Platres, Cyprus: the old hill resort of Troodos and how to spend a day there

Platres is the old hill resort of the Troodos mountains: a village of hotels, villas and cafes spread through pine forest about 1,100 metres up, around 39 km and 55 minutes’ drive from Limassol. Come for cool air, the walks to Caledonia and Millomeris waterfalls, a long lunch and a look at the colonial-era buildings. It has more places to sleep and eat than any other Troodos village, which makes it the easiest base in the mountains, and EMEL bus 64 runs here from Limassol.

What Platres is not is a museum-piece stone village. Omodos and Kakopetria do that better. Platres grew up as a summer retreat for British officials and well-off Cypriot and Egyptian families, and the architecture shows it: tiled roofs, verandas, English-country public buildings and grand old hotels, some still trading. It is a place to walk, eat and slow down rather than to tick off sights.

Platres at a glance

Where	Southern Troodos, Limassol district, below Mount Olympus
Altitude	1,100 m (Visit Cyprus); about 1,200 m on average across Pano and Kato Platres (community)
From Limassol	About 39 km and 55 minutes
From Paphos	About 72 km and 1 hour 20 minutes
Known for	Its history as the island’s summer hill resort, Caledonia and Millomeris waterfalls, forest walks, trout
Main sights	Glafkos Clerides square, the Giorgos Seferis Hall, Panagia Faneromeni church, Psilo Dendro, the chocolate workshop
Walks	Kalidonia (3 km), Millomeris (1.2 km), Milia Bridge (1 km), Psilo Dendro-Pouziaris circuit
Bus	EMEL route 64 from Limassol
Tourist office	Olympou 4C, Pano Platres, +357 25 421316, Monday to Friday 08:30-16:00
Best for	A summer escape from the heat, a first night in Troodos, walkers who want a hotel and a restaurant at the end of the day

How Platres became a hill resort

The community’s own history says Platres appears among the villages of the Limassol district as far back as Frankish and Venetian rule. The modern resort starts later. After 1878 the British colonial administration chose the cool slopes above Platres for a summer military camp and a seasonal seat of government, in what is now the Presidential summer residence on the road between Platres and Troodos Square.

Roads, water, electricity and a post office followed, and Cypriot families living in Egypt began building summer mansions. The community lists the first lodgings, “Ta Krya Nera”, in 1900, the Platres Hotel in 1905 (later the Grand Hotel), the Grand Switzerland in 1915 and the Monte Carlo in 1920, with the largest ballroom in Cyprus at the time. Pendeli, Kallithea, Petit Palais, Semiramis, Edelweiss and others came after. Among the guests the village remembers are King Farouk of Egypt and the novelist Daphne du Maurier.

The Greek poet Giorgos Seferis, later a Nobel laureate, stayed in Platres in the 1950s and named it in his poem “Helen”, in a line about the nightingales that will not let you sleep. That poem is why Platres is known across the Greek-speaking world, and the village’s cultural centre, the Giorgos Seferis Hall, is named after him. Visit Cyprus says it holds an exhibition of old village photographs and material on Seferis.

Resident numbers tell the rest of the story. The community gives about 200 permanent residents, rising to around 10,000 in summer, especially in August.

What to see and do in Platres

Walk the village. The centre is Glafkos Clerides Square, with cafes, the bank, the post office and the tourist information office around it. From there it is easy to wander past the colonial-era police station and hospital, the 1936 marble fountain of Roxanne Koundouranis on Kaledonias Street, and the shaded Valley of Hariton (Heroes Park), a stream valley under plane and alder trees with a cafe.

Panagia Faneromeni. The large church of Panagia Faneromeni between Pano and Kato Platres opened in 1973 on the site of an 1880 chapel. The original small chapel of the same name, once the village church, now opens only twice a year, on 8 September and on the Friday after Easter.

Psilo Dendro and the trout farm. At the top of the village, beside the cold Kryos river, Psilo Dendro (“tall tree”) has been a restaurant and cafe for many years and has a trout farm next to it. It is also the lower trailhead for the Caledonia walk, so lunch here after the waterfall is the classic Platres day.

Chocolate, lavender and ropes. Visit Cyprus singles out a chocolate workshop with tastings and classes, an adventure rope park (Sparti) and the cultural centre. The community site also lists a lavender thematic centre with weekend workshops; it described them as free in 2023 because the Deputy Ministry of Tourism sponsored them, so ring +357 99 427980 to check before you go. There is a winery in Kato Platres too.

Viewpoints. The community names two: Yerokamina, which looks south over the Kourris dam, the Limassol coast and the Akrotiri peninsula, and Ayia Irene, a rock above the pine forest.

Walks and waterfalls from Platres

Platres sits inside the Troodos National Forest Park, and several official trails start on its edge. The Kryos river runs down from Mount Olympus along the east side of the village and forms both of its waterfalls.

Trail	Start	Length	What to expect
Kalidonia	Psilo Dendro, or off the Troodos road about 3 km from the square	3 km linear, about 1.5 hours one way	The Caledonia waterfall and a 333 m height difference; grade 3
Millomeris	Faneromeni church area, Pano Platres	1.2 km, about 30 minutes	Short, steep and rough, ending at Millomeris waterfall
Milia Bridge	Platres stadium	1 km linear, medium	A short forest walk towards the old Milia bridge on the Kryos river
Psilo Dendro-Pouziaris	Psilo Dendro junction	Circular, graded high	Calabrian pine, then black pine forest higher up, with long views

Most visitors want Caledonia. Our Caledonia Waterfall guide explains which end to start from and why the direction matters, and the Millomeris guide covers the shorter, steeper walk and the rough car approach. For higher walks, the Artemis and Atalanti trails start near Troodos Square; see our hiking in Cyprus guide.

Where to eat and stay

Platres has the widest choice of accommodation in the Troodos range. The community lists Petit Palais Platres Boutique Hotel, Forest Park Hotel (with pools, tennis and a restaurant), New Helvetia Hotel (25 rooms, 8 maisonette suites and 6 studios), Kallithea Inn, Semiramis Lodge and Edelweiss Hotel, plus self-catering apartments. Several of these names go back to the resort’s early years, so expect period character rather than resort facilities.

For food, the community’s gastronomy pages list around a dozen places, including Psilo Dentro for trout, The Village Tavern, Kaledonia Restaurant, Skylight, Veranda, Sytzia tou Mavrou and several cafes, and Visit Cyprus lists A. J. Village Restaurant. Hours shrink in winter, especially on weekdays, so phone ahead if you are coming between November and March.

Getting to Platres

From	Distance by road	Drive time
Limassol old port	39 km	About 55 minutes
Paphos harbour	72 km	About 1 hour 20 minutes
Paphos airport	63 km	About 1 hour 10 minutes
Nicosia, Solomou Square	81 km	About 1 hour 30 minutes
Larnaca airport	105 km	About 1 hour 45 minutes
Omodos	9 km	About 15 minutes
Troodos Square	About 10-12 km	Under 20 minutes
Kakopetria	27 km	About 35 minutes

By car is simplest. From Limassol the B8 Troodos road climbs past Trimiklini and the Pera Pedi turn; from Paphos most routes come in via the wine villages and Omodos. Our Paphos to Troodos guide covers that side, and driving in Cyprus the mountain-road basics.

By bus, EMEL route 64 runs from Vasileos Georgiou in central Limassol through the old port and the Leontiou bus station, up the Troodos road via Trimiklini, Pera Pedi and Mandria, to Kato Platres, the Platres hospital and the Pano Platres village centre, then on to a stop at the Platres forest station named for the Kalidonia trail, and Troodos Square. It is the only bus that links Platres with the Caledonia walk and the high Troodos trailheads. A paper single is €2 (€3 after 21:00) and a day ticket €6, bought on board. The route page shows stops but no times, and rural services are few, so call EMEL on 8000 4080 first.

Platres or another Troodos base?

	Platres	Omodos	Kakopetria	Troodos Square
Feel	Old hill resort in pine forest	Stone wine village with a monastery square	Protected old quarter in the Solea valley	Car parks, cafes and trailheads, not a village
Best for	Waterfall walks, choice of hotels and restaurants	Wine, a short visit, lace and the monastery	A night in a traditional village	The highest trails, the ski slopes, Mount Olympus
From Limassol	About 55 minutes	About 50 minutes	About 1 hour 10 minutes	About 1 hour 10 minutes
Bus from Limassol	Route 64	Route 40	No direct EMEL route	Route 64

Choose Platres if you want to walk and eat in the same place, Omodos for a wine-village afternoon, and Kakopetria for a traditional village stay on the Nicosia side. From Platres, Mount Olympus and the ski area are only around 20 minutes further up. Our Troodos guide helps shape the whole day, and for more villages see the best villages in Cyprus.

When to visit

Summer is the reason Platres exists: it is noticeably cooler than the coast, which is why the village fills up in July and August and why weekend lunches get busy. Spring brings the best water in the Kryos river and the waterfalls, and in autumn the plane trees along the streams turn gold. In winter the village is quiet and some places close midweek, but it makes a calm stop on the way to the snow higher up. For the season-by-season picture, see our Cyprus in winter guide and things to do in Limassol for the rest of the district.

Sources for changing details: Altitude, waterfall, chocolate workshop, rope park, winery and the Seferis exhibition from Visit Cyprus. Tourist office address and hours from Visit Cyprus Tourist Information Offices. History, population, hotels, churches, attractions, viewpoints, gastronomy and trail grades from the Platres community website. Kalidonia trail figures from Visit Cyprus. Bus stops from EMEL route 64 and fares from EMEL tickets. Christmas Village list from Visit Cyprus. Drive times from OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data. All checked 5 November 2026; confirm opening hours before you travel.

Hero photo: Platres village by AlekosCY, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped for the header.