Pissouri

Get to the western end of the beach, nearest Cape Aspro, by about forty minutes before sundown. The cliff turns white to gold, the shingle shelves quickly so you are in swimming depth in three strides, and there is almost no boat traffic. Sunbeds around €10 to €12 a pair, free after about 6pm.

The tavernas around the church at the top of the village serve a proper meze — around €22 to €26 a head — with rabbit stifado and grilled sheftalia rather than beach-menu pasta. Order the local wine by the carafe. Nothing here is open past about 11pm, so aim to sit down by 8.

Take the track climbing west from the top of the bay road and follow it along the clifftop. The drop is genuinely 100 m plus in places with no railings, the sea below is turquoise over white marl, and on a clear day you can see the Akrotiri peninsula east. Do it early; there is zero shade.

Twenty-five minutes east on the B6 towards Episkopi. The Greco-Roman theatre stands on the cliff edge above Episkopi Bay, the House of Eustolios keeps superb mosaics under cover, and the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates is two kilometres further west. Entry is a few euros each; go before 10am or after 4pm in summer.

Head north off the B6 towards Kilani, Vouni and Omodos — 25 to 40 minutes of climbing road. Several small estates take walk-ins for a tasting fee of about €10 to €15, often refunded against a purchase. Ask for Xynisteri and Maratheftiko, the two indigenous grapes actually worth carrying home.

Walk left along the shingle from the main beach until the sand gives way to flat limestone reef. The water is three to five metres deep over the shelf, with bream, wrasse and the occasional octopus in the crevices. Bring shoes — the entry is sharp — and stay clear of the small-boat channel.

Pissouri sits off the B6 midway between Limassol and Paphos, 30 km and 40 km respectively, and both airports are about 50 minutes by car — Paphos slightly closer, Larnaca around 1 hour 20. Taxis run €55 to €70 from Paphos Airport. The Limassol-Paphos intercity bus does stop at the Pissouri junction on the main road, but that leaves you three kilometres and 200 m of climb from the village and further from the bay, so treat it as an emergency option. Within Pissouri there is a small local shuttle between village and bay in high summer only; otherwise it is your car or a taxi at roughly €8 to €10 each way.

Bay if the beach is the holiday and you accept €150 to €260 a night in shoulder season. Village if you want Cypriot food, lower prices and quiet, and do not mind driving down to swim. The connecting road is three kilometres of steep hairpins with no pavement, so pick one and commit. Families with small children almost always want the bay.

It is dark grey-gold sand mixed with fine shingle, coarser at the waterline than the beaches at Coral Bay or Protaras. It shelves quickly, which makes it a good swimming beach and a slightly less ideal toddler-paddling one. Water clarity is excellent because of the cliffs, and the bay holds a Blue Flag most seasons. Water shoes help on the eastern reef end.

You can arrive, but you will regret it. Airport taxis are €55 to €70, and the intercity bus drops you at the highway junction, leaving a long uphill walk. Once you are here, the beach, the village, Kourion, Episkopi and the wine villages are all beyond walking range. Hire from the airport; parking is free everywhere in Pissouri.

Thirty kilometres, about 30 to 35 minutes on the A6 motorway, so an easy evening out — the Limassol marina and the old town restaurants are a straightforward drive back after dinner if the driver stays sober. Paphos and its harbour castle are 40 km west, roughly 40 minutes. Kourion sits neatly between Pissouri and Limassol at 25 minutes.