Drive Through The Hilltop Villages Of Paphos

Drive Through The Hilltop Villages Of Paphos

Hi, this is Dominic from Pathos Life. And in today’s film, we’re having a drive through the villages that surround the hilltops of Pathos. So, let’s have the map up. And basically, we’re going to go through Kily, then uh Tada, and we’ll finish at Calipa. Nice and simple. Along the way, you’ll see some stunning scenery, and I’ll do my best to keep you entertained. So, first of all, we’re driving through the village of Killy. Uh now beyond there you can see uh there’s obviously a gap and then there’s another ridge of hills between in that gap is uh the locals call it paradise and hell because it’s very beautiful but there’s some very dangerous bits and in the middle of that at the bottom there’s a place called Marty Gorge which I did a feature on in a film a few years ago now and if you’re the of the adventurous saw. It is well worth going down to take a visit. You should watch the film I did first though, so you know what you’ll be up against cuz it’s not something where you go in flip flops. Well, you can go in flip-flops, but uh you wouldn’t want to go there in your your best suit or anything basically. And I mentioned that now because uh there’s a museum here now as well apparently. I’ve never been. There’s a sign there pointing to Mteri Canyon this way. I’m not going to drive all the way down there. I’ve got the wrong one car for that. What you should do, even if uh you’re in a 4×4 really, is park somewhere near the top. From memory, I’d say where the pylon was and walk down the road from there. They’ve recently renovated the entire road network here with the y is a simp word for grandmother. Cool. This is a silly place to park your car. I think I actually went too far. I should have turned left back there. So, I got to see if I can get out again now. So, right will take you down to Marty Gorge. I definitely don’t want to go that way. Well, this is what Killy normally does to me. If you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss the turning you’re supposed to go and the roads are very narrow, especially when people park in places like that. Oh well, you’re getting to see a nice bit of Killy. That’s a dead end apparently according to there. So, I’ve got to turn right here. I might have to go up and turn right cuz it seems a bit clearer there. So, that’s what I’ll do. One 20 point turn later. I think I go this way now to get out, which is what I want to do. So, yes, I missed the turning up top and went and showed you a bit more of Killy than I intended to. Let’s get up and escape. Oh, okay. This was the road I had intended to come out of. I showed you a bit more. Quite a bit more than I intended to. We’ll go back into civilization. And believe it or not, that’s easier to negotiate than it used to be as well. And this turning here will take his hand to uh Tala, one of the scenic routes, but we’re heading back towards the B7. Now, the reason the roads were so narrow there is because the village evolved when uh donkeys were the main form of transport. That’s where we started. Just down there. And actually, no, it’s not. It’s up just up here. I’m going all over the place on this film. Slow down for the speed bump. Yeah. So basically the villages were built for donkeys and uh they aren’t really wide enough for vehicles especially when people park in them. Now is pretty much the same and so is Calipa though we do have um main roads going through them as well. It does mean that you’ve always got to uh take a bit of care when you’re driving and also if you actually want to explore the village, you’re much better off normally just parking somewhere sensible and uh exploring it on foot. We’re coming out now. There was a fire up here earlier on in the year. I don’t think anyone was uh burnt out of their home. Most of the damage occurred where you’ll see it in a tick. before it was this side of the B7 anyway, but it went down the hill towards Tala Monastery and got pretty close to it as well apparently. Yeah. Whether it started up here or ended up here, I don’t know, but there’s some fire damage over there on the right. Fortunately, it was nowhere near the scale of anything that happened in Limasole. Huge that far was. Looks like the bin man’s had a bit of a problem here. So scattered on the floor. And these houses you can see in the distance will be familiar to anyone who’s looked up from the center of Pathos and wondered what’s up at the top of the hills. What you can see there is Dada itself. From the right there will be several estates burged on top of the rather steep hillside. This is the B7. So take a little bit of Now there might be a lot of traffic coming here now cuz they got traffic lights on it. I can just sneak out there. I’m going to turn this way now. This way it will take you all the way all the way to Status Fius I guess go beyond there up to Panagia but uh we’re not going that far. They we do tend to have those really huge signs of just about everything on them. Let’s turn left here. Should we? Actually, this isn’t Sava. This is a funny road from what I can remember that runs next to the B7. It might even be the old B7, but I don’t think I’ve ever shown this in a film before. So, here we go. I could have gone like that, I suppose. It’s a much sharp turn. Yes, this is definitely an unusual route we’re going now. What I might even do is uh join the B7 and go back on join it uh leave it when we get to the Aphrodites Brewery and come into Salada that way. Well, I can’t do cuz I’m in the wife’s car is doing the off-roading. So, we’ll turn right here. And who knows, we may even get to meet those traffic lights I was telling you about. There’s a new MOT center there on the right. And this is the B7 which will take you all the way down to Pace. And uh the other way it would take you all the way down to Papos. And at the moment up here what they’re doing is uh improving the drainage. I think though later on towards Ulu they’re actually expanding adding another lane. I think I need to turn right here cuz since the Aphrodites Brewery closed, the signs for it have all been removed. I believe it was this one. Yeah. So, it makes it harder to find the turning basically cuz it’s not unless you knew it as a shortcut, you’d never really come down here. But Aphroditis Brewery closed a few years ago. It was very popular, but I think they got fed up with having to juggle of all the various licensing laws. But there it is. Aphrodites Rock now destined to come another low relic. I suppose who knows in a few years time I might even be doing some urban exploring there. That’d be a novelty for me. Exploring a brewery. I mean so now hopefully we’re heading into Sardo again. It’s tarmac road, but don’t go very fast in it cuz it’s quite bumpy. Let’s see how long it’s going to take me to get through Sarda. Guessing turning right would be the immediate way out. I can go right then left. Let’s go up here first of all just for the heck of it. Oh, that’s a no entry sign. And presumably it’s for the left hand which is good. There’s another one up here. So we can follow around avoiding no entry signs and hopefully we’ll end up in the center of the village. It’s a suitably steep driveway there. You’re certainly getting a proper tour of the area in this film. I guess a right turn would be the sensible approach here. Oh, yes. There’s the main church. I believe we can go past that and then just turn and let him come out. Go on. Patience is the order of the day in villages like this. Round we go. There’s one of the many mailboxes they got where you get a number rather than an actual postal address. Carry on driving through Tada. If you like our films, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and share them far and wide and click on any notification bell as you can see and do all that. It helps us greatly. And if you want to help us out financially, go to our buy me a coffee page at buy me a coffee.com/pathoslife and chuck us a few coffees. Alternatively, if you’re going to buy anything on Amazon, look in the description to this and you’ll see a link to Amazon, which will be an affiliate one. So, if you click on that to go to Amazon via the affiliate link and then you buy something, doesn’t matter what it is on Amazon, we’ll get a little commission and it won’t cost you anything. So, that’s another way you can help us out financially. And if you want something back in return from us, then go to our Zazzle store at zazzle.com/ uh store/pathosive/colctions and there you can buy all sorts of things from Pathos, including the new 2026 PAOS calendars which are now out and ready to be bu bought. Okay, so have a look there. And finally, uh, follow us on Facebook, our Pathos Live Facebook, uh, page that has nearly 90,000 followers now. And you’ll get notified then on anything we publish, be it on YouTube, Facebook or our main PAOS life website. And to say hello to us or whatever people in Pathos who are very knowledgeable and will be able to help you, then join our PAOS chat and Cyprus chat Facebook groups. and thus end of the marketing. Right. So now we’re going through a fairly nondescript area after we’ve left Sarda, which is why you got the marketing when you’re dead. Now soon though, we’re going to be arriving at where the uh headquarters for the new motorway uh ex development was, which has been uh they were booted off site basically and it’s all in the courts now. they are being tend tenders for new uh planned motorways etc. So I’m not sure how long it’s going to take eventually but that’s where their offices were there. The tunnels are in place. I know that much but none of the bridges that needed have been built yet. So that’s all going to happen in there. We’re now coming on the Sarda to the Timbu road and also go to Lemona and Hulu and finally Anorita and Panopana because basically around Pathos there are a series of valleys and the network of roads tends to go along ong the tops of these uh valleys. So, it’s a bit like a spider’s web, but the prongs between the if you like various spokes uh aren’t that strong. So, you’re better off sticking on the roads like this. Right, we’re coming up to Calipa now and we’re going to be turning white here. Let’s have a little jaunt through this village before finishing. The hunting signs they put up this year are very brightly colored. Well, when I say hunting sign, they’re not like do your hunting here. They’re like no hunting here because the hunters tend to be a try and be a law unto themselves even though they’re not. Bit graffiti. Now this is a very winding road and there used to be a bus route from Calipea to Episcopy going down for a valley through there. It’s no longer in service and the road is uh they just call it an off-road route now basically. But it’s really weird when you’re down the center of it all cuz there’s the old bus stop still there and there’s a welcome to Episcopy sign in the middle of nowhere which looks a bit out of place. And uh on the valley to our right, you’ll have uh on the other side of the bridge, Memphis Hills Golf Course. We’ll go this way. I expect there to be a wrong turn here possibly. What? You can see it’s another narrow area. Saying that it’s just opened up into a half a wide bit. Let’s go left here through this time. And then we’ll sneak in a right. Nice old cobbles. So yeah, these are basically what proper villages are like in at least the pathos region of Cypus. The ones I’ve driven through in Limbol are all fairly like this as well. Little church there. Now, if you go right down here, not that one, but the next one, it’ll take you to uh there’s a little gorge down there and a very precarious walk to some caves. I did an article on that several years ago and I’d meet mean to go back there and have another look, but I do remember it being a very precarious route to get there. I think every time I drive through Calipe, I go a different route. Mine is the same McKilly. Now, there’s a little hill to our right which you can get up to uh next to a restaurant which is also to our right. And uh there’s a nice little uh old church up there and shrine and uh what was there was there was even like a little human skull sort of like a relic in there. one of the walls or something, but it’s well worth exploring. And there’s lots of nice little taverns in Calipea as well. And the views are amazing. That’s another thing there is at the top of that hill, a nice viewing platform. So, do check it out. I did a 360 uh tour and not the film variety with interconnected pictures which is probably on our cypress panoramas.com website. I say probably cuz I haven’t actually uh updated that for a couple of years. One of those things of not having the time to do it all because now that I do a lot more films than I used to, it means I can’t do stuff like that. Anyway, we’re going to be coming out of Calipa now. I’ll leave you when we’re back on the main road cuz that’s been quite a long film now and there’s only a certain amount of village life I can show you in one bit. But I do hope uh you’ve enjoyed the film and it’s encouraged you if you do come to Cyprus to hire a car, preferably a small one, and go and do a bit of exploring it yourself. And as I said to you before in the film, the best way to explore a village is to find somewhere to park in it that’s like an obvious parking spot as opposed to just blocking the road and get out and walk cuz you always find something of interest there. Anyway, thank you very much for watching and we shall see you in the next film. Cheers.

As you lay on a sunbed on a Paphos Beach, you might gaze Northwards at the ridge of hills that lie between Paphos City and the centre of the greater district. You may have noticed some distant houses and wondered about them. In this film, we drive through the villages that line the top of those hills, so you will now be able to see what is up there.

If you like what we do and want to give us some encouragement, why not buy us a coffee?
■ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/paphoslife

Another EASY way to help us it to use our affiliate link the next time you buy anything off Amazon. Just enter Amazon using the following link and we will get a tiny commission if you buy anything.
■ https://amzn.to/46pli2o

For merchandise, including calendars, mugs, pictures and more, check out our online shop:
■ https://www.zazzle.co.uk/store/paphoslife/collections

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
►Camera Information

These are the cameras we use. Before you film anything important, practice using the kit first. And keep practicing! These cameras will give great results if you take the time to get to know them first.

For Road Trips and Walkabouts

GoPro Hero 13
■ https://amzn.to/4gfbRWd

GoPro release a new Hero camera each year. The above three all use the same batteries and accessories, so if you are on a tight budget go for the 9 now with a view to upgrading later.

For 360 Films

Insta 360 X5
■ https://amzn.to/3ZAN6gI

Drones
Before flying a drone in Cyprus make sure you are aware of the rules and have obtained the necessary licenses. For more information see here: https://drones.gov.cy/

DJI Mavic Pro 3
■ https://amzn.to/4558smn

DJI Mavic Mini 3
■ https://amzn.to/3Oinz5w

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
►Help For Travellers

If you are travelling around Paphos and would like some hints about where to go, take a look at our eBook Travel Guides.

▬ The Kathikas – Panagia Loop ▬
Let me take you on a journey around the region of Paphos, Cyprus. Starting at Paphos itself, we travel to Akoursos, then Kathikas, Kritou Terra and Simou. We continue past Lasa and Kannaviou, before taking in the delights of Panagia. Getting a bit more adventurous, we visit the abandoned villages of Statos and Agios Fotios, before passing through Choulou, Letymbou and Polemi, and rejoining the main Paphos – Polis road.

■ https://amzn.to/2t3YAdh

▬ Paphos Coast To Coast ▬
Explore traditional villages, visit a shipwreck and some ancient sea caves, and have a swim or a paddle in some of the lovely beaches. And once you have done it, do it again in reverse, to finish it off with some spectacular sunsets.

■ https://amzn.to/2EsOlEP

▬ Kato and Pano Pyrgos ▬
Do you want to see a part of Cyprus that is loved by the locals but virtually unkown to international tourists? Then let me take you on a trip to Kato and Pano Pyrgos. Located on the North Coast of Cyprus, and on the coast road from Polis and Pomos, these two villages are packed full of charm and some lovely beaches. Throw in some abandoned villages and beautiful countryside, and you have all the makings of a fantastic day out. In this guide we show you how to get there from Paphos and Polis, before taking you on a tour of the area itself

■ https://amzn.to/3MZESZk

▬ The North Paphos Coast ▬

The North Coast of Paphos is one of Cyprus’ hidden gems. In this, our fourth Cyprus Road Trip eBook, we explore the area between Polis and Pachyammos. This includes the delightful Pomos Harbour, the mysterious Dragon Cave Beach, and the ancient Gialia Monastery. Not to mention numerous villages, churches and reservoirs. So come with us and experience a slice of authentic Cyprus life.

■ https://amzn.to/3oskRBz

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
►About Us

Paphos Life is a website focused on Paphos and Cyprus. As well as having vibrant forum and facebook communities, we also have hundreds of articles and films on this lovely country, as well as a Business Directory, Webcams and more besides. Find out for yourself by visiting us:
■ https://www.paphoslife.com

If you like what we do and want to give us some encouragement, why not buy us a coffee?
■ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/paphoslife

For merchandise, including calendars, mugs, pictures and more, check out our online shop:
■ https://www.zazzle.co.uk/store/paphoslife/collections