We'd long considered coming to Cyprus, albeit in warmer months but the price and moderate flight length had put us off as we didn't feel it really had enough to
justify thousands of pounds on. Also given the flight length it really dictated a 4 day stay at minimum and we also knew the beaches weren't the best in the region.
So when we looked up our Turkmenistan trip and wanted to see how we could incoporate Armenia it was a no brainer when the instead of going through Istanbul again on
the way home that instead we transfer and spend a few days in Cyprus. It was just a 90 minute flight from Armenia and tickets started at £40 per person with Wizz Air.
Being November we knew the weather might not quite be sit on the beach all day, but we were pleasantly surprised with real feel day time highs of 25°C and pleasantly
cool evenings. The one thing that did take us by surprise was the early sunsets. On our first day we sheltered from soon afternoon showevers knowingly they would end
by 3pm and had planned to go to the beach afterwards, however the beach was in full shade by 3:30pm and the sun had set by 5pm. Due to the cooler weather it was too
cold in the shade so we didn't get to go to the beach on our first day here.
Protaras was obviously a nice beach side town. We'd chosen Protaras as it was slightly more laid back than Ayia Napa but still fairly popular and located on the Eastern
side of Cyprus still where all the sand beaches can be found. Upon our arrival however the town had mostly shut up and there were only 2 or 3 shops open and 2 restaurants
outside of our hotels. It was very much a ghost town sort of feel with even the chains of Pizza hut, McDonalds and Starbucks having shut for the season. This was made more
funny by the google reviews from literally just 3 weeks before moaning about how busy everything was. Even the beaches bars and sun beds with umbrellas had been removed.
Thankfully our hotel had good food, some of the best cocktails I've had good views and good wine and given our relatively short time in Cyprus we didn't actually need a lot
else. I think from what we could tell the main places stayed open for one extra week after the UK October half term before shutting up for low season even though the weather
remains ok throughout the year.
For us though the beach of Protaras was very nice and we enjoyed the fact it was not too busy but instead peaceful. One of the main reasons we hadn't come to Cyprus yet
was for fear of it being too loud, full of British drunks and just the general sort of scene we'd typically avoid. By coming in low season we had a totally different feel and
actually fell in love with Cyprus. Even the snorkelling on the beach was fantastic with reefs and lots of colourful fish about. Again I think this was aided by the small number
of people in the sea. The sea was still very pleasant though at this time of year, in fact it was higher than the actual temperate on land with it being end of a hot summer
which had heated it up.
For some videos showing our snorkelling adventure, please see below:
We had two half days and a full day in Cyprus, given the weather being a bit cooler and knowing we wouldn't want to sit on a beach all day without lots of restaurants,
bars and sun loungers out we decided instead to explore the real Cyprus and get into its historical sights. This would mean a fairly full day of driving with our hotel
being on the opposite side of island to Paphos and most the sights. However Cyprus was not a big island so the drive only took us about two and a half hours each way
with stops.
Our first stop of the day about 60% of the way to Paphos was the Kolossi Castle. This was clearly a site not visited by lots of people and we weren't even sure if it was
open upon our arrival as we were the only car in the car park. Entrance here was cheap at only 2.50 EURO per person and although not a massive site with not loads going
on it was a nice quiet, maintained castle and a good place to stretch our legs and visit a bathroom before carrying on to Paphos.
On our way back towards Protaras we also stopped in the same area to visit the Ancient site of Kourion. This was far more impressive than the Kolossi Castle with painted
floor murals from early Christian period (330 - mid 7th cent. AD) and an amphitheatre from the Hellenistic period (310 - 30 BC). There were also impressive views out to the
sea and I think us having visited here at sunset made the site even more impressive.
These were the main two sites in Cyprus of historical significance. Entrance here was still fairly cheap (2.50 EURO for Tomb of Kings & 4.50 EURO for Paphos).
You could clearly spend a long time here and we'd read in summer the heat is unbearable, we could imagine this as it was warm enough for our midday visit in
mid-November. We didn't spend a huge amount of time at the sites but I'd say it is totally possible to visit both sites in an hour each if you are stretched
for time.
The Tomb of kings subterrain temples, pillars and caves was impressive to see. There is also a lot of them to see. We only viewed the best sights but were
pleasantly surprised.
The Paphos archaeological site had a lot more sights and was the larger one to visit. It consisted or lots of impressive murals, columns, temples, castles
and amphitheatres. After visiting the site you can also take a stroll along a pedestrianised boardwalk, grad a meal overlooking the harbour or simply enjoy
and ice cream.
On our way out of Paphos we took a stop at Aphrodite's rock. According to legend this rock is the site of the birth of the goddess Aphrodite, perhaps owing to the foaming waters around the rock fragments. Although it was a rockier beach it was very pretty especially with the low lying winter sun. The only access to the beach is via a small stair case with gives an almost portal feel to the beach before you emerge onto it. The beach itself is formed up of two parts, one smaller part where you arrive and then a much larger section to the right. I could imagine spending some time here enjoying the beach, ocean and views if it were warmer and we'd had more time. Unfortunately during our visit they were repairing some of the roads and therefore some of the viewpoints further up the road and our plan for a coast front drive back were hindered.
This had been a bit of a mental trip. We'd crossed 5 time zones back and forth in only 5 days. We'd had a lot of crazy early starts for all sorts of reasons and although we never really felt jet lagged it was very hard to keep track of what actual time of day it was. While it was a lot of moving, we wouldn't have changed anything. We had exactly the right amount of time in each place and we also felt surprisingly relaxed after ending on a peaceful mostly tourist free break in Cyprus. If we'd had move time in Cyprus we'd had likely crossed into the Turkish part of Cyprus and visited the ghost town of Famagusta.
