EXCURSIONS
The Long South — Monolithos, Siana, and Cape Prasonisi
Eight hours, two coasts, three stops — a Crusader castle on a sea cliff, a mountain village for a long lunch, and the sandbar where two seas meet.
Duration
8 hrs
Group Size
1–4 / 1–8 people
From
€320/ per vehicle
Minivan: €395
Seasonal conditions: please read the note below before booking.
The crucial seasonal fact: the Prasonisi sandbar is only walkable when exposed, roughly late May through September.
Most of Rhodes ends at Lindos. The southernmost ninety kilometres are emptier, slower, harder to read — Crusader castles abandoned on cliffs, mountain villages where the bakery is also the post office, and finally Prasonisi, the cape where the sandbar exposes itself in summer and the Aegean meets the Libyan Sea at two different temperatures. It is a long day in the car — there is no honest way around that — and we use Siana, the mountain village between Monolithos and the cape, as the proper midday pause. A long lunch there is part of the route, not an inconvenience.
The route
- 1
Monolithos Castle / Κάστρο Μονολίθου
An hour and a half from Rhodes Town via the inland road, climbing through the village of Apollona. The castle sits on a 100-metre limestone monolith over the sea, built around 1480 by Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson — one of a chain of Hospitaller signal castles along the west coast. It never fell to siege; its defence was its inaccessibility. The climb to the chapel of Agios Panteleimon inside the ruins is rocky and unhandrailed; steady shoes essential.
- 2
Siana / Σιάννα
Ten minutes back inland. A working mountain village of about 250 people, famed for its honey and its souma — the village's clear grape spirit, distilled in small lots. We stop for a proper lunch here: one taverna we trust, the kind of meal that takes 90 minutes and isn't optional. No staged ceremonies, no folkloric props. Just village food on a terrace with a view of the Aegean.
- 3
Cape Prasonisi / Ακρωτήριο Πρασονήσι
Thirty-five minutes south through the empty southern coast. The cape is the island's last word: a low island connected to Rhodes by a sandbar that exposes itself from roughly late May through September. Walk across the sandbar; on one side, the Aegean from the west; on the other, the calmer Libyan Sea from the east. The two waters meet at the sand's edge at noticeably different temperatures. Kitesurfers work the wind here from May to October; the cape is one of the Mediterranean's most consistent wind spots.
Duration & pacing
- 09:00 — Pickup from accommodation
- 09:00–10:30 — Drive to Monolithos via the inland route
- 10:30 — Monolithos Castle (60–75 min, including the climb)
- 11:45 — Drive to Siana (~10 min)
- 12:00 — Lunch in Siana (90 min — this is the day's pause)
- 13:30 — Drive to Prasonisi (~50 min)
- 14:20 — Cape Prasonisi (75–90 min, sandbar walk + photographs)
- 15:50 — Return drive via the east coast (~1h 40m)
- 17:30 — Drop-off
- This is the only one of our four tours where the drive itself is part of the product. If you'd like the route to extend into a sunset finish at Prasonisi (~9 hours total) instead of an east-coast return, mention at booking.
Included
- Mercedes E-Class sedan (1–4 guests) or Mercedes Vito minivan (up to 8 guests)
- Your chauffeur for the full duration
- Cold bottled water in the vehicle (we restock at Siana — long day, real heat)
- Full route flexibility
- Door-to-door pickup and drop-off
Not included
- Monolithos Castle: free — no ticket, no gate, no official hours.
- Cape Prasonisi: free — public beach.
- Lunch in Siana (typically €25–€35 per person at the taverna we suggest, half-bottle of wine included).
- Drinks beyond the water provided.
Best for
Travellers on their second or third visit to Rhodes who have already done Lindos and the city and want the version of the island most visitors never reach. Photographers — the south light is different. Couples comfortable with a long-driving day in exchange for a real meal in a real village and the singular geography of the cape. Not suited to families with very young children, where the drive itself becomes the problem.
Seasonal notes
The crucial seasonal fact: the Prasonisi sandbar is only walkable when exposed, roughly late May through September. Outside that window — and after major winter storms — the sandbar submerges and Prasonisi becomes a true offshore island. The view from the parking area is still strong, and the lighthouse silhouette holds, but the cross-the-sandbar experience is summer-only. From November through March we don't recommend this tour at all — the drive is long, the sandbar gone, Siana's tavernas operate winter hours, and Monolithos in cold rain is bleak. Best months: late May, June, September, early October.
Your chauffeur
Local Host & Navigator
Your chauffeur on this route does more than navigate — at Monolithos and Prasonisi there is nothing to narrate inside a ticketed gate, because there is no gate. What your chauffeur brings to the day is the local knowledge: which Siana taverna is the right one this season, where exactly to park at Prasonisi for the shortest walk to the sandbar, which return route catches the late light without putting you in school-run traffic. They stay with you longer at the stops than on the other three tours — partly because the sites are smaller, partly because at the cape it is just you, the wind, and the two seas.
EXCURSIONS
The Long South — Monolithos, Siana, and Cape Prasonisi
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