Paphos

Paphos district holds the island's widest range of shade: nine trails, from Aphrodite's Rock in full coastal sun to the shadiest river valley in Cyprus. There is no single Paphos landscape — there is a coastline, a set of gentle hill loops around Minthis, and two green valleys hidden behind them.

The lay of the land

Start with the extremes. Platy Valley follows a permanent stream through plane and alder for 7.6 km and collects 0.2 hours of direct sun across an entire midsummer day — the lowest figure of any trail we cover. At the other end, Petra tou Romiou walks 6.8 km of elevated coastal path above Aphrodite's Rock in twelve hours of open sun.

In between are the valley loops. Ezousa is an 8.2 km circuit from Episkopi along the river's west bank, past the ruins of the abandoned village of Moro Nero, a small chapel and an old water mill, through a Natura 2000 valley thick with oriental plane and alder. Anerades climbs a shaded gorge near Miliou, and Chouliatis makes a 4.9 km pine-forest circle with views back over the district. The hill loops around Minthis — Stavros tis Minthis, Arnies, Vouni — are open, rolling and short on shade.

When to go

The split runs straight through the district, so pick by trail rather than by season. The valleys work all year: Platy Valley, Anerades and Ezousa keep their canopy through August, and the running water keeps them green. The coast and the Minthis hills are cool-season walking — Petra tou Romiou takes twelve hours of sun, Vouni nearly as much, and neither has anywhere to shelter. Spring is the best all-round window: the streams are full, the gorges are at their greenest, and the wildflowers around Anerades are the reason to go in April.

Four to start with

• Petra tou Romiou — the coastal classic above Aphrodite's Rock, easy going and unmistakably Cypriot.
• Platy Valley — near-continuous shade along a permanent stream; the coolest walk on the island.
• Ezousa — river valley, abandoned village, water mill and chapel in one 8 km loop.
• Anerades — a shaded gorge near Miliou with several route options and exceptional spring flowers.

Practical notes

There are only two picnic sites in the district, but both have drinking water: Petra tou Romiou on the coast road and Timi near the airport. Elsewhere, carry what you need.

Ezousa starts from the Environmental Information Centre at Episkopi, which makes it the easiest trailhead to find; Anerades is reached from the B7 near Miliou and starts on a farm track that turns muddy after rain, so take shoes you don't mind. Platy Valley is a there-and-back unless you arrange a pickup at the far end — it runs one way along the valley floor rather than looping.