Cyprus

Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean and has been fought over for most of recorded history, which is why its archaeology is so dense. Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader and Ottoman layers all survive, often within a single town and sometimes within a single building.

The coast is the draw, warm well into autumn, and in the south it runs to coves rather than long open beaches. Inland the Troodos mountains rise to nearly two thousand metres, pine-covered, noticeably cooler and dotted with painted churches.