Rides out of Limassol are simply arranged: a car with a driver for half a day or a full one, and the route is assembled around you. The format follows from geography — public transport between the Troodos villages runs rarely, while the distances are short: fifteen minutes to Kourion, twenty to Kolossi, under an hour to Omodos. On such a grid one day covers what would take three by bus.

There are two versions. The first is a taxi without a guide: the driver takes you along an agreed list of stops, waits and explains the way but gives no commentary; it costs less and suits those who read up themselves. The second is a car with a guide, who tells you along the way what the ruins by the road are and why the castle is called Kolossi. Half a day usually covers Kourion and Kolossi; a full day adds mountain villages, a monastery and a winery.

Practical notes. The price is per car rather than per person, so four people work out noticeably cheaper each. The mountain road is all hairpins: anyone prone to motion sickness should sit in front. It is ten to fifteen degrees cooler up top, and a jumper is useful even in July. If a winery is on the programme, the version with a driver is the only sensible one.