So, who should visit Paphos? Let's start with my experiences. In the last 10 years I have been to Paphos 7 times, this started with visits with my parents as a 14 year old, moved onto a group holiday with a mass of 21 year olds and more recently a trip for just myself and my long term girlfriend. Every time I’ve been there’s been something for me despite my changing interests and unstoppable ageing. You may think that the town has been changing too, but this is simply not true, it’s just there’s something there for everyone, sure there are now improved beach facilities and better road networks, but the fundamentals remain the same.
The plus points about Paphos are:
Great beaches with good facilities right next to the major hotels.
Places of interest to visit:
Tombs of the kings, Aphrodite’s rock, Paphos Castle and ruined fort, small harbour area that is well maintained and provides some excellent boat trips, plus many others.
Daytime attractions include outdoor go-karting on an excellent circuit, a newly opened aqua-park, the usual beach activities; paragliding, banana boats, scuba diving, etc. Jeep Safaris and coach tours to the mountains and other towns.
Eating out. The possibilities are endless, Pano Paphos (newest area of Paphos) contains street after street of restaurants and takeaways to suite every taste. The harbour area is particularly geared towards fresh fish – these can be seen being pulled from their boats during the daytime. Most of the restaurants serve authentic Cypriot dishes (Fish Mezes – about 16 courses of fish) and some have Greek dancers and other local entertainment.
Night Life. No matter what your age you won’t be bored come sun set. In Cyprus the pubs stay open until 2am and the clubs until 6. One end of the Pano Paphos contains the attractions for the people out for a noisy night. This is all contain on one street which has 20 or so pubs and a couple of small clubs…the prices here are about ¾ what they are in England; this is the expensive part of town! These pubs mainly have English people trying to tempt you in with offers of free drinks. Journey a few hundred yards down the road and things quieten down and the prices drop. All the local bar staff are very friendly and try their utmost to entertain you. Choose the right bar and you’ll be getting generous (to say the least) cocktails for about £1. These bars are also suited for children, where you can buy kiddy cocktails that look as good as the real thing but have none of the kick.
One of the greatest aspects of Cypriot life is their friendly nature and their trustworthiness; accidentally pay too much in a bar and you’ll be told, leave your jeep with the roof off, windows open and bags on the seat and they will remain untouched.
Finally I’ll mention the weather. Go in the summer months and you’re guaranteed temperatures of at least 35 centigrade. The weather is nice all year round, and the most popular time of the year is around Christmas where the weather is still warm, but will not have you feeling uncomfortable. In February/ March time you can even go skiing in the mountains.
About the only down side I can think of is the way some restaurants have people trying to coax you in by persisting to tell you about the menu even though you’re trying to read it, or if it’s obvious that you’re going to the beach (lilo underarm and snorkel on – admittedly this was only at one place).
Basically what I’m saying, is; if you haven’t been then you’d better get your finger out. They say you never go once.
I’ve only actually spoken about Pano Paphos in this review, but there’s also Kato Paphos (the older area) with its markets and old fashioned shops, Tomb of the kings road with it’s restaurants and pubs and the near by Turtle hatchery and Coral Bay with their beautiful beaches.