The Cyprus wine routes, from Paphos to Limassol

You don’t really get Cypriot wine from a seafront bar, you get it by driving up into the villages. That’s what the wine routes are, mountain roads linking wineries, churches and village squares where the wine is sometimes made by the taverna owner. Here they are, using what the Paphos tourism board, Limassol Tourism and the Cyprus Wine Museum publish. The grapes and wineries in general are covered in Cypriot wine.

Why it’s worth the drive

The Paphos tourism board points out how far back wine goes in Cyprus. Excavations at Erimi between 1932 and 1935 turned up fragments of Chalcolithic flasks from around 3500 to 3000 BC, and in 2005 an Italian team found traces of tartaric acid, the tell-tale sign of wine, in eighteen of them. The mosaic in the House of Dionysos, in Paphos Archaeological Park, tells the legend of Ikarios, the first mortal taught to make wine. Driving these routes puts a landscape to that story.

The Laona-Akamas route

This is the one I’d do first if I were staying in Paphos. According to the tourism board, the area produces some of the island’s best whites from Xynisteri, a grape that benefits here from the sea breeze, along with good reds from the ancient Maratheftiko. The route links four wineries and climbs from Paphos through Mesogi, Tsada and Stroumbi to Kathikas, Akourdaleia, Pano and Kato Arodes, Ineia, Drouseia, Polis and Pegeia. Expect traditional tavernas, viewpoints and the Akamas peninsula in the background. In Kathikas, the board highlights two wineries, Vasilikon and Sterna, plus several good places to eat.

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Vouni Panagias-Ambelitis, above 800 metres

This is Paphos’s high route. The board describes mountains and pine forests above 800 metres, ten wineries, and aromatic, elegant, light wines thanks to Xynisteri, with notes of green apple, peach and apricot. Maratheftiko brings red fruit, violets and roses. More than twenty varieties grow here, including Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon, and the altitude suits Mavro. It passes through Pano Panagia, Archbishop Makarios’s birthplace, and Chrysorrogiatissa monastery, which the board recommends for its winemaking tradition, one of the oldest in the district.

The Diarizos valley

The quietest and least known. It follows the Diarizos river east of Paphos through vineyards and traditional villages, lower than the other wine areas, and the native red Mavro dominates. It runs through Acheleia, Kouklia, Nikokleia, Choletria, Stavrokonnou, Kelokedara, Salamiou, Mesana, Arminou, Filousa, Agios Nikolaos, Praitori, Kedares, Agios Georgios, Mamonia and Fasoula. Lagria winery is in Salamiou and Nelion in Pretori.

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The Krasochoria and Commandaria, in Limassol

Limassol has two routes that the Cyprus Wine Museum numbers fourth and fifth, the Krasochoria, or wine villages, and the Commandaria villages. The first is covered in depth in the Limassol wine villages, with Omodos, Arsos, Vasa and Koilani. The second follows the slopes of the Kouris valley, home of Commandaria, and Limassol Tourism has turned it into cycling routes of 7.7 to 17.7 km through Silikou, with its Commandaria museum, Lania, Monagri, Doros, Agios Mamas and Trimiklini. In autumn, the board says, don’t miss palouze, the grape-must sweet.

If you’re starting from Limassol, the obvious first stop is the Cyprus Wine Museum in Erimi, which bills itself as the starting point of those routes and sits a few minutes from Kolossi Castle.

How I’d tackle them

One route a day and two or three wineries at most. Tastings and mountain roads don’t mix, so I’d sleep in the village itself or bring a driver who isn’t drinking. Traffic keeps left, just as in the UK, so the hairpins are the only real adjustment for a British driver. Before setting off, I’d check opening times on each winery’s website, because the Paphos board doesn’t give them and some, such as Argyrides in Vasa Koilaniou, only take visitors by appointment, according to Limassol Tourism. And I’d keep an afternoon free for a village square, because, as the board puts it, very often you’ll be served wine made by the owner or in the village itself.

If you would rather go at your own pace, see the car hire deals in Limassol: the earlier you book, the more cars are left to choose from.

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