Troodos villages in a single day

Illustration of pine-covered ridges and a small stone village — The ridges of Troodos rise to almost two thousand metres; the villages cling to the slopes below.

Start / finishLimassol
Drivingroughly 3½–4 hours in total
Best monthsApril–June, October–November
Bringa jacket, even in summer

The Troodos mountains are close enough to the south coast that a day trip is easy to plan, and twisty enough that it is easy to plan too much. The loop below picks three villages with very different characters and leaves time to actually sit down in each. Leave Limassol by eight and you will be back for dinner.

Omodos: the wine village

Take the B8 north out of Limassol and turn west towards the wine villages; Omodos is about forty minutes away. The village spreads around a large cobbled square in front of the Timios Stavros monastery. Wander the lanes behind it for the old communal wine press, small workshops selling lace and the local arkatena rusks, and a choice of wineries offering tastings of the indigenous Xynisteri and Maratheftiko grapes.

There is a large free car park at the entrance to the village. Do not try to drive into the centre; the lanes are steep, narrow and partly pedestrian.

Platres and the Caledonia trail

From Omodos the road climbs through vineyards and then pine forest to Pano Platres, the old hill resort with stone hotels from the British period. It is a good place for coffee and a short walk. The Caledonia nature trail starts a few kilometres above the village and follows a stream through the forest to the Caledonia waterfall; walking the full trail one way takes around an hour and a half, but the lower section to the falls and back is much shorter.

Temperature. Platres sits at around 1,100 metres and Troodos Square at roughly 1,700. Expect it to be ten degrees cooler than the coast, and genuinely cold from December to March, when Mount Olympos often has snow.

Troodos Square

A short climb further brings you to Troodos Square, a cluster of cafés, souvenir stalls and trailheads just below the summit of Mount Olympos. It is not beautiful, but it is a useful stop for the toilets, a quick lunch and the view. If you have the energy, the Artemis trail circles the summit in about two to three hours through old black pines.

Kakopetria and Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis

Drop down the northern side of the mountains to Kakopetria in the Solea valley. The old quarter is a protected maze of stone and timber houses with wooden balconies leaning over the river. Park in the municipal car park at the edge of the old village and walk in; afternoon light here is lovely.

Just outside the village is Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis, one of the painted Byzantine churches of Troodos on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The steep wooden roof hides frescoes spanning several centuries. Opening hours are limited and change with the season, so check before you go and treat it as a bonus rather than the point of the day.

Practical notes

Fill the tank before leaving the coast. Petrol stations in the mountains are few and some close early.
The roads are good but slow. Distances that look like twenty minutes on a map often take forty.
Most cafés and tavernas take cards, but the smaller stalls and church donation boxes do not.
Return to Limassol via the B9 and the Nicosia–Limassol motorway, or retrace the B8 if you want the mountain road again.

With an extra day, it is worth adding Kalopanagiotis and Pedoulas in the Marathasa valley, both with their own painted churches and far fewer visitors than the villages above.

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