Hiking in Cyprus, from Mount Olympus to the Akamas peninsula

To my mind, Cyprus has some of the most underrated walking in the Mediterranean. People come for the sea, yet the island hides black pine forests, ridges looking out to both coasts and limestone gorges. Here I sort out what each region’s official sources say and what I’d put first.

The Troodos, the heart of the network

ANETroodos, the mountain’s development company, speaks of 22 waymarked trails created to show the landscape, the plants and animals and the traces of mining. It recommends spring, when everything is in flower. Three routes leave the Olympus area and I’d treat them as the core. The Artemis Trail is a 7 km loop round the summit at about 1,850 metres. The Atalante Trail, 14 km long, circles the mountain a little lower and passes the mouth of a chrome mine. And the Persephone Trail runs 3 km one way from Troodos Square to the Makria Kontarka viewpoint.

Towards Platres, the Caledonia path follows the Kryos river down to the Caledonia Waterfall, and in Pitsilia the Madari ridge has the Madari ridge trail, Teisia tis Madaris, with cliffs and views over the Mesaoria. For anyone who doesn’t walk much, the Livadi trail is wheelchair accessible.

Churches, bridges and forest

Some routes mix nature and heritage. The Nicosia Tourism Board suggests the Panagia tou Araka trail, about 8 km from Stavros tou Agiasmati topping out at 1,164 metres and looking towards Morphou and the Pentadaktylos. In the west, the Venetian bridges route links Kaminaria and Vretsia in around six hours via the Elia, Tzelefos and Roudia bridges. Near Nicosia, Athalassa national forest park covers 840 hectares with about 20 km of paths, and from the Kionia picnic site in Machairas a 7 km trail heads downhill with views over the Mesaoria.

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

Coast, gorges and cliffs

The Paphos tourism website describes the Aphrodite Trail in Akamas as a loop of about 7.5 km taking two and a half to three hours, with steep climbs, the ruins of the Queen’s Tower and views over Chrysochou Bay. Avakas Gorge is short but involves wading the stream and scrambling over boulders. In Limassol district, Pissouri has eight trails, four of them also open to bikes, including a 4.5 km route climbing from Prolimnos beach to 224 metres.

The E4 and staying safe

The European Ramblers Association gives the E4 path a length of 12,070 km, from Spain to Cyprus, so the island is where it finishes. On safety, gov.uk flags a high risk of wildfires between April and October and advises turning on phone alerts. Limassol Tourism adds the ground rules, which are to stay on the path, not smoke, light no fires outside barbecue areas and ring the Department of Forests on 1407 if you see smoke.

In the west, trails start from the Baths of Aphrodite and Neo Chorio, the Avakas Gorge is walked along its bed, and from Lysos you climb towards Cedar Valley. In the east, Cape Greco has clifftop paths out to the Cyclops Cave.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Platres and pick one that fits your day.

How I’d plan it

I’d spend two or three nights in Platres for the Olympus trails and the waterfalls in Cyprus, and one in Agros for Madari. The protected areas these routes run through are covered in nature parks in Cyprus, and if views matter more to you than distance, start with the viewpoints in Cyprus.

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

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