Troodos Square, Cyprus: what is there, the walks that start here and how to get up

Troodos Square is the small, busy hub at the top of the Troodos mountains: a paved plaza about 1,725 metres up on the B9, with car parks, cafes, souvenir stalls, a hotel and the national forest park’s visitor centre, around 48 km and 70 minutes’ drive from Limassol. You do not come for the square itself. You come because the highest trails in Cyprus start here, Mount Olympus and the ski slopes are a couple of kilometres above it, and it is the one place in the high mountains where you can park, eat and use a toilet.

That framing saves disappointment. People who arrive expecting a pretty village square find a car park ringed with snack bars. People who arrive with a walk planned, or for a winter morning in the snow, tend to find it does exactly what they need.

Troodos Square at a glance

Where	Top of the Troodos range, Limassol district, on the B9 between Platres and Prodromos
Altitude	About 1,725 m
Local name	Plateia Troodous
What is there	Car parks, cafes and snack bars, souvenir stalls, the Troodos Hotel, a police station, the Environmental Information Centre
Walks from the square	Persephone (3 km linear), Atalanti (14 km circular)
Nearby	Mount Olympus and the ski area, Troodos Botanic Garden, Platres, Prodromos
Visitor centre	Weekdays 09:00-14:30 all year; weekends only in summer; 1 euro
From Limassol	About 48 km, 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes
Bus	EMEL route 64 from Limassol
Best for	Starting a mountain walk, a snow day, a cool summer lunch stop

What is actually at Troodos Square

The square sits at a junction where the road up from Platres and Limassol meets the roads towards Prodromos and Karvounas. Around a cobbled plaza you will find cafes, restaurants and snack bars, souvenir shops, and a large stone building with green shutters that features in most photographs of the place, including the one at the top of this page. Black pines grow right up to the edge of the paving.

Places to stay. Visit Cyprus lists the 3-star Troodos Hotel at 16 Troodos Square, the only hotel on the square itself, and the Jubilee Hotel with a Troodos postal address a short way down the road. Both are worth ringing before you rely on them in winter. For a much wider choice of hotels and restaurants, Platres is about 9 km and 12 minutes down the hill.

Eating. The square’s cafes and restaurants are simple places for a coffee, a snack or a grilled lunch rather than destination dining. Weekends, and especially snowy weekends, are the busy times, so arrive early if you want a table and a parking space.

Events. The square doubles as a car park for larger mountain events. For the third “Pame Troodos” open day at the Presidential summer residence, which sits between Platres and the square, organisers ran shuttle buses on 6 September 2026 from two parking areas: Troodos Square next to the meteorological station, and the Environmental Information Centre. The residence is not open on ordinary days.

The Troodos visitor centre and its seasonal hours

The Troodos Environmental Information Centre, run by the Forestry Department, is a short walk from the square. It has an exhibition gallery and film theatre on the geology, plants and wildlife of the Troodos National Forest Park, a small shop, and a short botanical and geological trail outside where you can see the rock types and endemic plants up close. It is a useful first stop before a walk.

Its hours change with the season, and the winter pattern catches people out:

Months	Monday to Friday	Saturday	Sunday
November to March	09:00-14:30	Closed	Closed
June to August	09:00-14:30	10:00-16:00	10:00-16:00
September and October	09:00-14:30	Closed	10:00-16:00

Entry is 1 euro for adults and children over six. It closes on all public holidays except 15 August. Visit Cyprus does not publish April and May hours, so assume weekdays only in spring unless you have checked. In practice, a December or January weekend visit, which is when the square is busiest with snow-seekers, will find the centre shut.

Walks that start at Troodos Square

Two official Forestry Department nature trails begin at or next to the square, and a third circles Mount Olympus just above it.

Trail	Start	Length and type	What you get
Persephone	150 m south of the square, towards the police station	3 km linear, about 1 hour each way	Black pine forest, then the Makria Kontarka viewpoint over the Limassol wine villages and the coast
Atalanti	Beside the square	14 km circular, about 4 to 5 hours	A long contour round Chionistra at 1,700-1,750 m, an 800-year-old juniper, the entrance tunnel of a chrome mine closed in 1982, and a drinking fountain 3 km in
Artemis	300 m from where the Chionistra road meets the Troodos-Prodromos road, about 2 km from the visitor centre	7 km circular, 2.5 to 3 hours	The loop around the summit of Mount Olympus at about 1,850 m, with 500-year-old black pines

Persephone is the right choice for most visitors: short, gentle and with a proper view at the end. Because it is linear, you walk back the same way. Atalanti is a serious half day. Its loop crosses the Troodos-Prodromos road about 9 km in, where you follow the forest road towards Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis for about 200 m before a wooden sign takes you back onto the path to the square. Artemis is covered in detail in our Mount Olympus guide, and our hiking in Cyprus guide explains the official grades and compares these with walks elsewhere on the island.

Cyclists use the square as a start point too. Visit Cyprus publishes a Troodos-Psilo Dentro-Caledonia falls loop on dirt roads that passes the Makria Kontarka detour and the old asbestos mine, and a 55 km Troodos Square to Stavros tis Psokas road route via Prodromos and Kykkos. The Psilo Dentro end of that loop is also where the Caledonia waterfall walk begins.

Nearby, within 15 minutes

• Mount Olympus and the ski area. The highest point in Cyprus, 1,952 m, is a couple of kilometres up the road. The summit itself is a radar station and closed to the public; our skiing in Cyprus guide covers the lifts, prices and season.
• Troodos Botanic Garden. At about 1,400 m on the Karvounas road beside the restored Amiantos asbestos mine, with endemic plants, a herbarium and the Troodos Geopark visitor centre next door. From October to January it opens Monday to Friday 09:00-14:00 and Sunday 10:30-15:00, so Saturday is closed in winter; phone +357 25 550 092.
• Platres, 9 km and 12 minutes south, for hotels, restaurants and the waterfalls.
• Prodromos, 8 km and 10 minutes west, on the way to Pedoulas and Kalopanagiotis.
• Kakopetria, 18 km and about 20 minutes north, for its protected old quarter and a winter lunch; see our Kakopetria guide.

Troodos Square in winter

Winter is when the square earns its search volume. In a cold spell it can sit under snow while the coast stays mild, and the drive from sunshine to snow in an hour is a genuine Cyprus experience. The Cyprus Ski Club runs the slopes on Mount Olympus from roughly early January to the end of March, snow permitting.

Three things to know before you go:

1. Snow is weather, not a season. Check the Cyprus Ski Club’s piste and road conditions page and its webcam on the morning, not the week before.
2. Roads can be restricted after heavy snow to four-wheel-drive vehicles or cars with chains. Read your hire agreement, because many Cyprus contracts limit mountain and snow driving; our car hire guide and driving in Cyprus guide explain what to look for.
3. Weekends are crowded and the visitor centre is shut. Go on a weekday if you can, and expect parking pressure on any snowy Sunday.

Winter daylight is short, so plan to be heading down well before dark. If the snow does not materialise, a Christmas Village such as Agros or Kakopetria makes a better afternoon; our Cyprus in winter guide has the wider picture.

Getting to Troodos Square

From	Distance by road	Allow
Limassol old port	48 km	1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes
Paphos harbour	81 km	About 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes
Paphos airport	71 km	About 1 hour 25 minutes
Nicosia, Solomou Square	77 km	About 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes
Larnaca airport	111 km	About 2 hours
Platres	9 km	12 minutes
Kakopetria	18 km	About 20 minutes

Routing software underestimates mountain bends, so the ranges above add a margin to the raw figures. From Limassol, the B8 climbs past Trimiklini and Platres; from Paphos most drivers come up through the wine villages, which our Paphos to Troodos guide covers in detail; from Nicosia the road runs through the Solea valley and Kakopetria.

By bus, EMEL route 64 (Lemesos-Saittas-Troodos) runs from central Limassol through the Leontiou bus station and up the Troodos road via Kato Platres, Platres hospital, the Pano Platres village centre and the Platres forest station (Kalidonia) to its last stop at Troodos Square. A paper single is 2 euros (3 euros after 21:00) and a day ticket 6 euros. The route page lists stops but no departure times, so call EMEL on 8000 4080 first. We could not confirm a current public bus to the square from Nicosia or Paphos.

Troodos Square, Platres or Mount Olympus?

	Troodos Square	Platres	Mount Olympus
What it is	Trailhead hub with cafes and parking	Old hill resort village	The island’s highest peak (summit closed)
Altitude	About 1,725 m	About 1,100 m	1,952 m
Best for	Persephone and Atalanti walks, a snow day	Waterfalls, hotels, long lunches	The Artemis loop, skiing
Facilities	Cafes, toilets, visitor centre, one hotel	Most hotels and restaurants in the range	Ski club facilities in season only

Most good Troodos days use two of the three: park at the square, walk Persephone or Artemis, then drop down to Platres or a village for lunch. Our Troodos guide helps you choose a shape for the day, and best villages in Cyprus suggests where to finish. For the rest of the district, see things to do in Limassol.

Sources for changing details: Visitor centre description, hours and fee from Visit Cyprus’s Troodos Environmental Centre page. Trail starts, lengths and points of interest from Visit Cyprus’s Persephone, Atalanti and Artemis trail pages. Botanic garden hours from Visit Cyprus. Cycling routes from Visit Cyprus’s Troodos 2 loop and Troodos Square-Stavros tis Psokas pages. Hotel listings from Visit Cyprus accommodation pages for Troodos and Jubilee. Pame Troodos parking from Sigmalive, 12 August 2026. Bus stops from EMEL route 64 and fares from EMEL tickets. Drive distances from OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data. All checked 9 November 2026; confirm opening hours before you travel.

Hero photo: Troodos Square by Mike McBey, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 2.0. Cropped for the header.