Cyprus Advice

[kingrollo]

Thought about trying cyprus for mid september. Weather in Lanzarote has been a bit iffy lately.

Any advice of what areas to go ? - Looking ideally for a hotel with day & evening entertainment - but nice & scenic as well - Half board or all inclusive

Not to fussed about cycling - but obviously if feasible any advice welcome

 

[vickster]

First you need to choose between North and South.

TUI for example have a Cyprus overview but based on the beachy destinations in the south, if you want to go to the North, you might need a more specialist tour operator.

https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/europe/cyprus/holidays-cyprus.html

It'll be pretty hot still I would think though

 

[iandg]

I like Cyprus. Can't give any advise about hotels but stopped in Pissouri a couple of times (because we were offered free accommodation). Lovely area, did a lot of walking, budget flights to Pathos IIRC. It was a few years ago now.

 

[T4tomo]

do a bit of research but leave it until a couple of weeks out to book, then you have a reasonable idea of weather if that is a concern or has been in recent years?

Canaries & Madeira should still be pretty warm in mid sept as will be Cyprus, Malta, Greek Islands etc. You can see whether SE Med or Europe off the coast of Africa looks the better bet.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

September will be plenty hot.

Been there 4 times back in the 90's so I guess a lot has changed since then. We used a friend's villa just outside of Paphos on all 4 occasions so no idea of hotels.

Paphos is on the west coast so a bit more for grown-up adults ie quieter and the east coast is livelier for not so grown-up adults.

Car/jeep is pretty much essential if you want to get about and see things.

Re cycling; no offence to any Cypriots on here but the driving standards were not too clever when we were there.

For eating-out go to traditional restaurants and avoid anything themed which is aimed at those seeking a less authentic experience. Traditional mezes are superb especially when washed down with brandy sours.

Beaches are good and clean with plenty of watersports - paragliding, sportsboat hire etc. Not too busy either so you can take a sportsboat out a couple of miles (beach looks a long way off then) and merrily engage in a romantic moment or two without fear of getting caught. Whale song coming up through the bottom of the boat is very spooky though.

Cypriots are very very friendly people.

 

[DRM]

We have been a few times, last was all inclusive in Limassol, the West side of the island is generally quieter, East gets more of a younger visitor, with Ayia Napia being party central, and in all honesty, horrible, Nicosia is interesting historically as you can now travel all the way down Ledra St, into the Turkish side, just take your passport to cross, or a coach trip to Kyrenia on the north coast along with Bellapais Abbey, is fascinating as it’s like going back in time, in the North everything seems to have stopped in 1974 when Turkey invaded, just watch the exchange rate from the Euro to Lira, they’re liable to try it on, also a trip to the ghost town of Varosha just outside Famagusta.
Paphos is a nice visit too on the West coast.
the local food is great, Meze’s have been mentioned above, as well as brandy sours, they’re fantastic, the local beer is Keo, the people are friendly, the driving isn’t as bad as it used to be, in the 90’s anything went, but they behaved when driving through the Dhekelia Garrison area as the naughty driver would end up before a British judge! Weather wise it’ll be nice and warm

 

[Deleted member 26715]

If you do hire a car go up Troodus mountain but give yourself plenty of time, & take it STEADY!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

If you do hire a car go up Troodus mountain but give yourself plenty of time, & take it STEADY!

Also, if you go up the Trodos mountains, take extra warm clothing/blankets: no matter the temperature at sea level, it's freezing up there

 

[DRM]

If you do hire a car go up Troodus mountain but give yourself plenty of time, & take it STEADY!

The roads up Troodos are tricky, but we went up there in a hire car in the 90’s, F.I.L pointed out some of the old bits with very tight switchbacks that he’d had to negotiate with a Bedford RL truck in the late 50’s, some seemed impossible, & especially dodgy considering they’d be carrying, 16 men & kit in the back, there’s been quite a few troops killed when their vehicles rolled down the mountain, a lot of them National Servicemen

 

[Gillstay]

The native Cedar Forest was interesting and there was a small place dedicated to the reptiles of the island which I enjoyed as they were very hard to find, as like the birds the Cypriots like to kill them.

 

[Alex321]

We went a few years ago, and stayed in a pace called Protaras, which is about the Easternmost part of the Greek section of the island. Although it isn't far from Ayia Napa, it is a totally different atmosphere, and was fairly quiet when we were there (in September).

I was also there in 1963-1966, but was only aged 3-6 then, and was there because my Dad was in the RAF and was stationed there. Things have changed a little since then!
That was at the height of the troubles between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and at one point we actually got caught up in the middle of it. We were in a fairly rural house, with a Turkish police station a couple of hundred yards one side, and Greek station of some sort a similar distance the other side. A friend of my parents was staying with us over Christmas (I think it must have been 1963), and when he opened the shutters on Christmas morning, we got a bullet in the wall underneath. We were evacuated from there so quick my mother didn't even have chance to take the turkey out of the oven, and it was a couple of weeks before my parents were allowed back to retrieve what had been left behind.

 

[Hicky]

I went cycling in Cyprus a few years ago for 10 days with the army. Famagusta is well worth a day out, I preferred that side to be honest. The driving isn’t the best Cypriot side and I was told by the boss over there to keep an eye out for drivers who may well of had a beverage or two!
Rode up Troodos, Jesus it was hard work!
It can be very different in temperature as already mentioned, be careful of landslide too on the road. Even as a 30 yo singly I avoided aya napa like the plague, dump!

 

[DRM]

We stayed in Ayia Napa in 1990 & 93 it wasn't bad, a nice resort, Protaras was just getting going, roll on 30 years, Ayia Napa is unrecognisable, absolute dump now, just awful

 

[Hicky]

Prot is going that way too or seemed to while I was there.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Similar to @SpokeyDokey we stayed in a friends flat in Kissonerga. A hire car is well worth considering. We found a local cafe on the first night and ended up going there every night. The owners were lovely, they'd bring out complimentary cycprus whiskey, cakes etc. And we'd talk for hours about their family life. Troodos area was nice, Mt Olympus. Some very nice beaches but if you're not a beach person then Paphos forest is close by and has nice views (and probably some walks but I can't remember). As mentioned, if you have a hire car you can pretty much drive across the country in 3 hours so can look at things you want to do, leave early and go anywhere in a day