Activities and Family Activities in Cyprus
As in Greece and Turkey, much of the male population of the island is obsessed with football. Otherwise, the most popular activities relate to the island’s geography and climate, from paragliding and climbing to sailing and scuba diving or even, for a few weeks in the year, skiing on the snowcapped Troodos Mountains.
Air sports
With its excellent weather and varied terrain and coast, Cyprus is ideal for a range of air sports. For general information contact the Cyprus Airsports Federation.
Golf
With par facilities in beautiful surroundings, Cyprus is the latest destination on the golfing map, a place where you can play the game all year round.
There are four top class golf courses in the Pafos region, while a few others currently under construction. Situated in peaceful surroundings amidst landscaped hills with spectacular views, these offer luxury villas or apartments for rent or sale, clubhouses, shops, hotels and all the necessary facilities. They are far from the hustle and bustle of the main tourist resorts, yet near enough for easy access.
Climbing and hiking
Popular sites for rock climbing/bouldering include Eagle Rock and the Chassamboulia rock in Pafos District and Cave Greko near Agia Napa.
For hikers there are numerous marked trails in the Troodos Mountains. A section of the European Long Distance Path E4 travels for 539km the length of the island, and there is 322km of good walking divided into 72 nature trails. An excellent booklet on the E4 Long Distance Path and the nature trails is available in CTO offices in Cyprus and abroad. The best general walking in the north is in the Kyrenia range.
Cycling
In the last few years Cyprus has taken off as a destination for cycling enthusiasts both as a place to enjoy the sport and as a means to explore the island. The island has perfect weather for cycling, especially in the months between October and April, when temperatures range between 15°C and 25°C, while annual rainfall is also quite low in comparison to European countries. What's more, unlike other European or Mediterranean countries, the strong headwinds that are a bane to cyclists, here are rare.
But what makes Cyprus stand out as a heaven for cyclists is its compactness. It is like a whole continent condensed into a small island. The third largest island in the Mediterranean, Cyprus combines attractive beaches with pine-clad peaks, busy modern Europeanised towns and tranquil old stone villages, vineyards and olive groves and ancient ruins. The short distances mean that there are rapid changes of terrain entailing a variety of different road surfaces over short distances.
Football
Football (soccer) is strongly supported across the island. The Cyprus Football Association runs a full league of four divisions with fourteen clubs in each, and there are three cup tournaments. Admission prices are a fraction of what UK league teams charge, and tickets can be bought at the ground, on the day. Despite being relative minnows, Cypriot clubs have reached the group stage of the Champions League three times in recent years, and in 2012 Lefkosia’s Apoel became the first to reach the quarter finals.
Watersports and diving
The warm climate and clear blue water give the people of Cyprus the opportunity to live a life full of fun and watersports activities (Wakeboard, Kitesurfing, Windsurfing, Bounce & Ride, Jets & Boats, Wake & Ski, Surf & Sail) all year round.
Cyprus water sports centres have experienced professional instructors who speak multiple languages including Greek, English and Russian. They can teach you to windsurf, kitesurf, wakeboard, sail and more. They use the best equipment on the market and regularly renew it to maximise your chances of progression.
Children are the joy of life. Who doesn’t love them or want to play with them all day long? On the island of Aphrodite, children are blessed, growing up in a safe environment, where family bonds are still extremely strong and traditional customs are honored with devotion. Thus, children acquire, as they become grownups, the virtues of commonality, hospitality and kindness.
Simply by visiting its numerous archaeological sites, children are able to experience thousands of years of Cypriot history. They can, among many others, go to Choirokitia Village (which is on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List) and see how a Neolithic community was built. In ancient Kourion, in Limassol, they can admire a famous theatre and in Paphos the underground Tombs of the Kings.
Almost every museum in Cyprus offers educational activities for kids. The Archaeological Museum in Nicosia is anxiously awaiting curious young historians. The newly inaugurated Theatrical Museum in Limassol promises a unique trip to the magical world of theatre, with costumes, wigs and old theatrical programs. The National Gallery of Nicosia, the brand new Loukia and Michael Zampelas Art Museum in Nicosia and the Limassol Public Gallery introduce children to the great painters of the island. At the house of the most famous dragoman of Cyprus, Hatzigiorgakis Kornesios (which was built in the heart of Nicosia in 1793) as well as at the Folk Art Museum, children can learn how their ancestors used to live, with traditional clothes, tools and other everyday useful objects of a past life exhibited.
Cyprus has many parks with special facilities for children. Municipal playgrounds are enriched daily with young athletes’ happy voices. Luna parks, with their glamorous lights, offer a variety of fun games for every taste: cars for young ambitious drivers, horror rooms for the fearless ones or contest-games with toys, dolls and balloons to be won. The list is endless with so much more to choose from bowling , cinemas and theatre. Everything, to offer our youngsters a different experience and plenty of fun and joy!
Additionally, kids who love animals can walk through the fourth largest collection of birds and animals in Europe at the Park of Birds and Animals in Pafos. They may also pay a visit to the Camel Park in Mazotos or to the Natural History Museum in Larnaca, situated in the heart of its Public Garden.At the Donkey Sanctuary in the village of Vouni (in the Limassol district), children are able to check out the most hard-working animals of Cyprus. It is a fact that donkeys are an important part of our rural tradition. Besides, who doesn't love these stubborn animals when they refuse to do as they are told?
