17 Best places to Visit in Cyprus

I’ve just spent nearly six weeks exploring the small Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus. Despite having to put up with really crappy weather almost the entire time (I estimate literally 95% days with bad weather / only 5% days of good weather) I did still manage to explore many fantastic places. And despite the foul climate, overall I quite like Cyprus.

As usual, I focused mainly on getting out into nature and visiting interesting historic churches & buildings and archaeological sites.

The island itself is quite beautiful, with a surprising diversity of geography that includes dramatic rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, rolling green hills and stunning mountains.

On the other hand, quite unfortunately, nearly all the towns and cities in Cyprus are incredibly ugly. Just non-descript white boxy modern-ish buildings all crammed together and lots of icky housing developments.

Fortunately, scattered around the island are dozens of historic churches, important archaeological sites, quaint historic mountain villages and several dramatic castles & monastery ruins. And the capital city of Nicosia has a modest but rich historic town.

The following sites are what I consider to be the best x places to visit during a trip to Cyprus. I’ve separated them by Greek Cyprus and Turkish Cyprus and then, in Greek Cyprus from west to east.

Best places in Greek Cyprus (the south)

1. Akamas Peninsula National Park

Akamas Peninsula points into the sea on the far western coast of Cyprus. The entire peninsula is a completely undeveloped national park. There’s one entrance on the southern end near Lara Beach, but the main entrance is at the northeastern edge of the peninsula, on the Crysochous Bay near Polis town.

The famous, but very minor and disappointing Aphrodite’s Baths are located near the entrance. Luckily some fantastic hiking trails also begin there.

The trails climb up into the mountains, partly through pine and cyprus forests, partly along narrow zig-zag trails along soaring cliffs.

Another trail and very rough road (4WD only!) run flat along the coast out to the very tip of the peninsula. It’s lined by rocky shores, low cliffs, rock formations and several sandy beaches.

2. Avankas Gorge

Avankas Gorge is a spectacular narrow canyon situated about 30 km west of Paphos. There’s a 7-km walking loop through the gorge.

This is one of the primary sites I wanted to visit in Cyprus. But I missed it due to way too much crappy weather and difficult public transportation access.

Public buses will get visitors within 3-5 km of the canyon, but then you have to walk uphill or hitch a ride to reach the gorge. I would have done it if the weather would have held out for me. But it’s reallyl best reached by car.

3. Agios Georgios coast

Agios Georgios (aka St George) is a small coastal town just west of Paphos, which has several noteworthy features. Most famously are a small archaeological site and a historic stone Byzantine Church, set on a clifftop overlooking a small marina and offshore rocks. The picturesque harbor marina is also popular.

When I visited, I discovered what I think are even more interesting attractions. First off, just below the church are several ancient cave homes carved into the cliff – the very cliff upon which the church sits.

Secondly, the multi-colored cliffs plunging into a bright turquoise sea are quite spectacular.

It’s definitely worth a half-day visit from Paphos and visitors can reach it by taking two local buses.

4. Agios Neophytos Monastery

This historic monastery is carved right into a cliff face up in the mountains north of Paphos. Actually, just the original cave sanctuary is carved into the rock. Just next to that is a much bigger stone church and a large stone plaza overlooking the mountains sloping down to the coast.

It’s easy to reach by a bus from Paphos.

5. Agios Neophytos Cat Park Sanctuary

Right down the hill from the monastery is the fantastic Cat Park sanctuary, which houses more than 900 cats! Not surprisingly, this is one of the prime places I wanted to visit in Cyprus. In fact, I went to the monastery & cat park on my second day on the island.

I was really impressed by the high level of care given to these cats by volunteers, as well as various donations by locals and visitors. The cats are fed real chicken scraps every day, as well as a variety of cat food. Usually the volunteers add vitamins, medicines and supplements to the food too.

In medical terms, all cats are neutered and any sick or injured cats are given medical treatment.

These cats live better than many privately owned house cats, truth be told! In any event, I had a wonderful time petting dozens of cats during my two-hour visit.

A trip to the monastery & cat park makes a great half-day trip from Paphos.

6. UNESCO Archaeological Site in Paphos

Cyprus has several important archaeologic sites scattered around the island. One of the most important, extensive and interesting is the UNESCO site at Paphos.

The most famed feature are various intricate Roman mural floors that were created Math tiny ½ inch square stone of various colors and shades. The artists were so skilled that they made the murals look like 3-D paintings, complete with shading on people’s faces and clothing.

The very large archaeological site also has a row of Roman stone columns, ancient cave dwellings, ruins of a Byzantine castle, an outdoor Roman amphitheater and a more recent historic lighthouse.

7. Aphrodite’s Rock & coastline

Cyprus is considered the home and birthplace of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Several sites around the island are related to her.

The most spectacular spot is called Aphrodite’s Rock, which is a fantastic rock formation right off the coast about 10 km east of Paphos.

Actually, it’s not only the rock formation that makes this stretch of coast so beautiful. The offshore rocks are lined by a stone beach filled Math an astounding array of small rounded rocks in colors in shades of yellow, orange, green, beige, gray, black and white.

Just north of the rocks there’s a long tall cliff plunging into the sea, while the stone beaches are backed by smaller rocky bluffs.

8. Limassol city

Limassol is a coastal city right in the middle of the south coast. It’s certainly worth a few days of sightseeing and a week or more if you want to go explore the interior Troodos Mountain villages, historic churches and/or hiking trails.

The most interesting sites to visit in the city center include the beautiful wide palm-lined coastal promenade, the marina filled with rather large yachts, small Limassol castle, the small historic district, large colorful graffitti murals and the stunning historic Library building. You can see all this in one day.

A few miles west of town is a large salt lake with bird watching and the St Nikolas Cat Monastery.

Limassol also has many excellent, authentic ethnic restaurants due to the diverse immigrant population. Try Indian, Egyptian and Lebanese, among others.

Venetian Bridge in TRoodos Mountains – photo by Andreboeni on Flickr CC

9. Troodos Mountains

These very high central mountains have several quaint mountain villages, a dozen UNESCO World Heritage listed Byzantine Churches, heaps of hiking trails and, in winter, lots of snow and even an annual ski season.

Quite unfortunately, I missed the whole Troodos Mountain region due to crappy weather, lack of transportation info and pressed time.

Daily buses run to many Troodos sites from Limassol. (too bad I didn’t know that sooner!)

10. Larnaka city sites

Like Limassol, Larnaka also has a large salt lake situated just west of town. This one is probably more impressive since it gets a large flock of Flamingos in winter, along Math other migratory water birds.

Also on the shores of the lake is the important Mosque and historic Church.

Also like Limassol, Larnaka has many excellent, authentic ethnic restaurants due to the diverse immigrant population.

11. Paralimni coast & beaches

Paralimni region contains the easternmost coastline in Greek Cyprus. It runs from the UN Buffer Zone at its northern edge, all the way down to Cape Greko National Park, a small rocky peninsula jutting into the sea. From there the coast runs westward towards Larnaka.

Most of the eastern coast consists of stunning low cliffs of differing colors and rock types, small coves with sand beaches or piles of rocks, flat rocky shorelines and beautiful offshore rock formations.

Walking paths run along the entire coast and while there’s development in many places, most of it is set far back from the coast. It’s possible to feel pretty much like you’re out in nature most of the way.

12. Cape Greco National Park

This peninsula at the bottom of the Paralimni coast is the most spectacular region of all. The main feature is a huge rock massive, much like Ayer’s Rock in Australia, that soars up out of realatively flat land. It’s flat on top, oval in shape, and primarily features soaring cliff walls around its perimeter.

This massive sits slightl inlnad from the coast, giving enough space for hiking trails the entire way around it. Rock climbers take advantage of the cliffs as well.

The coastline is also quite spectacular, with all the coastal features of Paralimni coast. A famous ‘rock bridge’ and a series of sea caves are also popular sites here.

Turkish Cyprus (north side of the island)

1. Kyrenia harbor & old town

Kyrenia city is primarily an ugly, non-descript modern town, just like all the other towns and cities in Cyprus.

However, the tiny round historic Kyrenia Harbor is absolutely charming.

When I researched my trip to Cyprus, this harbor quickly became one of the places I was most excited to visit. And it’s even more charming and beautiful in person!

The tiny round harbor is filled with all sorts of cute boats and lined in the back by historic buildings housing restaurants & cafes. On the east side is the massive historic Kyrenia Castle. And it’s all backed by the stunning & rugged Kyrenia Mountain Range.

The harbor is so scenic that I visited it four or five times during the week I stayed in Kyrenia.

2. Kyrenia Castle

This massive stone castle sits right beside tiny Kyrenia harbor.

Visitors can go inside and see all sorts of interesting attractions, each with explanations in English. There are dungeons, two huge towers, a shipwreck museum and an archeological museum about a nearby Neolithic settlement.

The interior of the castle consists mainly of a massive open courtyard area with the aforementioned rooms all set inside the stone walls.

On top of that, visitors can climb up to the top of the castle’s thick walls on all sides, where they’ll find astounding 360º views over the long coast, rugged mountains and tiny harbor

Kyrenia Castle is definitely one of the best places I’ve visited in Cyprus!

3. St. Hilarion Castle

Wow, what a castle!

It’s built into the jagged rock peaks on the very top of the mountains and so well camoflagued that’s it’s nearly impossible to see if nobody points it out to you first.

The castle is a maze of different rooms, tunnels, passageways and external stone stairs set on many different levels and winding around both sides of the narrow rocky ridge.

Reportedly, this is the castle used as model for Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

St. Hilarion Castle is also one of the best places I visited in all of Cyprus.

4. Drive through Kyrenia Mountains

Visitors who have a car should head east from Kyrenia to explore the stunning Kyrenia Mountain Range that runs all the way out to the tip of the long Karpaz Peninsula. The completely undeveloped Karpaz Milli National Park occupies the very tip, accessed only by hiking trails.

I was lucky enough to ride with another traveler through about 1/3 of the mountains, which are really spectacular. We drove close to tall jagged peaks, through lovely pine forests and stopped at several astounding coastal viewpoints.

5. Nicosia old town

Cyprus’ capital city is situated right in the middle of the island and is divided in two. Half is located in Greek Cyprus and half in Turkish Cyprus. One of the main border crossing points, Ledras Street, is situated right in the middle of the beautiful historic district. This makes it very easy for visitors to pass back and forth.

Beautiful historic sites are found on both sides of the city. They consist of the old city stone wall, various mosques and churches, several interesting museums and other historic buildings. It could take 1-2 days to visit everything.

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