A Limassol jeep safari is a 4×4 day trip from the Limassol coast into the Troodos Mountains or west to the Akamas peninsula. Find more trip ideas on Greece Tours.
Read on for the routes, Kykkos, the waterfalls, the wine villages, the pickup and the tips for a Limassol jeep safari.
What is a Limassol jeep safari?
A Limassol jeep safari is a guided day trip in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. It starts in Limassol and leaves the city for villages, forest and mountain landscapes. The GetYourGuide Grand Tour version lasts 8 hours in a small group.
Wikipedia says safari first meant an overland journey to observe or hunt wild animals, especially in East Africa. A Limassol jeep safari keeps the overland journey and the off-road vehicle. The stops are villages, a forest and a mountain waterfall.
Limassol is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and the second-largest urban area on the island, after Nicosia. Wikipedia adds that the city was built between the ancient Greek cities of Amathus and Kourion. SeePlaces says the Grand Tour route follows both asphalt roads and well-maintained dirt tracks.
Taliadoros Jeep Safari states that its jeeps are reliable 4×4 Land Rover Defender 110 models. Wikipedia describes the Defender as a British off-road car with four-wheel drive. It says Land Rover renamed its One Ten model the Defender 110.
Daktari Jeep Safari has its office in Limassol and runs 4×4 safaris from all resorts in Cyprus. It says its vehicles carry seat belts, fire extinguishers, first aid kits and radio CD players. It also calls them fully insured.
Which Limassol jeep safari routes can you book?
Limassol jeep safari routes fall into four types. These are the GetYourGuide Grand Tour, operator day tours, private flexible tours and jeep and boat days. They differ in length, stops and inclusions. The Grand Tour starts in Limassol.
The GetYourGuide listing From Limassol: Grand Tour Jeep Safari shows 8 hours, a small group and free cancellation. You must book this Limassol jeep safari at least 10 hours in advance. The listing offers the tour in English and German.
The trip.com page for the same title names GetYourGuide Germany GmbH as its vendor. It lists a coffee break, hotel pickup and drop-off, and lunch with wine, water and lemonade. Gratuities, optional admissions to sights and snacks are excluded.
A vegetarian lunch option is available. The 4×4 has no air conditioning, and off-road driving is part of the day. The highlights are short walks through local villages, off-road driving and a mountain waterfall.
Trip.com labels this Limassol jeep safari a join-in tour and shows an 08:30 time slot for its German-language package. Cancellation is free until 08:30 on the day before the trip. Later cancellations are charged in full.
A SeePlaces listing of a Grand Tour from Limassol, run by Alasia, names these stops and a mountain taverna lunch. The listing says the order of visits can change.
- Dipotamos Dam
- Lefkara village
- The Mesa Potamos forest
- A mountain waterfall
- Omodos village
- The Holy Cross monastery
Taliadoros Jeep Safari gives its location as Limassol, Pafos and Larnaca. The homepage tiles are jeep excursions, flexible tours, a Blue Lagoon jeep and boat trip, and quad and buggy rides. Its private flexible tour lets you shape your own Limassol jeep safari with your choice of locations, timing and stops.
Daktari Jeep Safari lists five excursions, and two start from Limassol. One is a full-day Grand Tour from Protaras, Ayia Napa, Larnaca and Limassol. The other is a full-day jeep and boat combination from Limassol and Paphos, which runs from April to October.
The other three are a Paphos Grand Tour, a half-day Paphos jeep tour, and a Famagusta and Blue Lagoon day. The Famagusta day also runs from April to October.
For boat trips, wine days and dives across the island, see our Cyprus tours guide. The listings name different stops, so compare them before you choose a Limassol jeep safari.
What does Kykkos Monastery add to a Limassol jeep safari?
Kykkos Monastery gives a Limassol jeep safari a sacred icon and a high mountain setting. It is one of the wealthiest monasteries in Cyprus. It stands on the north western side of the Troodos Mountains.
Kykkos dates to the end of the 11th century. Emperor Alexios Komnenos gave his patronage. Builders raised a church and a monastery for the icon of the Virgin Mary. The site lies at an altitude of 1,318 metres, far above the coast where a Limassol jeep safari starts.
Tradition tells how the icon came to Cyprus. A hermit named Esaias lived in a cave on the mountain. A Byzantine governor lost his way in the forest and treated the hermit badly, then fell ill and recovered. The hermit asked him to bring the icon, painted by the Apostle Luke, from Constantinople.
Nobody looks at the icon today. A covering hides its top half, because people say that whoever looks at it will be blinded. The last person to see it was the Patriarch of Alexandria, in the 17th century. In a recent drought, the fathers carried it to its throne and read prayers for rain while they looked away.
A bronze arm and a swordfish saw sit to the right of the icon. The saw stands for the thanks of sailors who prayed to Our Lady of Kykkos during storms at sea. The church was destroyed three times, and the present church dates to the 18th century. The monastery marks its celebrations on 15 August and 8 September.
Throni lies 3 km west of the monastery. It holds the grave of Archbishop Makarios III, who led Cyprus as its first president. The Kykkos museum charges its own entrance fee. One travel blogger had only 30 minutes at the monastery on a Limassol jeep safari with hotel pickup. The blogger skipped the museum.
Which waterfalls and Venetian bridges sit on a Limassol jeep safari route?
Caledonia Falls and Millomeris Waterfall both lie near Platres, a mountain village in the Limassol District. The Venetian bridges of Kelefos, Elia and Roudia stand in Paphos Forest, and one Limassol jeep safari walked to Kelefos.
Platres lies 25 km north west of Limassol, where a Limassol jeep safari starts. The water of the Caledonia Waterfalls falls straight down 12 metres. The falls lie about 2 km north of Pano Platres. A Scottish expedition named them in the 19th century, because the scene looked like home. Caledonia is an ancient Latin name for Scotland.
The Caledonia nature trail takes between 1.5 and 2.5 hours to walk and rates as average in difficulty. It follows the Kryos Potamos, whose name means Cold River, and crosses small wooden bridges. The rocky parts turn slippery after rain, and hiking boots are recommended for crossing the river in wet weather.
Millomeris Waterfall has a trail of its own, and the trail starts near the church in Platres village. The water drops 15 metres into a rocky pool. The blogger on the Limassol jeep safari called the fall small but nice. She advised shoes with a good grip.
Milia Bridge stands just below Platres, inside the forest. It gave a crossing over the Krios River, which starts on Mount Olympus and flows all year round. The bridge is an old landmark that still stands intact.
The Venetians cut camel trails from the mountains to the ports to export minerals. Bridges carried the camel trains over the rivers. Kelefos and Roudia have a hump in the middle. In winter the camels crossed over the hump, and in summer they walked under it along the dry riverbed.
Elia is more or less flat, because it spans a deeper gorge and needs no hump. Elia Bridge crosses the Diarizos River in the south western corner of Paphos Forest. Together with Roudia and Kelefos, it forms the Venetian Bridges Nature Trail.
Kelefos Bridge appears in UK TV holiday adverts for Cyprus, which show a couple cycling over it. The blogger’s Limassol jeep safari stopped after Millomeris. The group walked into the forest on a short path to reach it. Families were playing in the river below.
Elia lies a short way up the Kaminaria road from Kelefos, and parking there is limited. Woodland hides Roudia, so it is easy to miss. Roudia has been renovated in the past.
Which wine villages does a Limassol jeep safari pass?
A Limassol jeep safari into the Troodos enters the Krasochoria, the wine villages of Limassol District. Laneia stands on the main road from the city to the mountains, and a Troodos jeep safari has stopped there. Omodos lies about 42 kilometres away.
Wikipedia lists seven wine routes of Cyprus, and one is named Krasochoria Lemesou, the wine villages of Limassol. The Limassol jeep safari routes into the Troodos climb the same slope. Each tour names its own stops, so read the stop list before you book.
On the road up from Limassol, four wine villages mark the climb. Kato Platres lies about 24 kilometres north-west of the city. Laneia is about 26 kilometres away. Vasa is 35 kilometres away, and Omodos is about 42.
A travel blogger on a Troodos jeep safari stopped at Laneia to see old wine press tools. The village has cobbled streets and small houses made of stone.
Omodos stands at 810 metres on the west bank of the Chapotami river. Limassol Tourism gives its yearly rainfall as about 760 millimetres. Vines grow around the village, with apple, plum, pear, peach and apricot trees. A recent census counted 339 residents.
Limassol Tourism lists three ideas for the name Omodos. One story says villagers cut through a thorny bush. They told each other “me to modo sou”, which means take your time and act with care. Another idea joins the Greek words for “with” and “street”. A third points to a Frankish lord called Homodeus.
Roads join Omodos to Mandria, 4 kilometres to the north-east. Vasa and Malia lie 3 and 5.5 kilometres to the south-west. Ask the operator of your Limassol jeep safari which of these villages the day includes.
Vasa stands at 760 metres and borders Omodos to the north-east. Cultivated land with vineyards fills the greater part of its area, and raisin production is also significant. Its name comes from the ancient Greek bassa, a wooded valley.
Pachna held 830 hectares of wine and table vines in the figures of nineteen eighty-five. That made it the largest grape-growing village on the island. The vast majority of its grapes are the local Mavro and Xynisteri. Wikipedia credits chalky soil, height and climate for its vines.
How does a Limassol jeep safari reach the Akamas peninsula?
The peninsula lies west of Limassol, past Pissouri and Paphos. The GetYourGuide Akamas jeep tour from Paphos or Limassol runs 8 to 10 hours. Pegeia stands at the southern end of the peninsula, 14 kilometres north-west of Paphos.
The GetYourGuide listing offers a Limassol jeep safari to Akamas as a small-group trip with pickup available and free cancellation. Bookings close 10 hours before the start. It invites nature conservation enthusiasts to walk, swim when the season allows, and enjoy nature.
Daktari Jeep Safari sells a Limassol jeep safari with a boat leg. This land-and-sea day is called Surf and Turf and starts from Limassol and Paphos. The operator runs it from April to October. The day has an off-road drive, a gorge walk, a turtle beach, a viewpoint and a boat leg.
The Avakas Gorge walk takes 30 to 40 minutes, and the operator advises decent footwear. At Lara Beach, the Cyprus Turtle Conservation Project shows its exhibits. The operator puts turtle nesting season from June to August, with nests hatching until early October.
The boat leg tours the coves and offshore islands. Guests look for sea turtles and dolphins. A swim stop follows in what the operator calls the bluest bay in Cyprus. Weather can cancel the boat leg, and the operator then pays compensation. Lunch is included, with vegetarian options.
Viator lists these Limassol jeep safari and 4X4 formats:
- Cruise and 4X4 Safari Tour at Akamas Peninsula from Limassol
- Akamas Jeep Tour from Limassol
- Surf and Turf Full Day Jeep & Boat Combination Tour from Limassol
A second Cruise and 4X4 Safari Tour listing uses a title that names Aphrodite Hills, while its link reads Pissouri. Pissouri lies in Limassol District, about 30 kilometres west of the city centre, between Limassol and Paphos.
For the same peninsula from the other side, see our Paphos jeep safari guide. Ptolemy described the headland as thickly wooded and split in two by summits. Wikipedia counts 39 of the 128 endemic plant species of Cyprus on the peninsula.
Wikipedia’s list of Cyprus wine routes includes one named Laona – Akamas. For a Limassol jeep safari, that puts the peninsula on the wine map as well as the nature map.
How do pickup and timing work for a Limassol jeep safari?
Your accommodation is the starting point. Daktari’s Grand Tour booking form names the pickup spot outside hotel reception. The pickup times run through the morning, and Limassol comes last of the four towns that the tour serves.
Daktari lists Protaras at 07:30, Ayia Napa at 07:45, Larnaca at 08:15 and Limassol at 08:30. Each town has one time. A guest staying in Limassol is therefore collected after the guests from the other three towns.
A Limassol jeep safari from Taliadoros starts its day at 8:30 am with the first pickup. That matches the hour Daktari gives for Limassol, so the two operators agree on the morning start.
TripBase lists a 45-minute drive from Limassol to Troodos. It lists 60 minutes from Paphos and 75 minutes from Larnaca airport. Limassol gives the shortest drive of the three starting points. Our Troodos day trip from Limassol page covers the longer mountain days.
A travel blog about a Troodos jeep safari from Limassol describes a pickup and drop-off at the accommodation. Guests collected first choose their seat. The blog warns of a back seat facing other passengers on a bumpy road for guests collected later.
What do you bring on a Limassol jeep safari?
Pack a camera, money and athletic shoes. Taliadoros lists those three for its Troodos route from Limassol. It adds a towel, swimwear and sun cream for summer, and jackets for winter.
Shoes matter on a Limassol jeep safari because the route includes walking. Daktari’s Grand Tour describes short walks through villages with narrow streets. Wear the athletic shoes from the list for those walks.
The mountains need a second layer. Wikipedia says the Troodos climate has somewhat greater temperature ranges between day and night than the coastal areas. Pack one extra layer for the cooler hours, even when the coast feels warm at pickup.
Taliadoros adds that the sea is comfortable for swimming from late spring to October. Its towel and swimwear line sits under the summer season. The list for its Limassol route ends with positive energy.
What do travellers ask about a Limassol jeep safari?
Travellers ask about age limits, languages, schedule changes, the mountain road and the finish time. The answers below come from the GetYourGuide listing and from two operators that run a Limassol jeep safari.
Can children join a Limassol jeep safari?
Yes. The GetYourGuide listing sorts tickets by age. Adults are 13 to 99, children are 3 to 12 and infants are 2 and younger. Daktari’s Grand Tour uses a child band up to 12 years old and an infant band.
Which languages does a Limassol jeep safari offer?
Daktari lists English and German on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for its Grand Tour. The listing names no other language for those days, so check the day before you book.
Can the schedule change on the day?
Yes. Taliadoros says its schedule can change because of weather conditions or unexpected circumstances. The operator tells guests about any change at pickup.
Can you drive to the Troodos yourself?
TripBase calls the mountain roads paved but winding. It advises extra time and no driving after dark on the switchbacks. A guided jeep day hands that driving to the operator.
When does a Limassol jeep safari drop you back at the hotel?
Taliadoros expects the last drop-off at about 4:00 pm. Its Troodos route from Limassol ends with the words Back to hotel.