Paphos Old Town Market: What's There and How to Visit

What the old town market actually is

The old town market is described as an indoor covered market hall in the centre of the town, which is why it works as a shopping stop rather than a browse-and-move-on attraction. It sits at the top of the hill in Ktima, and the streets around it hold narrow alleys and traditional buildings mixed with modern shopfronts. Treat it as the anchor of a half-day in the old town rather than a destination in itself.

The hall is a different thing from the Paphos Open Air Market: that is a Sunday market at Timi village, running from 7.00 a.m. until 2.00 p.m. with local produce, handicrafts and decorative items sold by villagers. If you turn up in Ktima on a Sunday expecting an outdoor market, you will find the covered hall instead.

What is sold inside the hall

Inside, the stalls cover the practical souvenir range: clothes, jewellery, lace, hand-made candles, artworks, pictures, colourful handbags, shoes, leather goods and general souvenirs. Shaded markets give a break from the sun, which matters when you have walked up from the coast in summer.

Walk the full hall once before buying anything. Lace and leather goods are among the items the market sells, and those are the stalls worth slowing down for.

Named stalls worth targeting

Several stalls inside the hall are named and worth seeking out. Christias Souvenir Shop, Ocean Souvenir Shop and Zemi Souvenir Shop cover the general souvenir ground, Andros Handmade Lace is the place for lacework, and STOA sells baskets. Knowing these names turns a wander into a short list you can work through.

If you want something made rather than mass-produced, the local crafts shops nearby are worth combining with the hall. Everything in the hall is pleasant and packable.

The streets around the hall

The market hall sits within a quarter of narrow alleys and traditional architecture, and several cafes and restaurants near the top of the hill face views over the lower town and the sea. That combination makes the old town a natural pairing of shopping and a sit-down, rather than a purely retail trip. Plan to finish your browsing and then take a table with a view rather than the other way round.

Ktima rewards slow walking: the pleasure is in the lanes between the hall and the surrounding squares, not in a single building. Allow time for a coffee stop in the lanes around the hall; anyone treating the market as a whistle-stop will miss most of what makes the area worth the climb.

Other old-town shopping stops on the same streets

Kivotos Gallery, at 67 Agoras, sells jewellery, knitted and crochet work, glasswork, ceramics, metalwork and souvenirs made by local Greek and Cypriot artists, and is awarded as 'Destination Pafos' approved by the Cyprus Tourism Organization, the Travel Foundation and the CSTI for excellence and quality of its items. It is a step up from the souvenir stalls and the obvious stop if you want something made rather than manufactured.

The Place on Constantinou Kanari 56 is a traditional crafts shop where you can watch basket-making, pottery and woodcarving being done, and taste Cypriot wines on site. Aphrodite Jewellery on Arch. Makarios Avenue 83 covers jewellery and watches at the affordable end of the market. Between them, these two give the old town a credible crafts circuit beyond the hall.

If you want a mall instead, Kings Avenue Mall at the corner of St. Paul and Tombs of the Kings has around 120 shops, a six-screen cinema and free parking, with brands including Marks & Spencer and Zara. It is a separate central Paphos destination, not part of the old town, so do not fold it into a Ktima walk.

Getting there from Kato Paphos and the harbour

The old town is uphill from Kato Paphos, so the walk up is the main practical decision of the day. A taxi or bus for the ascent and a walk back down is the comfortable option, especially in summer; walking both ways is feasible but turns a shopping trip into a hike. Neither is a long journey, so the choice is about heat and energy rather than distance alone.

Once in Ktima, everything on this list sits within a short walk of the hall, so you do not need transport between stops. Check the map before you set out — the Paphos map guide covers the layout. That saves the usual circling the hill on foot.

Timing the visit: heat, shade and crowds

Summer afternoons in Paphos are punishing, and the covered hall is genuinely useful as a shaded pause in the middle of the day. The wider benefit is that the old town's indoor stops let you keep going through the hottest hours instead of retreating to the coast. If you are travelling in July or August, shop late morning and early evening and use the hall at midday.

Spring and autumn are the comfortable seasons for the walk up and the lanes around the hall, with October in particular well suited to a slow old-town morning. Confirm the hall's opening hours with the shop or your accommodation before making the trip specifically for it; that one check prevents a wasted climb.

Beyond the hall: crafts elsewhere in the district

Lemba Pottery, at Eleftherias Street 18 in Lemba about five kilometres from Paphos, was started in 1998 by George and Sotiroula Georgiades and sells individually crafted cups, mugs, kitchen jars, water jugs, storage jars and dinner plates. It is a workshop visit rather than a market stall, and it sits on the road towards Coral Bay. Go if you want pottery you will actually use at home.

Cyprus also runs Folk Art and Handicraft Centres, with district branches in Paphos alongside Limassol, Larnaca and Nicosia, showing work in precious stones, metal, wood, textiles, silk, wool and cotton. These centres suit travellers who want to understand the craft traditions rather than just buy the output.

Where the market fits into an old town walk

Build the day around a loop: up to Agoras, through the hall stall by stall, then Kivotos Gallery on the same street, then The Place and Aphrodite Jewellery, finishing with a table facing the lower town. That order keeps the walking logical and puts the sit-down at the end, when you have earned it.

If you are in Paphos for a week rather than a day, pair the old town with the coastal sights on a separate outing so neither gets rushed. The harbour, the archaeological park and the mosaics are all down at Kato Paphos and reward a full morning of their own; the Things to Do in Paphos guide groups them. Keep the market day for Ktima alone.

Is the old town market worth the climb?

Yes, if you treat it as part of a Ktima morning rather than a standalone attraction. The hall gives you shade and a concentrated spell of shopping, the named stalls give you targets, and the galleries and lanes around it give the trip substance. Go up by taxi or bus, walk down, and aim for spring or autumn if you can choose.