• Distance 72 km
  • Elevation gain 770m
  • Difficulty
  • Epic rating

This is a relatively short, easy ride that takes you south east along a very good road called the B6.

The route hugs the coast, past the international airport, to Aphrodite’s rock and then to Pissouri village.

From here, this ride turns downhill to Pissouri Bay for a coffee stop and then comes back up a different, and better road, before returning to Paphos on the same B6.

All metrics in this article are approximate.

Highlights

After you cross under the A6, the road is very quiet as most of the traffic is on the parallel A6 rather than this B6. The B6 is also lovely and wide.

Other highlights include the view of Aphrodite’s Rock, the views of the sea and simply the quality of the tarmac.

Cyclist looking at Aphrodite's RockView back towards Aphrodite’s Rock
Cyclist riding to Pissouri Bay, CyprusFast sections along the B6 coast road
Switchback and road cyclist in CyprusRoad from Pissouri Village

Route notes

1. Paphos to Aphrodite’s rock: 0-23 km

This route starts along the avenue of large budget hotels on the Paphos sea front, turns inland to the dual carriageway called “Spyrou Kyprianov Avenue” (which itself is a wonderful dual carriageway for time trialling and for bike / run sessions for triathletes), then heads up inland to join the B6.

Do not take the extremely new and good-looking bike paths at the side of these roads because they have been designed with no entry or exit ramps by some serious chump (see photo below if you don’t believe us!).

Once on the B6, there will be some traffic for the airport, but most of the heavy traffic is on the newer upgraded A6 that largely runs parallel to this B6. [Note: one reader has mentioned that before the point the B6 crosses under the A6 he found the route unpleasant due to gravel, a very thin shoulder and aggressive driving. See comments here.]

Follow this road out past Kouklia and the posh Aphrodite Hills PGA golf / hotel complex and around the 23 km mark you will see a very large rock in the sea that apparently marks the birthplace of Aphrodite herself. It is understandably a little hard to get excited about a rock, but there will be plenty of tourists taking snaps!

Bike path near Paphos, CyprusYes, really, bike paths with no exit or entry ramps near Paphos!
Road signs around CyprusGreat road signage is a feature in Cyprus!
View to Aphrodite's rock with road bikes in foregroundView over Aphrodite’s Rock

2. Aphrodite’s rock to Pissouri Bay to Aphrodite’s rock: 23-49 km

A few kilometres after Aphrodite’s Rock, the road turns steadily upwards gaining around 150 m over the next four kilometres. This is an average gradient of circa 4% so is very manageable and the road conditions are very good.

As you enter Pissouri village there are a few restaurants and shops on the main road: go past these and take a “hard to see” second right that goes downhill, not the first right that goes uphill into the village.  The road condition has now got worse, but is perfectly fine to cycle on with a few switchbacks, so take your time.

The road passes a few farms and then starts to flatten out towards the bottom as you enter Pissouri Bay itself a little after 36 km into the ride. Within Pissouri Bay there are quite a few places for coffee on the main road, but we wanted to be by the sea so cycled across a car park to a café / restaurant called Captains Bay. The view from here over the beach and sun loungers was good, but the café itself wasn’t the best service we have ever had.

Once we had demolished some coffees, a glass of wine and a plate of chips, we then took the better road (Kiladon Road) out of the village heading directly north to the hill village of Pissouri.  This was around 200 m of climbing over 4 kilometres with the second part steeper into the village then the first part.

It is worth stopping just outside the “Two Friends Tavern” at the top of this climb to check out the views back from where you have just come and to get some air back in the lungs.  From the village it is a small and steep descent back to the B6 main road that takes you back to Aphrodite’s Rock, with a lovely fast straight 4 km descent towards the coast to enjoy.

Climb to Pissouri village, CyprusThe climb up to Pissouri Village is very manageable
Cyclist on hairpin in CyprusThe road from Pissouri Village down to Pissouri Bay is not in as good condition as the main roads

3. Aphrodite’s rock to Paphos: 49-72 km

This is a simple matter of retracing the route along the B6 road back to the hotel.

It is interesting to note how close the erosion of the limestone cliffs on the left hand side (sea side and the side you are now cycling) has come to this B6 road and it is probably one of the many reasons the newer A6 was built further inland.

Please note the number of signs that tell tourists to drive on the left, as well as a myriad of other road signs: they like good signage in Cyprus.

Café stops

We stopped at Captains Bay café / restaurant in Pissouri Bay as it was next to the sea and afforded good views.  Whilst pleasant, it was not the best of service but did seem to have the best location by far.

On the way back up to Pissouri Village we noticed a “tavern” that had spectacular views of the coast from its elevated position at the top of the climb and was also highly rated on TripAdvisor, but we did not have time to stop.

Captains Bay road bike ride coffee stop, Cyprus Captain’s Bay Cafe on the beach
Cyclist drinking wine, CyprusThe wine in Cyprus can be an “acquired” taste if you are more used to French wine!
Tavern in Pissouri Village, CyprusTwo Friends Tavern is at the top of the climb back into Pissouri Village looked to have good views

Accommodation

We chose the Aliathon Hotel in Paphos as it was good value for money, close to bike shops and close to the airport and coast.

There are full details of this and other accommodation options in our ultimate guide to cycling Cyprus.

Road bike Aliathlon hotel, CyprusHaagen-Dazs is part of the Aliathon Hotel complex

Tips

Read our Tips for cycling in Cyprus before you set out. Also bear in mind:

In Cyprus cycling is on the same side of the road as in UK: it is on the left and side and there are lots of signs warning you of this like the one below.

All road signs and distance markers in Cyprus use the metric system and a lot of the descents have a 50 km/h speed limit which is very easy to exceed on a bike.

The bike lanes around the towns are for mountain bikes, not for road bikes and they do not have entry or exit ramps so do not use them: bizarre!!

There are plenty of public water stations, cafes and restaurants are very willing to fill water bottles and the tap water is very drinkable.

There is a Haagen-Dazs ice cream shop at the front of the Aliathon hotel opposite the Athena Hotel complex when you get back: you deserve it.

Enjoyed our guide?

We’d love to hear from you – comment below!

Want more? Don’t miss our in-depth Cyprus guide (which includes more cycling routes, where to stay and when to go) and tips for riding in this amazing country!

Want to check out some other destinations? Search by the month you want to travel or cycling destination you want to visit, here.

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John Maskell

John Maskell is a roving reporter whose mission in life is to find the best coffee stop on any given ride.

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