The village of Omodos, outside of Limassol, is your gateway to Cyprus’ wines, as the town features local wineries, a medieval wine press, and is one of the region’s Krassohoria, wine-producing villages.

Omodos has existed in the same location since the Frankish period and was originally called ‘Homodos’, originating from the Greek word odos, meaning street.

Despite its small size, Omodos has many interesting sights. Located within close proximity of one another are the cobbled square, old stone-built houses, local wineries, a medieval wine press and the monastery of Timios Stavros (Holy Cross), with its old icons and impressive woodcarvings. There is also a museum dedicated to the National Liberation Struggle, as well as a centre for the preservation of narrow-knit lacing, and an Icon Museum.

The village is also famous for its Zivania spirit, handmade narrow-knit lacing and arkatena bread, its quaint environs are perfect for agrotourism.

Every September 14, the village holds one of the biggest religious fairs on the island, dedicated to the Holy Cross. The celebration lasts for three days, and vendors gather in the beautiful square in front of the monastery to sell their wares. The square is also the scene of many other events during the summer and Easter.

Wine-lovers will enjoy local varieties during a visit to the village, including, Xynisteri (white) and Mavro (red), as well as some imported varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Mataro, Grenache and Syrah among a total of 23 different varieties.

There are a number of local wineries located near the village, including: Olympus Winery, Zenon Winery, Ktime Gerolemo, Linos Wines, and Marion Winery.

The wine-route itself passes through Limassol, Kolossi, Erimi (Cyprus Wine Museum), Kantou, Souni-Zanakia, Pano Kivides, Agios Amvrosios, Lofou, Vouni, Koilani, Pera Pedi, Mandria, Kato Platres, Omodos, Vasa, Malia, Arsos, Pachna, Anogyra and Avdimou.

After our tour of the Balkans, we were determined it should be possible to find and enjoy warmer weather, despite the fact that we were traveling in early December. We contemplated Israel and Jordan and did a fair amount of research before calling this plan off. A combination of travel budget and available time were our main concerns.

The two biggest airports in Cyprus are:

• Larnaca International Airport
• Paphos International Airport

Accommodation prices were higher than what we were comfortable with but mostly as we only had about a week on our calendar, we felt it was not enough time to really see this part of the world. Back to the drawing board. Cyprus had been on our radar a few times as a possible destination. An island sun destination with affordable flights from Europe.
We came up with a plan which had us landing in Larnaca in the southeast, then driving across the Island to Paphos, in the southwest, where we would stay put for five of our six nights in Cyprus. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at ver
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Belgrade to Cyprus Flight

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Ayia Napa Sea Caves

We have seen a fair share of sea cliffs on this leg of our travels and although it was refreshing to be by the Mediterranean Sea on this gorgeous day, the sea caves themselves perhaps did not impress us as much as the fact that we were in the sun and by the sea.
We drove back along the coast towards the town of Ayia Napa and stopped at a sandy beach near the Love Bridge for a bit of R & R before setting the GPS for Limassol.

One Night in Limassol

Limassol is a busy tourist hub along the south coast of Cyprus. Wanting to break up our drive to Paphos we picked a nice hotel with a sea view. The Harmony Bay Hotel was $63.00 for one night and included a breakfast buffet.
The room was nothing to write home about, nor did we have any issues. We arrived late afternoon just in time to enjoy the sun setting in the west over the sea while sipping a glass of budget red from the supermarket.
After a long travel day, we opted to partake in the evening dinner buffet at the hotel. The service was great and so was the food.
Stuffed and rich in new experiences we had an early night. The next day was already mapped out with a road trip through the Troodos Mountains to Paphos.

Limassol is a busy tourist hub along the south coast of Cyprus. Wanting to break up our drive to Paphos we picked a nice hotel with a sea view. The Harmony Bay Hotel was $63.00 for one night and included a breakfast buffet
The end 🙂

Also when road tripping in Cyprus, here are a couple more things to keep in mind.

• The Best Travel Checklist For Europe
• The Best Things To Do & See In Cape Greco
• Easy Vegan Lunch Ideas For Car Rides