The Cyprus Strollers is for everyone who loves life outdoors and wants to:

• Get some exercise at the weekend
• Explore the paths of the Cyprus countryside
• Meet people and make new friends.

The Cyprus Strollers is a hiking club set up by Xenophon Hasapis in 2014.

The club is modelled on the successful Athens Strollers hiking club, launched by Xenophon in Athens, Greece in 2009. Xenophon is a passionate hiker and nature lover, who returned to his native Cyprus in 2013, after a 30+ years’ career abroad.

The Cyprus Strollers welcome individuals and families (with children and/or pets) living in Cyprus, irrespective of nationality, as well as visitors/tourists, who love nature and search for hiking opportunities during their stay. Your children must be 6 years old and above, to endure a hike. Time and again, we have counted over 10 nationalities on a single walk. The significance of this is that it helps turn your activity into an experience far from the ordinary in your weekly routine. You meet and communicate with people from different backgrounds, and that’s broadening horizons.

There is an activity practically every weekend, from October to May. Activities alternate between Saturdays and Sundays. This offers more choice and makes the club accessible to people who work on the weekend. Walks start in the morning and are followed by lunch.

Walks typically last between three and three and a half hours. In addition, this club organizes some more demanding activities, such as longer trips on some occasions.

Each walk announcement includes reference to the degree of difficulty. The majority of walks are suitable for people with a good health, a good heart and a good physical fitness. Some others last over 3 ½ hours and involve more strenuous exercise which includes uphill climbing. These are given a degree of difficulty 3 rating (on a scale from 1 easy to 3 difficult) and are addressed to hikers who have tested their ability in similar circumstances before and have a very good health and fitness.

The Cyprus Strollers walks are led by an experienced hiker. Offers are always very welcome from anyone willing to organize a walk. If you can lead a walk, contact XenophondotHasapisatgmaildotcom who will send you a guide on how to go about it.

For walks in the countryside special hiking gear is required, including a good pair of hiking shoes (no gym shoes, please). See section on ‘Hike Preparation’ for fuller instructions.

For walks outside Nicosia we drive to the walk start in our cars. For the car trip it is sensible to take full cars (car pooling). This means that a meeting point in the city is being announced for each walk and a start time from this meeting point is set. Hikers are encouraged to meet at the meeting point on time. The meeting point is selected to provide easy access and sufficient parking spaces, for those who will be leaving their cars behind. Alternatively, if you prefer, you may make it to the walk start directly. The arrangement described also suits members who do not have cars and therefore have problems getting to the venue. If you do not drive a car, you are advised to make e-mail contact with the walk leader 1-2 days ahead of the walk, to register your need for a car lift. I regret we have not managed to arrange a meeting point for Limassol and Larnaca, in the fashion of Nicosia, so far. All the same, participants from Limassol and Larnaca, who get to know each other, on walks, can arrange between them to meet and share a car.

Adhering to the meeting time and start time announced is vital. To help you in this, instructions published provide detailed information on how to get to the walk start. Instructions are based on kilometres count and for this you need to use your car odometer. If your car does not have an odometer, simply make a written note of the kilometre reading on your driver’s panel when the instructions ask you to zero your odometer, and count kilometres from that reading, according to the instructions. You are strongly advised to a) print out instructions and have them with you in your car, b) use your odometer, as instructed: this is the most reliable method to use, and the only safe one when in doubt. Where available, instructions also provide electronic coordinates; you are advised to use these as a supplement to the km count instructions; ignoring the km count instructions has proven risky.

After the walk, members visit a nearby taverna, and those going to the taverna share the bill. Every effort is being made to keep the bill to reasonable levels. Where possible, some walks are combined with a picnic. The Organizers make serious efforts to set-up lunch; this means, among other tasks, booking a table to await the group on arrival. 

There is no membership fee to join the Cyprus Strollers and no charge is made for the walks. Your only cost is what you pay for your meal. To facilitate arrangements, for your better service, where instructed, you are required to pre-register, irrespective of your participation at lunch or not.

To find out about our schedule of walks for this season, visit https://cyprus-strollers.org/activities-schedule/. To get the instructions about each of our next walks, visit https://cyprus-strollers.org/activities-description/. Information for each walk includes detailed directions to the walk start, and a map, where possible. You are strongly encouraged to visit http://cyprus-strollers.org regularly and importantly before you leave home, in case there are ‘last-minute’ changes to the program. Members may receive e-mails with news, but the Organizers encourage you not to rely on the e-mails, since they may not get to you, for reasons beyond our control. You may follow the club on facebook as well https://www.facebook.com/The-Cyprus-Strollers-101725088371476

On the day following each walk a posting is created and posted on the website, consisting of a short text with several photos from the activity. This website uses some photographic material borrowed from the website of the Cyprus Ministry of Tourism. We extend our thanks to the Cyprus Ministry of Tourism for permission to use.

If you attend a Cyprus Strollers walk you do so entirely at your own risk. The Cyprus Strollers is a social club and neither the organizers nor the leader of the walk are responsible for the health and safety of those taking part.

The distinct club philosophy: The distinguishing characteristic of the Cyprus Strollers is to combine hiking with communication, wit, humour, culture, caring; things that stimulate and nourish the soul and brain of each participant; with the intention that at the conclusion of the day every participant returns to base having 1st released the steam accumulated during the routine of the week just ended, and 2nd garnered sufficient stamina to help make it during the routine of the week coming.

To achieve it, we gather around the lunch table after hiking, where we talk in a more relaxed fashion. Our lunch conversations cover themes stemming from our collective interests, and many participants enjoy standing up and contributing their thoughts, ideas or simply impressions from the day. So much so that one can claim our lunches offer the rewards characteristic of a symposium.