Tsambika beach
A wide bay of deep, soft sand that shelves gently — the reason people put up with the walk. Organised in season, with loungers and a couple of tavernas.
KTEL Rodou 6 July – 10 September 2026
Rhodes Town to Tsambika by bus
One of the finest beaches on the island, and the one where more day trips go wrong than anywhere else — because of where the bus leaves you.
- One way
- €3.30
- Buses a day
- 20
- First out
- 06:15
- Last back
- 22:10
Where it stops
Neither operator publishes a stop-by-stop sequence for this corridor in a form we can reproduce accurately, so we do not print one. The services call at the settlements along the coast road; the driver and the schedule at the stand are the reliable answer for a specific stop.
There are two Tsambika stops, and one of them has two buses back a day. The stop named for the beach has just two return departures — 16:20 and 18:00 — while the Tsambika crossroad stop up on the main road has twenty-one. Miss the 18:00 from the beach stop and there is no later one. Most people are better off travelling to the crossroad, walking down, and walking back up to a stop that still has buses at it in the evening.
Tsambika Beach: Five buses out and only two back, at 16:20 and 18:00. This is the beach stop, not the crossroad on the main road above it: they are different stops with different fares, and the crossroad has twenty-one returns to this stop’s two. Do not treat the two rows as interchangeable — turning up at the wrong one after 18:00 means no bus.
Tsambika crossroad: The stop is up on the main road, not at the beach — a walk down, and a longer one back up. KTEL do not publish the distance, so we do not state one: the figure quoted around the internet traces to a design placeholder rather than to any operator document.
| Stop | One way | Buses out | Buses back | Last back |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsambika Beach | €4.00 | 5 | 2 | 18:00 |
| Tsambika crossroad | €3.30 | 20 | 21 | 22:10 |
Departures
Departure times change. KTEL Rodou publishes the current timetable.
Check both directions and save your return before you set off.
KTEL Rodou timetable ↗ Buy online ↗
Checked against KTEL Rodou — official schedule ↗ on 18 August 2026. Timetables change with the season — confirm before you travel.
Where the stop is
KTEL Rodou give one starting point for their island services, and this is the wording they use for it: Bus Station 1 – Mandraki, on the New Market block. Their numbered bays are not published, so if your service is not at the first stand, ask — we would rather say that than invent a layout for you to look for.
Do this before you go
This is the route where the return time matters most. You are walking back up to a highway stop with no shelter and no timetable board — knowing the departure before you start up the hill is the whole trip.
Get the Rhodes Bus app ExperiencesAt Tsambika
Two very different climbs from the same junction: one down to the sand, one up to the monastery on the rock above it.
Tsambika monastery
A tiny white chapel on the headland above the bay, reached by a long flight of steps from the road. The view along the coast from the top is the best on the island.
Kolymbia
Kolymbia
The next settlement north, with a eucalyptus-lined avenue down to its own beach. An easier alternative on a day when the Tsambika walk is too much.
About this route
How far is the bus stop from Tsambika beach?
Far enough that it changes the day. The stop is on the main coast road above the bay and the beach is down a side road from there; it is a straightforward walk down and a hard one back up in the afternoon heat. Treat the return climb as part of the journey time, not as an afterthought.
Can I do the beach and the monastery in one visit?
You can, but they are separate climbs from the same junction and the monastery one is a long flight of steps in the open. Most people who try both end up doing the monastery early and the beach afterwards, rather than the other way round.
Is there anywhere to wait for the bus back?
There is no shelter and no timetable board at the junction, so plan to arrive with time in hand rather than expecting to check anything when you get there. This is the single best argument for having the timetable saved on your phone.