Paphos (Cyprus)

Well, we have just spent a week in Paphos and I have to say that unfortunately, in the middle of February there really isn't a lot to recommend it!

Firstly, let me talk about the weather! Well the first four days of our holiday we spent freezing and stuck away in our hotel room in an attempt to get warm! I am sure we probably had about as much rain and the temperatures were as low as it was at home! Brrr! The later part of the week has been much warmer, which makes me see why so many people might choose Paphos as a winter destination,but the fact that you cannot rely on the weather here, really makes it feel as hit and miss as a weekend in Cornwall in August!

Another problem seems to be that at this time of year there is really not that much to do. There is a lovely but small bird park which is well worth a visit for half a day but not a lot longer! There is also an aquarium but after treking all the way down to Paphos Harbour we discovered it was closed! At other times of the year there are beautiful beaches, plenty of watersports and an exciting looking water park but sadly none of these are really options in February!

There is another problem as soon as you venture foot into Paphos Harbour - timeshare touts! I don't know why we allowed ourselves to be sucked in but we were tempted by the fact that we won 800 pounds in holiday vouchers! We spent 90 minutes with an RCI rep with a pretty hard sell on signing up today to buy a timeshare - no time to think about it obviously! Also, when looking at the small print on our 'free' holiday vouchers, there are of course many snags with these as they only act as discount - we would have to book at least four holidays in the next year to get the full value so all I would say is if you are in Paphos and are tempted - don't bother! In fact you can have my free holiday vouchers instead!

So can we take solace in the food? Well, if you like chips with everything you are in for a treat! However, if you are looking for some typical cypriot fare you will be hard pushed to find some! It has been really disappointing. I am sure that we are probably looking in all the wrong places but I am just speaking from my own experience! Also none of the restaurants seem to have an authentic feel to them! They like to describe themselves as english pubs offering English football on widescreen TVs! We did pass one restaurant which described itself as a traditional taverna only to then display in big letters - ALL DAY ENGLISH BREAKFAST!

There is a very good and inexpensive bus service threading through all the resorts and on the whole the cypriot people are very friendly! But I would have to say that this is definitely not a place to bring a young family in February, but also, from what we have seen, we are very unlikely to come back at any other time either!