Cycling in Cyprus, from wine villages to Akamas

Cyprus is sold as a beach island, but cyclists know it for something else, a mild winter. While the lanes back home are wet or icy, here you ride in short sleeves past villages, vineyards and pine forest. The Limassol and Paphos tourism boards take it seriously and publish routes with distance and climbing. Here are the ones worth knowing, where to hire and when I’d leave the bike in the shed. Buses, taxis and hire cars are all covered in getting around Cyprus.

Limassol publishes the most routes

The Limassol Tourism Board lists ten mountain-bike, e-MTB, gravel and road routes, each with level, distance and ascent. They range from an easy 17.4 km ride to a 79.6 km road loop with 1,480 m of climbing that starts in Vouni, crosses Lofou and Kouris dam, drops to Kolossi and Episkopi and returns via Sotira. The e-MTB route from Episkopi follows the Kouris river up to Souni, looks out over Akrotiri Salt Lake and finishes at the ruins of Kourion, 40.7 km with 810 m of climbing.

The board also describes two themed tours, one through the Commandaria villages among vines, olive groves and wineries, and another through the tangerine villages and their citrus valleys. For me, that’s where cycling in Cyprus shines, in the Limassol wine villages.

Paphos, Akamas and the Diarizos valley

The Paphos Tourism Board pitches its district as year-round cycling country, with surfaces that switch from rock to clay and from steep to flat inside ten kilometres, and no strong headwinds to speak of. For mountain biking it singles out two areas. Akamas, at around 79 km², suits all abilities and can be ridden all year, as can the Paphos forest. The Troodos are tougher, steeper and rockier, and in winter rain and snow can make them nigh on unrideable.

On the road it suggests a loop from Paphos up through Pegeia to Kathikas, round Drouseia and Arodes and back via Stroumpi, Polemi and Tsada, all on good tarmac. The other, through the Diarizos valley, Arsos, Dora and Kouklia, is 105 km, moderate to hard, with narrow stretches and tight bends on the descent. The board recommends them from February to May, when the countryside is in flower.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Limassol on Expedia and filter by area before price.

The east coast, flatter

The Famagusta region’s tourism website, a secondary source in my book, describes fairly flat road routes through Paralimni, Deryneia, Frenaros, Sotira, Liopetri and Avgorou, a coastal ride from Liopetri to Ayia Napa, Cape Greco and Protaras, and mountain biking on the cape itself, at Konnos and at Kambos, with the Konnos trail right by the water among pines.

Where can you hire, and how do you move the bike?

In Limassol, nextbike runs bike share at 15 stations around the city. You rent through the app and drop the bike at any official station. The tourism board also lists a cycling club, rental centres and a guided-tour firm. If you need the bus, Cyprus Public Transport in Nicosia and Larnaca carries folding bikes free and charges €2.70 for a standard bike on a cyclist ticket.

Where the bus does not go, a car does: compare car hire in Limassol before you arrive rather than at the desk.

What to take on a day ride

Plenty of water, because between mountain villages there may be nowhere to refill, plus sun cream and a spare tube. On the Akamas and Paphos forest tracks the board warns that summer leaves the surface dry, loose and dusty and needs extra handling skill, while winter rain packs it down and makes it faster. I’d add a phone with 112 at hand and the route downloaded, since signal comes and goes in the valleys. And if you’re riding as a group, the Paphos board mentions tailor-made trips for families, clubs and charity rides.

When I wouldn’t ride

In summer, beyond an early spin along the seafront. The WMO gives Nicosia average highs of 37.5°C in July and August, and gov.uk reminds visitors that wildfire risk is high from April to October. It also warns that local driving standards leave a lot to be desired, with more road deaths than at home, so I’d ride with lights and hi-vis and avoid fast roads. If you’d rather be on foot, see hiking in Cyprus.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Limassol on Booking.com and filter by area before price.