Life Outdoors - Cyprus - page 90

Hiking
Cyprus has oodles of trails with plenty of wilderness and unspoilt nature to discover. Its
many paths span the ages and history of the island, leading to Byzantine churches, pictur-
esque monasteries, Venetian bridges, Gothic arches, crumbling ancient ruins and waterfalls.
In the South hikers can fully immerse themselves in the expanses of the Akamas Penin-
sula and Troödos Mountains. Cape Greco on the eastern coast also offers wonderful trails,
filled with spring flora, leading to its majestic coast of sea caves and natural rock arches.
Paths are well marked making independent hiking perfectly feasible for the less-experien-
ced. For serious through-hikers and ramblers South Cyprus is part of the European Long
Distance Path E4.
For those shorter on time, the Aphrodite Circular Route (four hours, Akamas Peninsula),
Atalanti Circular Route (five hours) and Kannoures to Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis Church
trail (three hours), both in the Troödos Mountains, all offer good walking with a good slice
of historic sites thrown in.
North Cyprus offers walkers vast tracts of empty trails in the Kyrenia Range and Karpas
Peninsula. Many of the paths are part of the way-marked Kyrenia Mountain Trail ( Click
here ) which stretches for 230km across the full breadth of the coast. The hiking industry
here lacks infrastructure and detailed maps are difficult to come by so unless you're an ex-
perienced trekker it's generally best to hire a local guide.
Some of the best shorter hikes in North Cyprus are in the craggy hills between
Buffavento Castle and Bellapais village.