Kyparisia mountain is situated in a village called Prastio just 30 minute drive from Limassol, the closest city. The peak is at about 690 meters above sea level and offers breathtaking views of the Germasogia Dam, the Limassol Marina and almost the full length of the Limassol coastline.

We would class this hike an easy to intermediate difficulty hike, you can take your dog and/or children as long as the can handle walking for a few hours. We did this hike twice, once at a fast pace and once at a slower pace, it is a total of about 8k and it would take you anything between 1:45 and 3 hours to complete depending on your stops to take pictures, your break once you get to the kiosk on the peak and the pace you’d like to walk at.

We suggest you take water and a snack to have once you get to the peak. Having a snack while sitting on the peak of a mountain looking down at what is one of the best views we have found in Limassol is next to none. The combination of the mountains, the dam and the sea is truly amazing.

First things first. How to get to the starting point. From Limassol take the A1 towards Nicosia until you get to the exit towards Pareklisia. Continue straight for about 12km and you will see a left turning towards Prastio village. From there keep going straight for 1km and you will see a sign for the Kyparissia Peak Natural Trail. At this point depending on your car you can keep going for 2km which turns into a dirt road or you can park up and add 2km to the existing 8km of this natural trail. We chose to drive down to the starting which is not clearly signed but you will see a fork in the road and you need to start walking up the right fork which is an uphill dirt road. At this point I should mention this trail can be done by a decent 4×4 vehicle as well but only from one side of the loop.

The beginning of this trail is a dirt road, walking uphill with not the best of views but a walk in nature is always nice and if you keep going, believe me, you will be rewarded with some of the best views in Limassol. The dirt road will then be turned into a nice walking bath a bit down hill as you’ll be going down one hill before you the start the ascent up to Kyparissia Peak.

Once you are on the walking path you will notice on the right and left clearly signed names of shrubs, trees and plants that grow on the mountain. I would suggest noting some of them down and once you get back home do a little research on some of these. While you keep walking on the footpath you will get to a point where you’ll cross what looks like a small dry river and you’ll continue left and start an ascent towards the peak. The next point may be a bit confusing. There is a sign saying to go straight for 5km to get to Foinikarka village, ignore your instincts and the sign and look to the right, the footpath continues and this is where the views will start to take your breath away. The path takes you along the side of the mountain towards the peak and I urge you to take your time, look to the left and enjoy the views Limassol and the Germasogia Dam.

Before you get to the peak there is a point where the path may take you to the left or right. There is a sign that is not very clear unless you pay attention. Going to the left will skip the peak and continue round the loop and down back to the start. Going right is the holy grail, the peak of this amazing mountain which then connects back to the path down to the beginning.

Moving on you will be on another dirt road which could be used by a 4×4 vehicle to get to the peak. You will eventually end up at the cross road where the footpath started at which point you will take a left to make your way back to the point where you started.

A lot of people use hikes as a means of relaxing with music playing which is a perfectly good way of doing it, we would suggest enjoying the natural sounds that are available to you on this beautiful hike. There are a plethora of birds sounds that will make this hike very enjoyable.