Avakas Gorge

On the wild Akamas peninsula, the Avakas Gorge cuts a narrow slot through soft limestone where the walls climb tens of metres and, in places, almost close overhead. A famous fallen boulder hangs jammed between the cliffs, a stream threads the shaded floor, and rare plants cling to the rock. It is one of the few walks in Cyprus that feels genuinely adventurous — and one of the most photographed.

What you'll see

• The narrows, where the gorge walls tower overhead and daylight turns to cool blue shade
• The wedged boulder — a huge rock caught between the cliffs, the trail's signature sight
• Wild fig and plane trees, hanging ferns, and oleander along the streambed
• Centaurea akamantis, a wildflower that grows on these gorge walls and nowhere else on earth
• Wildlife of the Akamas: porcupines, hares, lizards, and birds of prey riding the thermals above

The walk

From the car park at the mouth of the gorge, the path follows the streambed inland. The first stretch is gentle and open, but within twenty minutes the walls begin to rise and press in until you reach the narrows and the wedged boulder — for many walkers, the natural turning point of a shorter there-and-back. Beyond it the trail continues climbing out of the gorge and up onto the plateau, looping through open country before the full route ends near Toxeftra. Expect to rock-hop, and expect wet feet in the final section, where water runs across the path for most of the year.

Getting there

The gorge sits on the Akamas coast, about a 30–40 minute drive from Paphos through Pegeia and Agios Georgios. The last stretch to the car park is an unsurfaced track — passable with care in a normal car in dry weather, though a higher-clearance vehicle is more comfortable. Get directions →

In pictures