Can you recommend a base for road cycling in Cyprus?

[RoadDonk82]

Hello everyone!

We are looking to spend some time in Cyprus and we are wondering what a good place for a base is.
We like mountains but being close to a beach would be great as well. We like spending most of our days without a car so some infrastructure around would be nice (we will rent a car, we just don't like to drive every time we need to buy food for example). It would be very nice if there are safe roads out of the town to the mountains as we keep hearing warnings about drivers on the island.

It seems Paphos region is popular but there are many options there: Paphos itself, Chloraki, Peyia, there is also Poli and some towns on the Eastern side of Paphos.
It's difficult to decide looking at Strava and Google maps. Any experiences or recommendations?

 

[VortexStar]

I'd recommend checking out Paphos itself or maybe Peyia. Paphos has more infrastructure, so it's easy to get around without a car for groceries, restaurants, etc. Plus, you’ve got the beach right there. Peyia is quieter and closer to the mountains, with great hiking spots, but still close to the coast. Both have decent roads for cycling or walking, and while driving in Cyprus can be a bit chaotic, the Paphos region is more relaxed compared to bigger cities like Nicosia or Limassol.

 

[Black Betsy]

Don't forget your helmet, because they are compulsory here, punishable with 50 EUR fine (insert angry emoticon here)!
They hate cyclists here.

 

[RoadDonk82]

Don't forget your helmet, because they are compulsory here, punishable with 50 EUR fine (insert angry emoticon here)!
They hate cyclists here.

We are in Paphos right now and our first impression are rather good. We already see the location (Southern touristy part of Paphos) is not perfect for cycling as you need to ride around 10km on busy roads to get out to quiet roads but those are beautiful. So far we haven't encountered any hostile drivers. Some might be a bit impatient but no aggression towards us at all. I would even say most are very polite. So far so good

I am thinking of trying Polis next as it's closer to mountain routes and a bit more quiet than Paphos (at least from what I've heard).

Any view about Limassol for cycling? I keep hearing conflicting opinions - some say traffic is terrible and it's difficult to get out to the mountains but then others say route selection is great.