Troodos Square, the mountain's base camp

Troodos Square isn’t pretty in the way a stone village is, and I won’t sell it as one. It’s a small mountain resort with hotels, cafés and parking at the foot of Olympus. But if you’re going to walk or ski, you’ll almost certainly pass through, so I’ve gone through what it offers using figures from the Troodos Development Company and the ski club.

What it actually is

At the 2021 census the Troodos community had 17 residents, which tells you its nature, more service stop than everyday village. It sits in the middle of the Troodos Mountains at about 1,700 metres, where the roads up from Platres, Prodromos and Karvounas meet. The company itself calls it the historic square, and two long-standing hotels still stand there, the Troodos and the Jubilee.

The summit of Mount Olympus and its slopes are two kilometres away, and Pano Platres five.

The forest park information centre

Two hundred metres west of the square is the Troodos National Forest Park information centre. Open daily from 10:00 to 16:00, it covers the history, geology, flora and fauna of the mountains, with habitat displays and stuffed animals and birds. To me it’s the logical first stop, especially with children or on a first visit. The company gives its phone number as +357 25 420 144. The geology of the mountains is explained in more depth at the centre of the Troodos Geopark, in Amiantos.

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The trails that start here

The square is the starting point for several waymarked trails. Persephone begins 150 metres away, towards the police station, and runs for 3 kilometres through pine forest to the Makria Kontarka viewpoint, which makes it the easiest one to start with. I cover it in the Persephone trail. Atalante leaves from the square itself and makes a 14 kilometre loop round Olympus, between 1,700 and 1,750 metres up. The long 14 km loop is the Atalante Trail, and the short circuit of the summit the Artemis Trail.

If you’d rather cycle, the company lists several mountain bike routes from the square towards Platres, Prodromos, Mesa Potamos or Kakopetria, with the main season running from April to November.

Picnic sites and camping

For eating outdoors, the Kampos tou Livadiou picnic site is 2 kilometres away towards Karvounas, with the Armyrolivado and Livadi tou Pasia sites a little further on. The Troodos campsite, the largest in the mountains according to the company, is 2 kilometres north on the Kakopetria road. It opens from May to the end of October and costs 5 euros a day for two or three people, or 31 euros a week.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Troodos Square on GetYourGuide.

When to go

In winter the square is the gateway for anyone heading up to see the snow or for skiing in Cyprus, with the slopes two kilometres away. In summer it’s the best place to escape the heat of the coast and walk early in the day. To stay with more choice of hotels and restaurants, I’d look at Platres, just down the road.

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If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Platres for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.