Travelling in Cyprus

The president of Hostelling International Slovenia, Igor Jurišič, and I have decided to first explore the Greek part of Cyprus and then the Turkish part. We opted for a rented car because that way you can visit even the remotest places and the island’s most interesting features. Our journey took us past numerous remnants of prehistorical sites, and it even included an essential stop at a donkey farm. The Cyprus donkey is now regarded as the island’s easily-recognised symbol and we could see for ourselves at the farm how important the animal is for the island. We could also see the farm had three different breeds of this donkey. These can easily be distinguished by the colour and length of their coat.

Since Cyprus isn’t only synonymous with lying on the beach, but also offers plenty of other various ways to spend your free time, we drove to the island’s highest peak, Mount Olympus, which lies in the Troodos mountain range. Did you know you could also go skiing in Cyprus? Below the island’s tallest mountain that reaches an altitude of 2,000 metres, one can find a ski resort with four ski runs. Apart from skiing, the Troodos Mountains are also great for those who love mountain biking and hiking. The mountains are often covered in snow in the winter season.

Visiting wine villages and wine tastings

If you’re a wine connoisseur, you should drive to at least one of the four picturesque wine villages that are located at the foothills of the mountains, where you can visit one of the wine cellars. The friendly locals will cheerfully welcome you and even try to sell you a homemade wood item while walking through the narrow streets. The island’s largest wine region stretches in the northern part of the second largest city, that is Limassol, which is the gateway if you want to explore the largest wine region in the Greek part of Cyprus. A place worth visiting is also the Wine Museum, which houses amphoras of various sizes that were used for storing wine. Visitors can also watch a film about the history of winemaking and the museum’s basement offers wine tastings of Cyprus wines.

The birthplace of the Greek goddess Aphrodite

One the western coast, nearby Paphos, is the most popular tourist spot in the Greek part of Cyprus and a place where Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, is said to have been born. According to Greek mythology, she is said to have been born in that place from seafoam. She’s now depicted as an adult woman, just as she is said to have emerged from the sea as a virgin or, in other words, to have emerged from seafoam in her adult form. She’s also the goddess of lust and fertility. The legend says that if you swim around Aphrodite’s rock, you’ll have a fertile life.

Some say that if you swim around the rock three times, you’ll find your true love, while others say that swimming around the rock will bring you good fortune. The locale is now the birthplace of Aphrodite and the most famous attraction in Cyprus, and it’s visited by masses of tourists who swim around Aphrodite’s rock. If you’ve got a smartphone with you, you can upload an app and take a selfie with the goddess of love and beauty.

Paphos, one of the most beautiful historical cities in Cyprus

It was one of the most important centres of the island’s ancient kingdoms and a city that’s separated into two parts, one being the old Paphos, which is a commercial centre, and the other the new Paphos, which is situated on the coast and prides itself on beautiful beaches, making it the island’s most important destination.

We visited the archaeological park, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980. UNESCO’s primary aim was to preserve and protect the archaeological heritage and provide visitors with information about the site. The old part of Paphos encompasses the said archaeological park, which consists of the city and its monuments dating from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages, while most of the remnants date back to the Roman period.

Numerous beautiful mosaics and other important monuments, such as the House of Dionysus, are also worth a visit. When Paphos became the capital of Cyprus, the House of Dionysus was the residence of Roman governors. It’s worth taking at least a couple of hours for the entire archaeological park, due to its sheer size.

During the coronavirus pandemic, there were considerably fewer visitors in Cyprus than usual, so exploring the Greek part of the island was a much more genuine experience.