The Cyprus tourism authority publishes signposted cycling routes across the island. The Famagusta region (the eastern corner, where Protaras and Ayia Napa are) has eight of them, and every single one starts in or runs through Paralimni.
That is a strange fact about a region that has no cycling industry to speak of, and almost nobody writes about it. So here they are, with the distances as published, and an honest note about what the official listing does and does not tell you.
The eight routes
Distances are the official published figures. They are listed in ascending order, which is roughly also ascending order of commitment.
- Konnos – Cape Greco: 29.8 km. The short one, and the scenic one. The headland, the sea caves and the clifftops, all within a morning of either resort.
- Paralimni – Protaras, via Ayia Napa: 43.3 km. The classic loop of this corner: both resorts, the coast between them, and the town behind.
- Paralimni – Kavos: 46.4 km. A similar commitment on a different line.
- Paralimni – Achna, via Liopetri: 57.3 km. Inland, through the red-soil villages, out to the reservoir. This is the one that shows you the farming Cyprus rather than the resort one.
- Paralimni – Konnos, via Ayia Napa: 60.2 km. The longer coastal option, taking in the headland properly.
- Paralimni – Larnaca: 100.6 km. The first of the long ones, running west along the coast to the next city.
- Paralimni – Achna, via Larnaca: 110.6 km. A big day linking the coast and the interior.
- Paralimni – Kalo Chorio: 127.8 km. The longest published route in the region, and a full day for most riders.
All eight are listed as suitable for road or mountain bikes, which in practice means the surface is paved or good enough that either works rather than that both are equally enjoyable. On the longer ones a road bike is the sensible choice.
And the Tour of Deryneia
Separately from those eight, there is a signposted long route through this region called the Tour of Deryneia. The official distance is 93.6 kilometres. It starts at Larnaca Tourist Beach and runs east through Dhekelia, Ormideia, Xylofagou and Liopetri to Ayia Napa, round Cape Greco to Protaras, then Agia Triada, Paralimni and Deryneia, and back through the red-soil villages of Frenaros, Achna and Xylotymvou.
The official grading calls it quite an easy course on good paved road throughout, and recommends a road bike with a reasonable spread of gears. That grading is about gradient rather than distance: ninety-odd kilometres is still a day out.
One thing worth knowing if you look this up yourself: several aggregator sites and the Google snippet give this route as 85 km. The official page says 93.6. We have used the official figure, and the discrepancy is a decent argument for checking route numbers at source rather than repeating them.
What the official listings do not tell you
This is the important part and it is why this page exists rather than a link to a government table.
The published information for these routes is a name and a distance. There is no official elevation profile, no surface breakdown and no turn-by-turn description for the eight. We are not going to invent any of it. A route description that is confidently wrong is worse than a general one, because you find out in the middle of the ride.
So treat the list above as what it is: eight officially recognised, signposted rides of known length, which is a real starting point and not a route sheet. Take a map or a computer, and expect to make decisions on the road.
Which one to actually ride
If you are here for a week and want to ride some of these rather than all of them, the useful groupings are:
- First day, or an easy day: Konnos – Cape Greco. Short, scenic, and it introduces the area.
- The one to do if you only do one: Paralimni – Protaras via Ayia Napa. It covers what this corner of the island is actually like.
- To see the real Cyprus: Paralimni – Achna via Liopetri. The farming villages and the reservoir, and almost no traffic.
- A proper long day: Paralimni – Larnaca. Bear in mind that a point-to-point needs a plan for getting back.
The character of each area (the coast, the villages, the reservoir) is described in more detail in the routes around Protaras and Ayia Napa, which is worth reading alongside this list.
Practical notes for any of them
- The wind matters more than the profile on anything coastal. On an out-and-back, take the headwind first.
- Start early, in every season and for different reasons: heat in summer, traffic in spring and autumn.
- Traffic drives on the left. The inland routes are the gentler place to get used to that.
- Carry more water than the distance suggests. The longer inland routes have real gaps between shops.
- The motorways are not an option. Cycling on them is illegal, and a phone routing you between towns may not know that.
The full picture on road conditions and rules is in riding safely on Cypriot roads.
Riding them on a hire bike
Every one of these routes starts in or runs through Paralimni, which is where the shop in Paralimni is, so the shortest version of this is to collect a bike and ride out of the door. Our bike rental in Cyprus also covers Protaras, Ayia Napa and Larnaca, and Larnaca is worth noting because it is one end of two of the longer routes: a one-way ride with the bike collected at the other end is a practical way to do them.
If you would rather have somebody who rides these roads year-round decide which one suits the day’s wind and your legs, that is what our guided cycling tours are. And if you are weighing up the east coast against the west for a trip, the fact that all eight of these are here is part of the argument. The rest of it is in where to base yourself.
Are the routes signposted?
They are published as official routes by the tourism authority, which is not the same as a guarantee that every junction is marked and that the signs are all still there. Treat the signage as a helpful supplement rather than as navigation, and carry a map or a computer.
Are they suitable for a road bike?
The official listing gives all eight as road or mountain bike routes, and the Tour of Deryneia is explicitly a road-bike route on good paved surface throughout. On the longer distances a road bike is clearly the right tool. On the shorter inland ones either works, and wider tyres are more comfortable on the agricultural roads.
Can I ride the longer routes as a point-to-point?
Yes, and the two Larnaca routes are the obvious candidates, but plan the return before you set off rather than after. A bike delivered at one end and collected at the other is the tidy version; get in touch and it can usually be arranged.