Aphrodite Hills

Few golf destinations in the Mediterranean carry the kind of mythology that surrounds Aphrodite Hills. The resort course sits on the Akamas Peninsula coastline west of Paphos, perched on dramatic limestone cliffs above the very shores where, according to legend, the goddess of love herself emerged from the sea. That backstory would be a marketing gimmick anywhere else — here, it's simply geography.

The course was designed by Cabell Robinson, the American architect who trained under Pete Dye, and opened in 2002. Robinson made full use of the ravines and coastal bluffs that cut through the property, producing a layout where the terrain does the heavy lifting. The par-3 over a deep valley to the clifftop green is among the most photographed holes in European golf, and the Mediterranean panoramas are constant throughout the round.

Paphos itself is a UNESCO World Heritage city, and the surrounding region is one of Cyprus's most visited stretches of coastline. The golf here is resort-standard, polished and playable, but the setting is genuinely hard to match.