UPDATE: This activity is moved from Saturday 2 March to Sunday 3 March. Registrations welcome until Friday end day. All other info and arrangements remain unchanged.

Our walk of Saturday 2 March 2024 takes place at the Adelphi forest area. We start a couple of hundred metres after the historical church of Panagia tis Asinou, which is a National Heritage monument. The walk starts at 10:00 am. Antonis is leading this walk, which will go ahead even in light rain; if you need to, call 97803728. The walk will take 3 ½ hours and is of medium difficulty (2+ on a scale from 1 to 3), involving several demanding uphill and downhill sections. We follow well marked paths, mostly in a pine covered forest, up to the village of Agios Theodoros, in the Solea valley. We take the same paths back. The altitude at start is ~500 m, at the highest point it becomes 650 m, while at the village of Agios Theodoros it is 460 m. The total distance (to and fro) is 11 km. The walk offers spectacular views at several places.

If you are rather concerned about the difficulty of this hike, do not be deterred: Xenophon will lead the same walk for a shorter distance, turning back before Agios Theodoros village, starting at 10:30 am, and leaving the Nicosia meeting point at 9:30. Both groups will be sitting for lunch coincidentally.

We shall follow the walk with a meze lunch at the Forviotissa taverna, right opposite the area where we have parked. Registered participants will receive full details via e-mail the day before.

To provide you with maximum safety, and in order to have maximum traceability, we require every participant to register, irrespective of your participation at lunch or not. To facilitate arrangements, for your better service, you are required to sms Antonis or e-mail Xenophon by end Thursday, indicating whether you will be joining us for lunch or not, and also indicating your selection of longer or shorter distance.

You have the choice of meeting the group at the walk start, or meet at the designated meeting point in Nicosia. In either case, you need to carry copy of this set of instructions. Meeting in Nicosia offers two important advantages: we drive in full cars, leaving some cars behind; thus, we save in fuel and enjoy the trip in good company. The meeting point in Nicosia is the very large church named tis Theou Sophias (also referred to as Agia Sophia) in Strovolos, which offers ample parking space on its side street. The car trip starts at 9:00 am. Please ensure you observe start times, for the benefit of the group. N.B. Xenophon will not be leaving the meeting point at 9:00, he will be leaving at 9:30.

How to get to the walk start:

From Nicosia take the A9 motorway towards Troodos. The A9 smoothly becomes the B9 highway (towards Troodos), when the motorway ends (near Kokkinotrimithia). On the B9 you drive past the villages of Akaki, then Peristerona and then you reach the village of Astromeritis. At the Astromeritis traffic lights, where most cars turn left towards Troodos, zero your odometer and turn left. At the 3.8 km reading follow the road sign and turn left towards Asinou. Drive past the villages of Vyzakia and Nikitari. At the 14.4 km reading you drive past a picnic area on your right. At the 15.9 km reading you arrive at the Asinou church on your right. Continue to drive straight and after three hundred metres you reach a taverna (named Forviotissa) on your right. There is plenty of parking space opposite the taverna. Park your car. We meet here. The starting point for the walk is a few meters further on from the taverna, where the road bends right and the tarmac leads into a dirt road.

How to get to the walk start coming from Limassol:

We recommend that you take the main road towards Trimiklini, then Saittas (exit number 28 on the Limassol-Nicosia motorway). Get to the principal junction at Saittas, where you have the options of going straight to Platres or left to Pera Pedi, or right to Amiantos. Zero your odometer and turn right. At the 10.9 km reading you reach the principal junction of Karvounas (note, no traffic lights). Continue straight, towards Kakopetria. From Kakopetria continue straight, in the direction of Nicosia. About 22 km from Kakopetria (3.8 km before Astromeritis) zero your odometer and follow the road sign and turn right towards Asinou. Drive past the villages of Vyzakia and Nikitari. At the 12 km reading you arrive at the Asinou church on your right. Continue to drive straight and after three hundred metres you reach a taverna (named Forviotissa) on your right. There is plenty of parking space opposite the taverna. Park your car. We meet here. The starting point for the walk is a few meters further on from the taverna, where the road bends right and the tarmac leads into a dirt road.

How to get to the meeting point for the car trip:

From Nicosia get to the junction between Cineplex and Apolloneion Hospital. At the traffic lights where you have the Cineplex on your left hand side and Apolloneion Hospital on your right hand side, zero your odometer and turn left. At the 0.3 km reading you see Lidl supermarket on your right. At the 0.8 km reading you reach traffic lights. Turn left into Elaionon street. Immediately after you observe the very large church of tis Theou Sophias, with its green dome, on your right. Just past the church (1.0 km reading) take the first turning to the right into Kastellas street. This side street offers ample parking space. Park here.

Google Maps: Here is a map taking you from the junction between Cineplex and Apolloneion Hospital to the church of tis Theou Sophias http://tinyurl.com/ll9fefj  

Google Maps: Here is a map taking you from the Presidential Palace to the church of tis Theou Sophias: http://tinyurl.com/ndnr6uo

About Panagia tis Asinou church: The famous Byzantine church of Asinou, a Unesco World Heritage site, has some of the finest examples of Byzantine wall painting on the island. Asinou comes from the Greek Asine, which is an ancient city founded by immigrants from the Greek city Argolis in the 11th century BC. The church dates to the early 12th century and the murals inside date from the 12th century to the 17th century.

Disclaimer: 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. If you do not wish to receive further e-mails, reply to this message, stating so.