rel="nofollow" href="#ulink_29bdb7a4-beb9-57b4-82db-92ad9df82dcd">Using this guide’ for details of the way in which place names are presented in this guide.
When to go and what to take
Cyprus might seem like a year-round destination, but the best times for walking are the spring and autumn months. The summer months – from May to September – are generally too hot for walking, although some of the trails in the cooler Troodos mountains might be considered. In autumn, although the land may be parched after the summer heat, there is scope for enjoying a much wider range of walks. Most rainfall occurs during winter, when snow can cover the Troodos. Perhaps the best time to discover the trails of Cyprus is the spring months, when wildflowers carpet the meadows and the temperature is warm but not too hot.
When preparing for a walk described in this book, pack what you would normally take for a day walk. Carry a waterproof jacket as showers can surprise you even in the spring (especially in the Kyrenia mountains). Take a jumper with you; Troodos is traditionally cooler than the coast. Comfortable hiking boots, sun cream and sun hat are all essential, and always carry ample water for your day.
Maps and waymarking
Walking maps are not available for Cyprus. There are some tourist maps, which you can pick up at the airports or in the tourist offices, but they don’t outline the trails. There are publications of some of the popular trails of Northern Cyprus, including sketch maps, which are available from tourist offices. You can also pick up leaflets of the popular nature trails from tourist information offices in the south. Road maps for both parts of the island are available from tourist offices and airports.
The diverse trails in South Cyprus range from rugged coastline to forest walks, a stroll between vineyards to walking in the mountains of Troodos. Nature trails are marked on the island, but these are not unified and many different signs are in use. At the beginning of the nature trails there is usually a map board with some information about the length and terrain and sometimes about the vegetation. Plants, flowers and trees are labelled along the trail so you can learn to recognise them. Benches are placed at some of the best viewpoints.
Map board
Some of the trails described in this book are based on nature trails. The Department of Forests has a booklet of the island’s nature trails (see ‘Tourist information’, above), but some villages have created their own trails nearby and those are not listed by the CTO (Cyprus Tourism Organisation). Some of these routes start by the roadside and might end at a picnic site or another roadside; in such cases it is necessary to arrange a pick-up or plan to retrace your steps. These routes are usually not too long and walking back on the same path you may enjoy slightly different views. Paths used by walkers but not designated as nature trails often have occasional painted arrows and cairns.
The European Long Distance Path is marked with ‘E4’. The E4 runs through Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, mainland Greece and Crete. The section in Cyprus was added in 2005 and it connects Paphos and Larnaca airports. It often follows tarmac roads but it aims to explore the diverse scenery of Cyprus. Some of the nature trails are part of the E4 and a few walks in this book follow some scenic sections of the E4.
Besparmak long-distance trail sign; marker pyramid in North Cyprus; iron arrow in South Cyprus; direction marker in South Cyprus
The landscape of Northern Cyprus is dominated by the Kyrenia mountains. An official long-distance trail, the 255km-long Besparmak Trail in Northern Cyprus, is marked with a green ‘B’ sign. It starts at Cape Kormakitis/Kormacit and ends at the tip of the Karpaz/Karpass Peninsula. Many of the walks described in this book follow the green B signs.
Other trails are usually marked with green and white signs. However, on some trails you can see red, blue and yellow paint marks on rocks, which are often helpful when the path is overgrown. The start points of trails are usually marked with a wooden trail gate.
There are numbered pyramids at junctions, marked on the maps found at the beginning of the trails, to help orientation. Pyramids are mentioned in the walk descriptions and marked on the maps in this book.
Wild donkeys of the Karpaz Peninsula
Using this guide
An information box at the start of each walk provides the following information: start/finish point (including GPS coordinates), length of walk in kilometres, amount of ascent/descent in metres, difficulty rating (see grading information below), the length of time the walk is likely to take, and any details about refreshments and access that may be useful in planning. Note that where parking is mentioned it often refers to an informal parking area rather than an official car park. (At picnic sites there are usually plenty of places to park, and there are also often places for a couple of cars near the information board at the beginning of trails.)
The grading in this guide is only an indicator; bad weather, poor visibility and other factors can make any walk more challenging and even dangerous.
Grade 1: easy and/or short walk. Trail is without any significant ascent/descent. Waymarked route.
Grade 2: moderate, medium length or longer walk but mostly on easy terrain.
Grade 3: long walk and/or difficult terrain, or challenging route-finding.
The times provided – both for the walks themselves and between landmarks – are only an approximate indication. You should always allow extra time. The walk times do not take account of longer breaks for picnics or visiting a monument, castle or church.
The times and distances given in the route information boxes and route summary table are from the start to the finish of the walk. On there-and-back walks, the time is for the whole walk. On linear routes where the finish is different from the start, you will have to either arrange onward transport or retrace your steps to the start, in which case you would need to factor in additional walking time.
When planning a walk it is advisable to use Open Street Map (www.openstreetmap.org), Google Maps (www.maps.google.com) or a tourist map (available from tourist offices) to help locate the start-point. Access to the beginning of the trails is described in as much detail as possible. To help identify the exact spot, GPS coordinates are also given. These are especially useful in Northern Cyprus where the access is often difficult to describe, as roads are not numbered and the available maps don’t show street names in villages. Furthermore, many trails start from or end at a remote place or outside a village.
Where there is water available on the route it is noted in the walk description, but you should never rely on it entirely as the tap or fountain might not be working at the picnic site when you get there. Occasionally there are warning signs – often only in Greek – that the water is non-potable (Μη Ποσιμο Νερο/ΜΗ ΠΟΣΙΜΟ ΝΕΡΟ). Always carry enough drinking water for your day.
Always try and check the visiting hours of churches given in this book as they can change from year to year.
In this guide, the spelling of place names in walk descriptions matches the spelling used on the maps in the guide, rather than what might be
