The Atalante Trail, the long loop round Olympus from the square

The Atalante is the Artemis’s bigger sibling. It circles the same mountain, but lower down and over twice the distance, which is why I see it as a full day out rather than a stroll. I describe it using the ANETroodos trail notes, which give plenty of detail on the route.

A 14 km loop

The company’s nature park page gives the Atalante 14 km as a loop starting from Troodos Square. The trail notes add that it circles Chionistra between 1,700 and 1,750 metres, with a high point of 1,830 and a finish at 1,748. It runs almost entirely through dense black pine and stinking juniper, and from several stretches, the notes say, you can see every part of the island.

The juniper and the mine

Two things make it special. The first is a stinking juniper of about 800 years, one of the largest in the area. The second is the entrance tunnel of the chrome mine, closed in 1982, which the company singles out as particularly interesting. That mining past makes more sense at the Troodos Geopark, which explains how these mountains rose from the seabed. Among the endemic plants the notes mention golden oak, a Troodos mint and the Troodos alyssum.

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The stretch that can catch you out

The notes are careful about the second half. The first finishing point is nine kilometres along, on the Troodos to Prodromos road. To continue you cross the road and walk about 200 metres along the Katoikies Chromiou forest track, towards the church of Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis, until a wooden sign marks the turn. From there the path runs roughly parallel to the road back to the square. If you only want the first part, you could arrange a pick-up at that point.

Water and precautions

There is a drinking water fountain three kilometres from the start, heading towards the square. I wouldn’t rely on it alone and would set off with water for the whole day. The trail lies inside the national forest park, where fires are banned except at designated barbecue sites, and from April to October the fire risk is high.

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How to fit it in

I’d start and finish at Troodos Square, where the information centre can tell you about trail conditions. According to the company it opens daily from 10:00 to 16:00 and has displays on the area’s history and habitats, with stuffed animals and birds, a useful primer before a long walk. For something shorter, the Artemis Trail circles the summit in half the distance, and the Persephone Trail leaves the same square for the Makria Kontarka viewpoint. The mountain’s protected areas are covered in nature parks in Cyprus.

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