Day Trips from Paphos by Car: Troodos, Coral Bay and the Baths of Aphrodite
Three real days out of the west of Cyprus, with the distances, the parking and the order to drive them.
Same as pickup
Three days out of Paphos, and the order to drive them
A week here does not need a car every day. It needs one on three of them. The west of Cyprus is spread out in a way the town is not: the coast runs north for twenty kilometres before the asphalt gives up at the Akamas, Polis sits over a hill that costs an hour rather than the half hour a map suggests, and Troodos is high enough to want a jumper in August. Driven in this order, each day is longer than the last. All of it happens on the left, which is covered by the page on driving on the left in Paphos.
Day one: Coral Bay and the coast north
Twelve kilometres of coast road, a swim, a fish lunch at Agios Georgios and a look at where the tarmac stops.
Day two: Polis, Latchi and the Baths
Forty kilometres up and over through vine country, then down to the north coast. An hour each way.
Day three: the Troodos loop
Ninety kilometres of mountain road to Kykkos, and wine villages on the way back.
The value table · Paphos
Every car, side by side.Measured, not sold.
The bars below are drawn to one shared scale, so the gap you see is the gap you pay. Switch the measure to rank the fleet on the day rate or on the full hire.
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Insurance available on every car · TPL · CDW · SCDW · Full CDW
Day one: twelve kilometres, then the tarmac runs out
The day to do on your first morning with the car. Short, signposted, and easy.
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1
Take the coast road out of Kato Paphos
Poseidonos runs into the Coral Bay road and stays in sight of the water. Twelve kilometres, twenty to twenty five minutes, longer in August through Chlorakas and Kissonerga.
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2
Park behind the beach before mid morning
Coral Bay has lots behind the sand and more room on the streets above. Both fill by eleven in summer: at nine you park at the beach, at noon you walk down.
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3
Carry on through Peyia to Agios Georgios
Eight kilometres further the road climbs through Peyia and drops to the headland: a small harbour, a church on the bluff, a free car park between them. Best lunch on the day.
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4
Look at the Akamas from the top of the track, then turn
The way to Lara Bay starts past the harbour and is dirt from there on, and standard rental insurance excludes unpaved roads. Six of the 140 cars here are genuine four-wheel-drives. The rest of that story sits on the Akamas and 4x4 page.
Day two: over the hill to Polis, Latchi and the Baths of Aphrodite
Forty kilometres, and the commonest mistake here is reading that as half an hour. An hour each way is the honest figure.
The road is most of the day
The B7 leaves Paphos climbing, levels out through the vineyards at Tsada and Stroumbi, then drops to the north coast in a long run of bends. Fuel is cheaper up here than on the seafront.
Polis first, Latchi second
Polis is the town: a square, tavernas, parking a street back from the centre. Latchi is the harbour a few kilometres west, with quay spaces gone by noon in August.
The Baths of Aphrodite, honestly
A small pool under a fig tree at the end of a shaded path, fifteen minutes to see. What earns the drive is the marked car park where the road stops, the Akamas trails that start from it, and the view across Chrysochou Bay.
Start back before the light goes
The road over the hill is unlit and the bends arrive quickly in the dark. Leave the coast at five in winter, six in summer.
12 km
from Kato Paphos to Coral Bay
40 km
north to the Baths of Aphrodite
1,952 m
Mount Olympus, the roof of Troodos
6 of 140
cars built to leave the tarmac
Day three: the Troodos loop, in four parts
The full day, and the one that goes wrong if you start at eleven. Troodos is ninety minutes to two hours away, and the descent is slower than the climb.
The first half hour repeats day two
You climb out of Paphos on the same B7 through Tsada and Stroumbi. At Stroumbi turn east for Polemi and Kannaviou, and the vines give way to pine. Fill the tank there: little sells fuel before Pedoulas.
Ninety kilometres, and the last twenty are slow
The wealthiest monastery on the island looks it, in mosaic and gold, with a large free car park below and a short walk up. Give it an hour.
Mount Olympus is 1,952 metres and you feel every one
From Kykkos the road runs east through Pedoulas to Troodos square, under the summit. The temperature falls as you climb, and that gap from the coast is what everyone underestimates.
Come home through the Krasochoria
The southern slope is wine country and Omodos is the village to stop in. Its centre is cobbled and closed to cars, so use the lots on the edge. Ninety minutes home from there.
What people say after driving these roads
“We did the coast on the Tuesday and the mountains on the Thursday, which turned out to be the right way round.”
“Left at seven for Kykkos and were back for dinner. We swapped drivers at Pedoulas because the bends do go on.”
“Forty kilometres to Polis is an hour, not half an hour. Nobody warned us and we missed the boat we booked.”
The three days side by side
Distances run from Kato Paphos. Times are at the wheel, there and back, with nothing added for lunch or a swim.
| Day out | Furthest point | Time at the wheel | Where to leave the car | Leave by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coral Bay and the coast | 12 km | About 1 hour | Lots behind the beach | Any time |
| Agios Georgios and the Akamas edge | 20 km | About 1 hour 20 | Free lot by the church | Before 11:00 |
| Polis, Latchi and the Baths | 40 km | About 2 hours | Marked lot where the road stops | 09:00 |
| Troodos loop: Kykkos and Omodos | 90 km | 4 to 5 hours | Kykkos lot, edge of Omodos | 08:00 |
| Petra tou Romiou, as a stop | 25 km | About 50 minutes | Signed lot, underpass to the beach | Late afternoon |
Petra tou Romiou, the rock on the B6 twenty five kilometres east, is a stop rather than a day. Take it going to or from the airport.
Pick the car before you pick the day
All three days are drivable in the smallest car Paphos Rides lists, the 18 to 28 EUR end of the market. The middle sits nearer 65 to 76. Put your dates in and see what is free.
Compare cars nowQuestions drivers ask before these days out
You can, but you will spend the day in the car. The Baths are 40 km north on the B7; Troodos is 90 km east and far higher. Doing both is about five hours at the wheel. Keep them a day apart.
No. Every road on all three days is sealed, and the smallest automatic in the listing will manage the lot, Troodos included. A four-wheel-drive only matters on the dirt track north of Agios Georgios, and 6 of the 140 cars here are built for it.
Coral Bay. It is 12 km and the road is simple, so you get used to being on the left before you meet a mountain bend. Polis second, Troodos third.
In the signed car park on the inland side of the B6, never on the verge. A pedestrian underpass runs from it beneath the road to the pebble beach. It is rarely full outside the middle of the day.
Eight in the morning, seven if Omodos is on the list. The loop is roughly 200 km with the climb and the descent, and you do not want that last stretch home in the dark and tired. In winter, snow above 1,500 metres can close the road over the top.