270.; The winter ferry reduction is only loosely sourced. Ferryhopper's month table shows Dodekanisos Seaways dropping out in some months and Blue Star holding at 2–3 a week, but Wikipedia's figure of one Kaş crossing a week in winter rests on a dead 2011 reference and should be re-checked against the Meis Express timetable in January.; Whether Kastellorizo's desalination units now cover the island's water year-round, with tankers only as backup, is unresolved. The 2018 Rodiaki article says the tankers were ending; a May 2026 Rodiaki headline seen through Google News says a tanker was sailing again. The Rodiaki article itself returned 403 when fetched directly.; No source was found for a dedicated fuel boat. Fuel appears to arrive with general supplies on the ferries; Ferryhopper notes a gas station in the village but does not say how it is supplied..

The field note on Kastellorizo reads this entry in full, one option at a time, with every source beside it.