traveldk.com

This pleasant café-bar has tables outside in a shady garden, and serves good coffee, sandwiches, snacks and pastries.

Start the day in Ktima, or upper Pafos, with a visit to the Covered Market (see Covered Market, Ktima Pafos), where you’ll find lace, embroidery, ceramics and leather goods on sale and an array of open-air stalls selling everything the Cypriot housewife could wish for, from kebab skewers to fresh fruit and vegetables. From here, walk up to the town’s only relic of its Ottoman past, the Cami Kebir (Grand Mosque), standing desolate and padlocked in the heart of Ktima’s oldest quarter.

A stroll back along Makariou, Ktima’s main street, takes you through the Central Park with its fountains and cafés to the unassuming Ethnographical Museum and, within sight of it, the much more imposing Byzantine Museum, guarded by a bust of Archbishop Makarios. The highlight of its collection is the icon of Agia Marina, dating from the 8th century AD – one of the oldest in the world.

To avoid a long, hot walk, return to the taxi stand on the town’s main square, close to the corner of Makariou and Evagora Pallikaridi streets, and take a five-minute ride to view the Archaeological Museum’s collection, which spans the millennia between the Bronze Age and the Byzantine era. Then, having whetted your appetite for ancient arcana, take another cab to Kato Pafos (see Kato Pafos Archaeological Park) to see the preserved mosaics of this Roman villa complex.

Continue the Roman theme with lunch at the Roman Restaurant (see Roman Restaurant, Pafos).

A natural amphitheatre of white limestone cliffs conceals this rugged stretch of shoreline from the south coast highway. The pebbles make it better suited for a quick dip before lunch than a full day’s sunbathing.

Perched above a tiny fishing harbour, this delightful restaurant serves fish, naturally, as well as excellent meze and kebabs.

The Akamas Peninsula is a beachcomber’s heaven. A four-wheel drive vehicle is needed to reach this rugged spine of hills, covered with pine and juniper trees, but it’s worth the effort. Along its south shore are southern Cyprus’s only empty beaches, while from its western-most tip are fine coastal views. There’s excellent snorkelling off its rocky shores, while divers favour the offshore islets, such as St George’s Island (see St George’s Island). For something less energetic, boat trips are possible from Pafos and Lakki (see Akamas Peninsula).

The peninsula’s salt lake is a refuge in winter for bright pink flamingoes and other migrant birds.

This green oasis, with an aviary and flock of peacocks, makes a pleasant change from busy Limassol.