Things to do in Cyprus

Cyprus is small enough to cross in three hours and layered enough that you keep stopping. The Troodos mountains hold ten painted Byzantine churches under UNESCO protection, barn-roofed and unremarkable from outside; Kourion sits on a cliff above the sea with mosaics and a theatre still used for summer performances; and Paphos, where the Roman governors lived, has floor mosaics of Dionysus that were found by a farmer ploughing in 1962. Things to do in Cyprus divide fairly neatly between that history and the coast, and most visitors underestimate how quickly you can have both in one day.

The coast changes character as you go round it. Ayia Napa and Protaras have the sand and the water sports; Limassol has the marina, the wineries inland and the old carob warehouses turned into restaurants; Latchi in the northwest is the working harbour where boat trips to the Akamas peninsula and the Blue Lagoon leave from. Excursions in Cyprus tend to combine a stretch of coast with something else — a village lunch in Omodos, a jeep run through the Akamas gorges, a stop at the Baths of Aphrodite.

Season here is longer than most of the Mediterranean. Swimming runs from May into November, spring covers the hills in wildflowers and is the right time for the Troodos trails, and even in January the coast sits around 17°C while you can find snow at Mount Olympus. Booking tours in Cyprus a few days ahead is usually enough outside July and August — in high summer the boat trips and the Akamas jeep safaris fill first, and the earliest departures are the ones worth having.