Trips & tickets
A modern fast boat from Rhodes, three hours of free time in Symi's harbour town and a swim in St George's Bay, reached only by boat.
The same trip with optional hotel transfers from Faliraki, Ixia, Kremasti and Kolymbia, and guaranteed open-air seating.
A day boat from Rhodes with two stops: the Monastery of Archangel Michael at Panormitis and Symi town.
The full GetYourGuide listing for Symi — day excursion boats, ferries and private boat trips from Rhodes, with live prices.
Symi is a small island near Rhodes known for its harbour of pastel houses at Gialos and the monastery of Panormitis on the other side of the island. Most visitors come for the day on an excursion boat from Rhodes, which often stops at Panormitis before reaching the harbour.
The scheduled ferry and private boats are the alternatives, and staying overnight lets you see the island once the day boats leave. These pages compare the options.
Plan it properly
Getting to Symi from Rhodes: daily boats all year, crossings from 45 minutes, the operators on the route, day trips with three hours in Symi town or a stop at Panormitis Monastery, and how to plan a day or a longer stay on the island.
Exploring Symi town: the harbour of Gialos and its 1881 clock tower, the neoclassical mansions built on sponge wealth, the Kali Strata's roughly 500 steps up to Horio, the Archaeological Museum, the Knights' castle, and the history from the Knights of St John to the 1945 surrender signed on Symi.
Visiting the monastery of Archangel Michael at Panormitis — its 15th-century katholikon, silver-and-gold icon, two museums and bottle offerings — and Symi's beaches, from the pebble cove of Agios Georgios Dysalona under a 300 m cliff to Nanou, Marathounta, Pedi and Nos.
The island
Photographs licensed from Shutterstock.
The shortest crossing takes 45 minutes, and boats run every day, all year.
On the fast day boats, about three hours in Symi town plus a swim stop at St George's Bay.
Yes. Several day trips from Rhodes stop at the Monastery of Archangel Michael at Panormitis as well as Symi town.