Agritourism in Cyprus - what does it mean? Well, an opportunity to experience the Cyprus countryside with its charming villages, cosy taverns, local crafts and family-run vineyards.
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Agritourism in Cyprus
Cyprus has made a conscious effort to make tourism sustainable and involve local people in rural areas. This includes changing laws to allow tourists to stay on small farms and vineyards, and allowing farmers to sell home-made Cypriot delicacies. Work has also been done to digitise rural experiences.
We travelled around for just under a week, on a press trip with a bunch of other travel writers, and discovered the beautiful and charming countryside. Here are our top tips for rural Cyprus!
1. Discover rural villages
Cyprus is of course not only tourist resorts by the sea, but there are also plenty of rural villages worth visiting. We visited Arsos, which is a small and quiet village, and Omodos, which is a bit busier and more touristy. Of course, there are many more villages to discover in addition to these. You will find a full list on the Cyprus Tourist Board website.
Village of Arsos
Located in the district of Limassol, the picturesque little village of Arsos offers winding and charming little alleys. There are also several churches, a vineyard and a small café, which feels genuine rather than touristy. When we arrived here, the village felt slightly dormant, but every year at the end of September, the village comes alive with a lively and well-attended grape festival to celebrate the year's harvest.
During our visit, we met former soldier and national hero Nikos, who played an important role during the period when Cyprus was fighting for independence. We were invited to the home of the lively 89-year-old, who showed us old photos and offered us home-made zivania, a Cypriot spirit. What a wonderful meeting!
Village of Omodos
The next village we visited is called Omodos, and turned out to be a bit more lively. This village is also in the district of Limassol and is famous for its wine, ziviana liquor, bread and lace cloths. There are also several attractions here, including an old wine press and the Timios Stavros (Holy Cross) Monastery.
Omodos also has plenty of restaurants with nice outdoor seating and shops where you can buy clothes, jewellery, lace cloths and Cypriot delicacies such as nuts, bread, jams and oils.
2. Learn about local crafts
Many villages in the Cypriot countryside have a long history of crafts such as silversmithing, woodcarving, ceramics, mosaics, embroidery and weaving. If you want to see how it's done, or even try it yourself, you can take part in one of the many workshops organised free of charge. You can find all workshops on this page and in December the page will be filled with workshops for 2023.
3. eat in a rural tavern
One of the greatest experiences in Cyprus is enjoying all the amazing food. Meze (small dishes) are common, where you can indulge in things like Greek salad, olives, halloumi and various meat dishes. These dishes are of course also served in holiday resorts, but in a taverna in the countryside, both the environment and the flavours can offer an extra authentic feel.
Mousikos in the village of Sotira
One evening we had dinner at the Mousikos restaurant in the village of Sotira, not far from Ayia Napa. This turned out to be a busy and lively restaurant, full of Cypriot families. Here we ate meze, with really lovely flavours. Among other things, we got to try fresh halloumi (small picture to the left), which is a softer and incredibly tasty version of the popular cheese.
Tochni Tavern
We also had an incredibly good lunch at the Tochni Tavern, at the Cyprus Villages agricultural resort in the village of Tochni, in southern Cyprus. Here we were served lots of tasty snacks, including aubergine, vegetarian balls, fried cheese rolls and courgettes.
4. take part in a food workshop
Food plays an important role in Cyprus and in the countryside you'll find plenty of farms baking bread, producing olive oil or keeping bees. If you want to see how the craft is done, and perhaps try it yourself, you can look up a workshop that fits your calendar. We had the chance to attend some workshops ourselves.
Restaurant Mylos in the village of Gialia
Restaurant Mylos is located in the village of Gialia in western Cyprus. Here we got to see both the baking of bread and the making of shoushoukos (sweets made from grape juice). The bread was baked in an outdoor oven with a burning fire and tasted like divine.
Shoushoukos are made from grape juice mixed with flour. Nuts are then threaded onto strings and the strings are dropped several times into the batter. The result is a sweet, chewy snack that doesn't taste too bad.
Tochni Tavern
At the Tochni Tavern in the village of Tochni, where we also had lunch, we attended a workshop on making bourekia. This dessert is made from dough filled with cheese and then deep-fried. Very good with the coffee we thought!
5. Visit a vineyard
Cyprus has a long history as a wine country and produces wine from a wide variety of grapes - both grapes specific to Cyprus and grapes that are common around Europe. In fact, wine is such a big deal in Cyprus that they have developed seven different grapevine.
There are many different wineries and we visited the Vasilikon Winery on the western part of the island. This is a family business and one of the largest wine producers in Cyprus, producing more than half a million bottles a year.
We were shown around the wine cellar and got to try a few different wines - one white and several reds. Good and interesting! We also learnt that one or more of these wines will come to Systembolaget in Sweden. It is a bit unclear when, but it may be worth keeping an eye out!
6. Living in the Cyprus countryside
One way to really experience agritourism in Cyprus is to stay overnight in a Cypriot village. To find accommodation, you can search for example Love Cyprus website.
Filokypros Character Houses
We stayed one night at Filokypros Character Houses (Eveleos Country House) in the village of Tochni. This small village is super cosy, as are the winding alleys leading up to the property, where you will also find a small pool and a nice view.
In this place you live in a simple apartment with a kitchen, and it's like stepping into a home. When we got in, a letter with our names on it was waiting for us, which added to the feeling of 'home'. What was in the letter? A few welcoming lines, and a password for WiFi.
Cyprus Villages
In the village of Tochni you can also choose to stay in Cyprus Villages, which are located on a hill just above the Filokypros Character Houses. We had a fantastic lunch here at the Tochni Tavern and enjoyed the sun on the sunbeds around the pool.
We also got to peek into one of the hotel rooms, and must say that it felt very cosy. The place also organises many different activities, such as horse riding, yoga and cooking classes.
7. Experience the Christmas villages of Cyprus
Last but not least, we want to recommend the Christmas villages of Cyprus. In Cyprus you go all in when it comes to Christmas celebrations, and if you're visiting the island at Christmas time, you won't want to miss out on visiting one of the so called "the Christmas villages". We visited the village of Deryneia, just as it was being inaugurated as a Christmas village, and we were treated to an extra luxurious entrance ...
At the opening ceremony, crowds gathered around the town's Christmas tree, where speeches were made. Afterwards, people could stroll around all kinds of market stalls or let their children meet Santa Claus.
In a separate area, wine and various local dishes were served. The atmosphere was great in the village and we can definitely recommend a visit to a "Christmas village"!
More to see and do in rural Cyprus
There is of course more to do in rural Cyprus. For example, you can experience nature by hiking, cycling or climbing. There are also many festivals to take part in. If you get tired of the countryside, you can visit popular resorts such as Ayia Napa, Pafos or Limassol. In addition, you can check out attractions such as Kourion or Aphrodite's rock.
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bmlarstravellingblog says:
What a lovely post that really shows that there is so much to experience as long as you get out of the tourist centres.
The pictures of all the good food were really tempting, almost so we can smell the flavours. What I really wanted most was a REAL Greek salad with sun-ripened vegetables....
29 November 2022 - 16:59
Helena says:
Yes, although tourist resorts are lovely in their own way, it is fun to see the more genuine parts of a country. And the food in Cyprus can really be amazing! We got Greek salad for every meal, and we really agree that the vegetables are something special here in the Mediterranean! 🙂
30 November 2022 - 7:19
BP says:
A lovely post about the Cyprus countryside. Very new and interesting there. Liked the picture of the 89-year-old national hero. He is probably a living example that you can get old even if you smoke;-)
I laughed when I saw the placement of the beds in the first picture. How do you get in/up on the beds. Compact living is all right, but...;-)
29 November 2022 - 19:18
Helena says:
Absolutely true! Smoking reduces the odds, but everyone has different conditions. Nikos constantly had a cigarette in his hand so it would have been impossible to get a photo without it 😉.
And the bed, haha, when I look at the picture I understand exactly what you mean! But it was excellent to enter from the side actually, there was a little more space than it looks like 😉.
30 November 2022 - 7:21
Lena+in+Wales+and+Spain says:
Cosy places in Cyprus.
Just wondering how genuine they really are? Most places that have something to show want to show them and the tourists come, which is not a bad thing. They also have to live and tourism provides income. Very unusual today with nice places where there are no tourists.
Take care!
30 November 2022 - 11:12
Helena says:
The word genuine may be defined in different ways, but we experienced the Cypriot countryside as very genuine in many ways. The project of welcoming tourists to workshops on farms and the like is completely new (after the pandemic) and it is the Cypriot state that helped the farms to showcase themselves and post workshops on a website. The project exists all over the island. It really felt like coming to genuine farms, but the workshops are organised for tourists, if that's what you mean?
30 November 2022 - 11:29
Lena - good for the soul says:
What a lovely post! Cyprus is certainly not a destination I think of in that way. Now I will probably have to think again. You have really succeeded in your mission on the press trip 😉.
Hug Lena
03 January 2023 - 10:31