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Hidden Treasures of Cyprus Add-on

3 Day Experience

Cyprus, Europe

Delve deeper into the heartland of this beautiful island by adding on our mini-tour which includes a cookery experience, a visit to a wine village, the Troodos mountains, UNESCO churches and museums.

Highlights

  • Visit popular UNESCO churches in the Troodos region
  • Get the chance to interact with local villagers whilst making local bread and pies
  • Walking tour at Kakopetria Village
  • Herbal tea tasting in Mandria Village
  • Explore Lefkara village and Omodos Wine village

Itinerary

Day 1

Depart your hotel for Agios Georgios Silikou village, where you’ll enjoy a cookery experience. Meet a local villager who will show you how to make traditional olive bread and delicious halloumi pies – with the opportunity to make and bake the bread and pies yourself using a traditional oven. Finally, enjoy the most rewarding part of the experience — sampling the food you’ve made, accompanied by a cup of coffee. Next, travel to Mandria, a charming village renowned for is mild climate, to take part in a herbal tea tasting among picturesque surroundings.

In the afternoon, visit Omodos Wine Village, located on the Troodos Mountain range. Famous for its production of wine, strong ‘Zivania’ brandy, handmade narrow-knit lacing, and ‘arkatena’ bread – a traditional sourdough made with chickpeas. Omodos’ quaint surroundings are ideal for agrotourism, offering an educational and fun experience for visitors while helping local farmers preserve their land. Travel on to check-in at your hotel in the Troodos region for an evening at leisure.

Day 2

Begin your day with a visit to Panagia Asinou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site nestled among the north foothills of the Troodos Mountains. This stone monastery contains some of the finest Byzantine wall paintings in Cyprus, dating from the 12th to 17th century. Your next stop is Kakopetria, where you’ll explore two of the rural ‘Painted Churches’ of the Troodos Region, Panagia Church and Archangelos Michael Church. These buildings often look like a stable or farmhouse from the outside, but on the inside contain the highly-decorative artwork of the Byzantine period.

Continue for a walking tour of Kakopetria. This beautiful village is a popular summer resort thanks to its charming character and breathtaking scenery, encompassing lush pine forests that stretch across the Karkotis Valley. Take in the views during lunch at a local tavern before the final visit of the day to Agios Nikolaos Tis Stegis Church, known for its well-preserved frescoes and distinctive pitched roof. Return to your hotel, where you will enjoy the rest of your evening at leisure.

Day 3

Today starts in Lefkara, a mountainous village world-renowned for its traditional handicrafts of lace embroidery and filigree silver, practiced in the village since Venetian times. Legend has it that Leonardo da Vinci visited Lefkara in 1481 to purchase a lace altar cloth: nowadays, visitors can learn how these crafts have been preserved, and watch the lace and silver being made in local workshops. The character of the village is very picturesque, with narrow, winding streets and traditional architecture including terracotta-roofed houses. During your walking tour, stop for a taste of Cypriot Lokoumi, a popular jelly-like confectionery similar to Turkish Delight.

To complete your visit, savour a traditional Cypriot brunch at a local coffee shop. Once you’ve enjoyed your meal, transfer back to your hotel in Paphos / Limassol.

Dates & Prices

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Important Information

Please note, this experience can be booked before or after your holiday. However, you may need to book an extra night at the end of the tour due to a full day itinerary. Please call our Cusomer Experience Team, for more information.

If booking more than 12 weeks before departure a deposit of £295.00pp will need to be paid at the time of booking with the full amount payable at 12 weeks prior to departure. The deposit applies to adults and children. If you are within 12 weeks of travel then the full balance of the holiday will be payable.

You can travel to Cyprus for up to 90 days without a visa.

If you have a UK passport, you will need to ensure that your passport issue date is less than 10 years before the date you arrive into Cyprus. Your passport expiry date will need to have at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave. If your passport does not fulfil the entry requirements, then you will be refused boarding onto your flight and Mercury Holidays will not be responsible for your lost holiday.

We strongly recommend that you and all members of your party are suitably insured as soon as you book your holiday. It is a condition of booking that you must have suitable travel insurance. It is important that you purchase travel insurance that suitably covers your participation in whatever activities you may undertake at the time that you make your booking. To assist you with this, we have arranged travel insurance in partnership with Holiday Extras, including up to a 20% discount, which is given to all Mercury Holidays customers. To arrange your insurance with Holiday Extras, please visit https://www.mercuryholidays.co.uk/info/insurance for more details. Please ensure you provide us with the name of your insurer, policy number and their 24 hour emergency contact number as soon as possible. Mercury Holidays will not be liable for any costs incurred by you due to your failure to take out suitable travel insurance from the date of booking.

It is your responsibility to check any health and vaccination requirements applicable to your booked arrangements. We can only provide general information about this. Health and hygiene facilities and disease risks vary from country to country. You should take health advice about your own needs as early as possible and in good time before your departure. Sources of information include; www.fco.gov.uk, http://travelhealthpro.org.uk/, www.hpa.org.uk, your General Practitioner or a specialist clinic.

This tour is accessible to most people with an average level of fitness. It involves some climbing of steep steps. This tour is not suitable for anyone with walking difficulties.

The currency used in Cyprus is the Euro. You can exchange your currency before you travel, or whilst you are in Cyprus. It is important that you budget carefully and ensure you have the right form of currency before you arrive in the country

You will need to take some extra money with you to cover any personal purchases, such as souvenirs, laundry, extra drinks, and snacks.

We have no minimum number of passengers to run this holiday. If we are not able to operate your departure date for any other reason, then you may be asked to change to a different date and a full refund will be made available to you should this alternative not be suitable.

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