Kakopetria means "bad stones", which is a magnificently grumpy name for one of the prettiest villages in Cyprus. The stones in question are the boulders strewn along the valley where the village grew up, at the meeting of two mountain streams on the northern slopes of the Troodos. Legend says one of them, the Petra tou Antroyinou, rolled over a pair of newlyweds. The village kept the name and, mercifully, better luck since.
What makes Kakopetria special is Old Kakopetria, the protected historic quarter along the river: a single winding spine of lane with balconied stone-and-timber houses leaning over it, the water rushing below, and an old restored watermill at the top. It is a listed, preserved zone, so it still looks the way mountain villages used to before concrete arrived, and in the evening, lit up with the river as a soundtrack, it is as romantic a stroll as this island offers.
The painted church in the pines
Five minutes up the hill sits the real treasure: Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis, Saint Nicholas of the Roof, an 11th-century church wearing a great timber over-roof like a barn worn as a coat, built to shrug off mountain snow. Inside, the walls carry frescoes spanning six centuries, and the church is one of the ten painted churches of the Troodos on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It is a small, dim, extraordinary place, and it costs nothing but respect.
Trout, cherries and cold air
Kakopetria sits at about 670 metres, high enough that summer evenings need a light jumper, which is exactly why Nicosians have been escaping up here for a century. The valley's farms grow apples and cherries, the streams grow trout, and the village restaurants have made grilled trout the local signature dish. Lunch on a terrace over the water, trout and mountain chips, is the canonical Kakopetria experience.
Use it as a base and the northern Troodos opens up: more painted churches down the Solea and Marathasa valleys, Kykkos Monastery over the ridge, and the summit of Mount Olympus half an hour away. Or do none of that, walk the old town twice, eat twice, and drive home. Both are correct. Kakopetria has been in the weekend-escape business longer than anywhere else in these mountains, and it knows exactly what it is doing.
Practicalities: the village is 50 minutes from Nicosia and just over an hour from Limassol, roads are good all the way, and weekends in July and August book out, so reserve dinner. Winter is arguably the best-kept secret, log fires, mist in the valley and the old town entirely to yourself.
