Kastelorizo, the smallest of the Dodecanese islands, is the most eastern island of Greece, barely one nautical mile from the Turkish mainland. First impressions count here, and the harbour front of the main town makes a strong one.
Lined by elegant mansions, cafes, tavernas and shops, closed to any form of traffic with more than 2 wheels and ringed by imposing hills that are, unusually, floodlit at night, it is a striking piece of townscape. Although Kastelorizo is devoid of beaches, it is possible to swim from the rocks at Agios Stefanos, 40 minutes walk north of town, and the main harbour is unpolluted, so a quick dip from the terrace of the Hotel Kastellorizo is also possible.
The scale is what surprises people. Kastelorizo is nine square kilometres with a few hundred residents, and the town is effectively the island: one harbour, one arc of houses, and hills behind it. The mansions along the front are the remains of a shipping economy that supported several thousand people before the twentieth century took them away, which is why the architecture is grander than the population would suggest. The other consequence of the size is that the island runs on the boat and the plane: what arrives is what there is, and a windy week narrows the choice in the shops as much as it narrows the choice of when to leave.
Where it actually is, and why that matters
The island’s official name is Megisti, “the greatest”, which reads oddly on the smallest island in the Dodecanese until you notice it refers only to its own little archipelago: Megisti is the largest of the rocks and islets around it. Everything else about the position is unusual too. It lies about two kilometres off the south coast of Turkey, 125 kilometres east of Rhodes and some 570 from Athens, which makes it far closer to Kas than to any Greek island, and it is administered from Rhodes.
That distance decides how a visit works. The flight from Rhodes takes forty minutes and the ferry two hours twenty, and in a windy week the plane is the one that keeps going. Anyone building an itinerary should treat Kastelorizo as a destination with a return leg rather than a stop between two other islands, because there is nothing beyond it to hop to.
A footnote that explains the visitors: the 1991 film Mediterraneo, which won the Oscar for best foreign-language film, was shot here and set here during the Second World War. It put the harbour front on screens across Europe, and the island has had a steady trickle of people coming to see it ever since.
Things to do
Boat trips around the island of Kastelorizo, to the neighbouring islet of Rho and to Kas on the Turkish Mainland.
Getting there
Travel between Rhodes and Kastelorizo is either by flight (40 mins.) or ferry (2 hrs. 20 mins.).
| Leg | By | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| Rhodes → Kastelorizo | flight | 40 min |
| Rhodes → Kastelorizo | ferry | 2 hrs 20 min |
Crossing times are the scheduled durations of the route, not a timetable. Sailings vary by season and operator.