The Akamas peninsula, the wild north-west of Cyprus

Akamas is what’s left of the Cypriot coast without development, and in my view the strongest reason to hire a car in the west. It’s a peninsula of low hills, pine woods, gorges and coves, with no villages inside, two main gateways and plenty of dirt tracks. Here’s what’s there, how you get in and what I couldn’t confirm. The wider picture is in Paphos district.

What it is and where it ends

Akamas Municipality and the Pafos tourism board describe it in the same terms. The coast runs from the Baths of Aphrodite, round Cape Arnaoutis, to Agios Georgios at Peyia, and inland it’s bounded by the villages of Peyia, Kathikas, Arodes, Ineia, Drouseia, Androlikou and Neo Chorio. It covers some 17,000 hectares, of which 7,000 are state forest, all inside the EU Natura 2000 network.

The name comes from Akamas, a Homeric hero of Athenian origin. People have lived here since the Neolithic, with Mycenaean traces at Maa and Lara, early Christian settlements such as Agios Konon and a 12th-century tower, Pyrgos tis Rigainas.

What makes Akamas’s wildlife special?

Its geology sums up the whole island, with Troodos ophiolite rocks, quartz sandstones at Drouseia and Ineia and a coast of calcareous sandstone with raised marine terraces. Hence all the coves, dunes, cliffs, caves and islets. The gorges, Avakas above all, are the work of erosion.

More than 600 plant species have been recorded, 35 of them in the Red Book of the Flora of Cyprus, along with 34 of the island’s 46 orchids. Two grow nowhere else, the Akamas tulip, with around 200 plants, and the Akamas centaury, with fewer than 800 on the walls of the Avakas Gorge and two neighbouring gorges. Among the animals are Bonelli’s eagle, the only eagle that breeds on the island, the Egyptian fruit bat and, now and then, the Mediterranean monk seal.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Polis before prices climb.

The turtles of Lara

The Lara and Toxeftra coast, in the south-west, is protected as a marine life reserve. According to the council, about 100 green and 300 loggerhead turtles lay their eggs there each year, and 25,000 to 30,000 hatchlings emerge. The tourism board asks visitors not to put up sunshades or disturb the nests. I explain more in Lara beach.

Getting in and getting around

From the north you come in via Latchi, on Pafos Buses route 622 from Polis to the Baths of Aphrodite, where the Aphrodite and Adonis trails begin. From the west it’s Agios Georgios at Peyia, on the 616 from Coral Bay, and from the middle, the Smigies picnic site, 2.5 km from Neo Chorio. There’s no bus in the interior, and the council talks of trails, mountain bikes and 4x4s. It rates the long cycling route from Coral Bay to Lara and Fontana Amorosa as difficult, with no water or food anywhere along it.

On the peninsula’s exact legal status, vehicle access rules and fines, I have no permitted official source, so I won’t give you figures. I’d always carry water, a hat and a charged phone, as the council itself advises.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Akamas peninsula and choose by the reviews.

What I like most

With a single day, I’d do the Blue Lagoon by boat from Latchi in the morning and the Aphrodite trail in the afternoon. With two, I’d add the west side, from Agios Georgios to Lara, and for its tracks I’d book a 4x4 trip with a licensed firm, covered in jeep safari in Cyprus. If you’d rather pedal, the Paphos board suggests Akamas rides, gathered in cycling in Cyprus. To stay close by, Latchi hotels are the base for the north side. To compare with the rest of the coast, see Cyprus beaches.

A car frees you from timetables: search car hire in Polis on DiscoverCars and compare companies.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Polis before prices climb.