Platres
Faded 1930s hill station at 1,200 m below Mount Olympus — waterfalls, trout, cool nights and stone hotels with history
Stone hotel terraces and pine slopes at Pano Platres in the Troodos foothills
Why people stay in Platres
Pano Platres sits at 1,200 m on the southern flank of the Troodos, and it was the island's fashionable summer address from the 1930s to the 1960s — the era of the big stone hotels, the tennis courts and the Cairo set escaping the heat. Some of that is intact and some of it is peeling. The Forest Park, built in 1936, still dominates the ridge above the village; the poet George Seferis stayed here and wrote the line about the nightingales not letting you sleep in Platres, which the village has printed on more or less everything since. It remains, quietly, the best mountain base on the island.
The village runs along one main street with a stream ravine below it, a small square with a clock and a fountain, and shops selling glyka tou koutaliou — spoon sweets, walnut and bergamot preserved in syrup — for €6 to €9 a jar. There are eight or ten places to eat, which after Troodos feels like abundance. A grilled trout dinner is €14 to €18, a meze €20 to €24, a coffee €2.50 on a terrace overlooking the pines. At nine in the evening the square has families out and the air smells of resin and grilling meat; by eleven it is dark and silent, and in July you will want a blanket.
The walking is the reason to come. The Caledonia Trail leaves from the trout farm at Psilo Dendro just above the village and climbs 3 km alongside the stream to the 12 m falls and on towards Troodos. The Millomeris trail heads the other way, dropping through a fern-choked gorge to a taller and less visited waterfall on the edge of Pano Amiantos. Both are shaded, both are wet underfoot, and both are the coolest you will be outdoors in Cyprus in August.
Book Platres if you want mountain air with somewhere to eat dinner, if you are touring the painted Byzantine churches and the wine villages, or if you are skiing and would rather not sleep on the summit. Skip it in winter if you are not prepared for cold rooms and closed shutters — several places shut from November to February — and skip it entirely if you came to Cyprus for beach and nightlife. The nearest sea is 40 minutes down the B8 at Limassol, and the nearest club is in it.
The main street through Pano Platres is where the choice is, and the higher you go towards the Forest Park ridge the better the view over the pines and the further you are from the through traffic on the B8. Expect €60 to €95 for a solid double in shoulder season, €110 to €160 for the historic hotels in August or a snow week. Ask about heating: the older stone buildings hold the cold and some rooms rely on a single wall unit that struggles in January. Kato Platres and Pano Amiantos, three to eight minutes down the road, are cheaper again and fine if you have a car. Avoid rooms directly on the hairpin where the Limassol road climbs through the village — heavy vehicles use engine braking there from early morning — and avoid the very cheapest self-catering blocks in midwinter unless you have confirmed the heating works.
Things to do in Platres
Start at Psilo Dendro trout restaurant, a kilometre above the village square, and follow the stream up the ravine. It is 3 km one way with a dozen stepping-stone crossings and a 400 m climb to the 12 m falls, continuing to the Troodos road if you want the full thing. Two hours up, ninety minutes down.
Signposted from the eastern end of Pano Platres, a 1.5 km path drops through plane trees and ferns to a 15 m fall over volcanic rock — taller than Caledonia and far less busy. Steps at the bottom are slippery year-round. Go after rain in March and April when the flow is worth the walk.
The trout farm restaurant at Psilo Dendro raises the fish in tanks fed by the same stream you have just walked beside. A whole grilled trout with lemon potatoes and salad is €14 to €18. Lunchtime only in practice, packed on Sundays with Cypriot families; arrive before 1pm or expect to wait.
Drive north over the pass and down to Kalopanagiotis for Agios Ioannis Lampadistis, and to Moutoullas and Pedoulas for their small barn-roofed UNESCO churches with fourteenth-century frescoes. Allow half a day and small change for the caretaker; several open only when someone with a key is around, typically mornings.
The shops along the main street sell walnut, cherry and bergamot preserves in syrup at €6 to €9 a jar, plus local zivania, the grape spirit, and dried mountain herbs. This is one of the few genuinely useful souvenir streets in Cyprus. Most shut around 6pm and all day Sunday out of season.
Head south and west through Foini, Kilani, Vouni and Omodos — an hour of narrow, spectacular road through vineyards on schist terraces. Small estates charge €10 to €15 for a tasting, and the villages have squares built for shade. Do it as a morning; most cellars close early afternoon.
What to see
Hotels near Platres
No hotels are listed in Platres yet. The nearest ones are on the region page.
Every hotel we cover in Platres
- Semiramis Hotel 3★ · 4.6/5
- Petit Palais Platres Boutique Hotel 2★ · 4.5/5
- New Helvetia Hotel 3★ · 4/5
- Nightingale Hotel 2★ · 3.8/5
- Ayios Nicolaos River Park 4★
- Koilani Village House 4★
- Le Vert Suites Platres 4★
- Melissonas Villas 4★
- Paradise Peek Platres 4★
- Selin the Stone House 4★
- Cozy Mountain Apartment in Platres 3★
- Charming Villa in Pano Platres Cyprus Your Home Away From Home 2★
Getting around Platres
Drive: from Limassol take the B8 north through Trimiklini, 40 km and roughly 45 minutes of climbing; from Larnaca Airport allow 1 hour 40 and from Paphos about 1 hour 30 via the B6 and the Mandria road. There is a Limassol bus that serves Platres, but it runs on a skeleton schedule of one or two departures a day and is no basis for a stay. Troodos Square and the ski slopes are 20 minutes further up the B8. Within the village you walk — the square to Psilo Dendro is fifteen minutes uphill — and parking along the main street is free but tight at Sunday lunchtime, when the whole of Limassol drives up for trout.
Questions about Platres
Platres, for almost everyone. It has ten places to eat, shops, a village square and warmer nights at 1,200 m, and Troodos Square is only twenty minutes uphill for the trails and the ski lifts. Troodos itself has a handful of rooms and nothing open after dark. Stay at Troodos only if you want to be on the trailheads at first light.
Yes if you are skiing or want log fires and empty trails, no if you expect a lively village. Several hotels and restaurants close between November and February, nights fall below freezing, and the road can ice above the village. On the other hand rooms drop to €60 to €80 and the Caledonia ravine in full flow after February rain is genuinely impressive.
About 3 km each way from the Psilo Dendro trout farm, climbing roughly 400 m. Allow two hours up and ninety minutes back, more with children. You cross the stream repeatedly on stones, so wear shoes you do not mind wetting, and skip it after very heavy rain when crossings are submerged. There is no charge and no facilities on the trail.
Comfortably. Limassol's seafront is 45 minutes down the B8, Pissouri Bay about an hour and ten, and Governor's Beach roughly an hour. Plenty of visitors walk a mountain trail in the morning, eat trout at lunch and swim at four. The drive back up in the dark is the only tiresome part — the hairpins above Trimiklini need attention.
