Paphos (Cyprus)

I have just returned home after a couple of weeks in Paphos.
This is my seventh visit to Paphos over 3 years. This time it was very different. Being my first visit since Cyprus changed over to Euros in Jan 2008, I was amazed to notice the changes that had already been made.

The Harbour had changed almost beyond recognition. For those of you who have already visited this area, you are in for a shock of delight.

The harbour sea front has now gone pedestrian. Gone the noisy buses, the taxis parked all along the sea front. the shabby little shops have now been replaced with smart boutiques and gift shops.

Restaurants are modern clean and inviting. It was almost finished when I returned and a few more weeks will see the completion.
The traffic is now diverted through the shop, by Debenhams and the Supermarket, the main car park is now one way in - one way out. leaving the sea front safe and clean.
I can honestly say that the promanade now competes with the South of France.

So to continue on with the review of Paphos I will leave you to read on.....

Paphos is Ideal for all year round holidays. Many thinks so but there are some unlucky holiday makers that have come here in the winter, are really disappointed. Honestly I can't blame them either. Unless you know what to do and where to go. it can be really boring, looking drab, and even the beaches don't look very special. Many of the harbour shops are closed and other stores are nor fully stocked.

I would however like to address the balance.
Paphos can be wonderful any time of year, but in the winter you need to go to the right Hotels, in the right part of town. I do not recommend a holiday apartment out of town, the areas are often still being built, they are miles from anywhere with no other holiday makers around.

A good hotel must be near the centre of town, near the sea front, shops, or a regular bus with walking distance.

One of the better hotels that we stayed in was the King Louis in Paphos Town, just a walk from the main shopping area and sea front.
Tje service is good, very polite and the food was brilliant. Served in the restaurant by a friendly team of Burmese Cooks chefs and waters. They worked together as a team and the food was one of the best selections I have ever tasted.

The rooms were good, but we did spend most of our time out and about. It was week before Xmas, and we really wished that we had booked to stay over Xmas as well. It was tastefully decorated with beautiful Xmas scenes, quite different we found to the ones we have here.

A five minute bus ride, if you don't hire a car, will take you up the hill into the old town, where there is an indoor pannier market, open daily and a little paved square wher we stood and listed to the most amazing opera singers with a brass band, singing for at least an hour, songs and carols. It left us quite overwhelmed as we walked away.

During the winter there are still many coach trips to all different places over the island, but by far the best was th 6 person Jeep up into the troodos mountains. we drove for an hour with an excellent guide, describing everything we passed. We stopped off road for a coffee break in a little roadside cafe. The off road into the tracks that led us up into the rough terrain. Very bumpy, ghreat fun when we had to drive on a small path tilting sideways with the two offside wheels in the river, We stopped at a pretty eating place where we picniced and enjoyed the famous bridge where we sat and pondered.

It wasn't hot, but although we took our coats we didn't wear them until we reached the top.

We visited the Kykkos monestery, Arch Bishop Mackarios live here, it was so spectacular, no-one should ever miss this monastery. long sleeves or trousers are the order of the day, many visitors were turned away at the door, because their attire was not correct.

They also have a small museum there, which is one of the most luxurios I have ever seen. We then travelled on to the top of the mountain, it wasn't long before we were driving into heavy snow. The trees made a wonderful backdrop with their branches draped town so the tips almost touched the ground.

We had taken our trip on a sunday, which was good, because all the families, had come up to the deep snow area with the children so they could sled down the mountain on brightly coloured trays. Driving on a little further we reached the little town of Troodos. there is a market square, and a childrens playground. The children played in the snow while the adults shopped til they dropped.

On the way down we stopped at a lovely hidden restaurant right in the depths of the forest, they had been prepared and served us some amazing food. The trip took all day, we started at 8.am. and we arrived home at 9 pm. Feeling elated by the cristp atmosphere at the tops of the mountain, and tired from the bumping around in the jeep, and trekking through the forest.
This trip I would definately reccommend, and if you don't like the idea of the Jeep, there are luxury coaches that go there too.

If the weather is good a visit to the Tomb of the Kings, just along the Tomb of the Kings road, is well worth a visit, make sure that you take water with you though. The excavators are working all the time on recovering these tombs and restoring them and making them safe for visitors to see. If you are fased out by the age and history of these, then not far away are the Roman Pavements, uncovered after a thousand years of being hidden, many are in almost perfect condition.
These can be entered behind the car park on the harbour, near the restaurants.

If window shopping is your scene, then Leather shops, jewellers and optitions are worth a brouse. The supermarkets have an amazing selection of just about everything.
If you are thinking of getting new glasses, save them until you are here and you can get some really good bargains, they are good, quick and eficient. with very modern frames.

Ther is a really nice Debenhams and Next up in the old town, newly built and very modern, with a restaurant for food, an insight into how up market Paphos is becoming. There is a realy super, supermarket for the DIY man in your life, right next door to Debenhams, now that is really good planning, don't you think?

Something else that you could do, if it is too cold for the beach, is to look around the estate agents, They will take you round the houses new, nearly new and very old. You get to know the area very well, are offered drinks, and get taken to some wonderful places. You never know you might decide to buy one, they are a lot cheaper than here in the U.K..

We did and ended up buying one two years ago.
We purchased a town house, just off the Tomb of the Kings road. between the Tombs and the Roman pavements.

We had some wonderful trips around the various villages before we decided, and I think we made a very good choice.
It was 15 years old and fully furnished in a very modern, so we didn't have to buy anything extra.

If you buy an apartment then you have to buy all the furniture and everything that goes with it.

I will write another review about buying in Cyprus later. There is quite a lot to say on every aspect.

Going back to the beaches in winter, there is a very good reason why they are so poor.
During the Autumn Paphos has very high winds, and the sand that is imported from another part of the island is all blown away, they might even import the sand from Egypt.
Talking of Egypt, Paphos does a wonderful trip to Egupt either by boat or plane, either way this is something everyone should consider.

Yes there is always students and others working for timeshare companies, with scratch cards they offer you. Don't be fooled, they know what they are doing and it is a great time waster, you are offered a bottle of wine from one of the tickets, if you have that card sure as eggs are eggs, your partner will have won a holiday on his/hers.
I know we found a discarded pack of these scratch cards on a wall in the Harbour carpark. Someone had obviously had enough. Look on the back of these cards some will have a little mark in the corner, the other ones don't. If has this mark, you have won their offer of a holiday, you do however have to pay around- £7,000 for the priveledge. So please what ever you do, don't be taken in.

If you stay in an apartment during the winter months, make sure it is near the harbour area, there are many good ones around. Universal area is not one that I would recommend to anyone at this time. Unless you are lucky and get one near the main road. that leads to the harbour.

BUT HAVING FOUND YOURSELF IN AN APARTMENT, THERE ARE SEVERAL GOOD HOTELS NEARBY THAT WILL LET YOU USE THEIR INDOOR POOL, BARS AND HEALTH CLUBS, Just ask the local English residents, there are many around who are only to glad to help.

What ever you do decide to do, consider Paphos during the winter, but don't be afraid to ask what is around that is worth seeing.
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