Konnos Nature Trail (Cape Greco)
Take a wander through the ancient sea caves situated on Cyprus’ eastern coast, found along the Cape Greco (Cavo Greco) trail, which leads you through the caves before ultimately reaching the highest point of the cape that overlooks the sprawling Mediterranean Sea.
The trail, located a few kilometres away from the town centres of Ayia Napa and Protaras, is easily accessible by car or by the local bus route that runs a circular line from Paralimni and Ayia Napa.
While hiking along the 4.8 kilometre trail, you will have the chance to take in stunning views of the Mediterranean while you duck into small sea caves and to observe an array of fauna, such as foxes, the Cyprus warblers, and hares.
The landscape is lush with endemic plant species including the three-coloured chamomile plant, wild garlic and the Cyprus golden drop.
For the first two kilometres, the trail winds along the Konnos beaches, famous for their turquoise waters, and eventually takes an uphill turn towards the church of Ayioi Anargyroi which is located on a steep rock face above a sea cave.
As you continue along the trail, you will reach the Kamara tou Koraka, a natural rock bridge.
The trail then heads uphill towards the ruins of Aphrodite’s temple and a small pine forest.
The estimated time to complete the trail is approximately two hours; it is rated as an easy trail.
MyCyprusTravel Tip
Oceanic Aquarium (www.protarasaquarium.com)
Visit the Penguin House, one of the most wondrous sites in our Aquarium. You can get close to our Humboldt Penguin friends for the first time ever in the Mediterranean. The penguins are kept in surroundings suited for them.
In Protaras Ocean Aquarium you can also admire our wide range of exotic birds that hail from many different places across the globe. Take a walk in our gardens, a beautiful 12,500m2 were you could freely walk among tropical plant-life, pond filled with turtles, swamps with crocodiles.
Protaras Ocean Aquarium is a must-see, and one of the best things to do in Cyprus. A trip to the Protaras Ocean Aquarium is fantastic fun for kids, families.
Ayia Napa Waterworld Waterpark (www.waterworldwaterpark.com)
This year Waterworld Themed Waterpark in Ayia Napa is set to take Cyprus by storm once again as it celebrates its 22th Anniversary. Numerous world-wide awards and accolades have kept this unique waterpark in the headlines with its ancient Greek setting and innovative rides and relaxing Lazy river.
Waterworld Greek themed waterpark in Ayia Napa Cyprus is no newcomer to the international stage, having received 29 International awards of excellence for marketing and Innovation from WWA – World Waterpark Association and IAAPA – International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions in the U.S. The prestigious awards have been presented to Waterworld annually since first opening its doors in 1996. More recently, Waterworld Ayia Napa has also won the Trip Advisor Travellers’ Choice Attractions Award 2014 and this year again The Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence 2015.
The Greek mythological setting has been carefully planned over the years and the whole park is resplendent with Greek columns, fountains, plazas and statues of all the Greek Gods.
Waterworld Ayia Napa received further world wide acclaim when it was named and featured by CNN as one of the world’s top 12 waterparks. It presented Waterworld’s ‘Fall of Icarus’, the world’s first Boomerango ride and the’ Drop to Atlantis’ three person raft ride with the huge Greek temple facade. These rides were designed, built and themed exclusively for Waterworld Ayia Napa by leading Canadian manufactures.
Last year Napa Rocks hosted Superstars Chris Brown, A.M. Sniper, Wiley and Tim Westwood and this year’s line up will be even more impressive with the Waterworld Titan stage, fit for the Gods! To plan your trip to Waterworld Waterpark Ayia Napa. Visit: www.waterworldwaterpark.com or Telephone 23724444 or 80001444 ;
Traditional Culture at Deryneia Folk Art Museum
Venturing out of the city, Derynia is a large village near the city of Famagusta offering a calm location near the seaside. Enriching its cultural scene, it is home to the Deryneia Folk Art Museum. Canopied beds, cookery utensils of days of old, and black and white images of times when Cypriot society centred on reaping what could be sown from the earth, all form part of the museum’s collection.
The museum housed in a traditional home, donated by Varnavas and Margarita Hadjiliasi to the municipality in memory of their children, offers peeks into daily life in Cyprus throughout the ages.
Located opposite the museum, is the Open Air Traditional Folk Art Museum, which further showcases traditional professions in its exhibition rooms, including that of furniture and shoe making, carpentry, tailoring, blacksmithing, building, barberry, sculpting, fishering and farming, among others.
Operating all year round expect on public holidays for an entrance fee of €2 (groups €1). The Museum has disabled access and is accessible to wheelchairs.
Avgorou Ethnographic Museum: A Cultural Pitstop
Detailed lacework, hand-carved wooden furniture and colourful traditional costumes are all on display behind the sky-blue doors of the aristocratic Koutras House in Avgorou within the Famagusta district. With a lot to do in this sun-kissed region, visiting the Avgorou Ethnographic Museum can be an interesting, cultural stop.
The two-storey home, which hosts the Avgorou Ethnographic Museum, was constructed in 1921 on the road leading to the golden sands of Famagusta. Koutras House was Adamos Koutras’s childhood home, and was bequeathed to his son Yiannis. The home eventually passed to the hands of the village, whose governance, together with the Pierides Foundation, restored this aristocratic house into a memorial to Cyprus’s local history.
Among its exhibits are rare nineteenth-century carved-wood furniture, costumes, silverware and pottery, a collection of paintings by self-taught Cypriot artists, and priceless traditional textiles and embroideries of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as many other traditional utensils and tools.
The Farm House
Explore Cyprus’ rural life and traditional craftswork at The Farm House, located in the heart of Ayia Napa, in the Monastery Square.
Nostalgic for a more simplistic lifestyle like in the olden days of the village, the museum was created to showcase these traditions and the way of lifestyle that is nearly lost today. Visitors gain an insight into the life of the Cypriot farmer and his special relationship with the land which is evident even in the arrangement of the house as it serves every need a farmer may have.
It was typical for the houses to be built of mud-bricks with a big yard and high fence, single-storey and sometimes two-storey with their main features being the arches and the large veranda at the front. The Farm House in Ayia Napa stays close to tradition and hosts this layout so visitors can see past architecture.
Discover the activities that farmers and their wives occupied themselves with and explore which ones are still carried out today, mostly in the villages.
Summer opening hours : 09:00 – 22:00.
In the winter, from November onwards, it’s only open upon telephone request.
Parko Paliatso – Ayia Napa ( www.parkopaliatsocy.com)
Parko Paliatso Luna park is a family owned funfair in the heart of Ayia Napa, on Nissi Avenue. It opened in 1999 and today covers an area of 25,000 square metres with more than 25 attractions. For smaller children there is a large indoor play area and plenty of rides to enjoy, such as bumper boats, tea-cups, trampolines and carousels.
For older ones there also exciting rides such as Blizzard, Viking pirate ship and a rodeo bull. Traditional faiground entertainments such as rifle shoorting and darts can also be found. Parko Palliatso is also home to the adrenalin ride Sling Shot which shoots riders 80m into the air in 2 seconds and it’s illuminated prongs can be seen from all over town.
There is plenty of parking available plus two cafeterias for dining and refreshments.
