When I first visited Cyprus in March 2008 I stayed with friends in Anarita outside Paphos in the western part of the island. Naturally they recommended a few sites to visit, one of them the canyon Avakas Gorge. That time I wore flip flops and was unable to safely proceed very far up the trail.

Since I’ve read about the hike I became intrigued to continue through the whole canyon and climb to the crest, finding another way back to the coast. Due to living on the opposite side of the island I never got to do it… Until today!

Spending the weekend at a wonderful hotel nearby I chose to go for a short walk through the hills after breakfast and the idea of hiking Avakas Gorge took over my mind.
Said and done, 25 min later I parked the car and set out with 1.5l of water in the backpack and not much more.

Shortly after starting I checked my iPhone and, YES, the hike qualifies to be on here – no signal ?

In short it was a beautiful hike involving some climbing and crawling over and under obstacles. Still, if you´re reasonably fit and into hiking it´s just a treasure of fun and enjoyment. Due to the presence of water the vegetation is rather lush for Cyprus and marvelous pink flowers enhance the beauty of the path.

No need for hiking boots here, sneakers are cool or any kind of sport shoes. I used my beloved Five Fingers and they did the trick just fine!

The whole tour took around 2.5 hours and I neither stressed it, nor lingered long anywhere. Trickiest part was that after climbing out of the actual gorge up to the right, be sure to follow the trails that climb the hillside to avoid getting to close to the edge of the canyon.
Initially it looks like you can take a shortcut, but that would be costly!

Track is easy to follow and after some time turns into wheel tracks and then a dirt road. Back at the parking lot there’s a water faucet with portable water for refreshment!

Good luck, have fun and love the experience!!!