The Island of Love (Where is your summer next holiday going to be?)

Member Name: DavidJWest

Product:	Where is your summer next holiday going to be?
Date:	20/03/01 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Food, Weather, Variety

Disadvantages: Politics

. What a strange name for the holiday which immediately follows the wedding ceremony. Anyone who knows the origins of the name please leave a comment as I would be very interested to hear an explanation.
I am getting married on the 7th July 2001 and have finalised the plans for our getaway. We chose to have a fortnight on the lovely island of Cyprus, staying at the ever more popular resort of Ayia Napa. Strange choice for a honeymoon you may think, but I shall explain.
First of all the location of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea is brilliant as far as I am concerned. It is only about 5 hours flying time from the UK, which is about as far as I can stand being cooped up in a tube doing 500 mph, six miles above terra firma. I would like Mauritius or the Bahamas but fear I would be bored stiff, I cannot sleep on planes and reading on them makes me feel ill.
Also it is possible to fly from Leeds Bradford Airport (1 mile from the wedding venue) to Larnaca (Cyprus) direct. It is slightly more expensive to do this than from the more traditional Manchester airport, but the savings made on Taxis or car parking, coupled with time savings make it attractive.
You are almost guaranteed perfect weather on the island too. I have been before (September 1999) and even in the Autumn it was fantastic with wall to wall sunshine (just about) and temperatures in the 80's. In fact it may be a touch too hot for me in July, but the room we booked is air-conditioned and we wanted to get married in July to maximise on the great British weather!
The island itself is very varied in more ways than one. Of course it has fabulous beaches, not all of which are busy and the Med is a shallow sea which means it is warm for swimming etc. If you want a beach holiday then this makes it a good choice. Personally I don't like spending the entire time on the beach so the interior of Cyprus is a lure for me.
There are many historical monuments to visit, Roman amp
hitheatres, ornate churches perched atop rocky outcrops and the Troodos Mountains make a good destination when it gets too hot. These mountains dominate the island and rise up to 6,000 feet above the plains below, making them a good few degrees cooler which can be a welcome relief. In winter it is even possible to ski here, with two or three different runs available.
The mountains are beautiful and covered in pine forests which give off a very evocative aroma in the warm sunshine, You can see for miles down to the coastline and there are many nature trails to walk along if you like a more sedate pace of holiday.
You can take a mini cruise from the port of Limassol which takes in the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and a tour of the Holy Land in three days which is a great attraction and something my new wife and I hope to do.
Ayia Napa itself has become rather commercialised and many ravers descend there in summer to cavort into the early (and not so early) hours. Don't let that put you off though, as if you keep away from the centre (around the square) it is easy to find more quiet bars and some excellent restaurants. Of course if you do want to go to a night club then this is the place to be. If you want to find a good beach then Macronnisos Bay is about two miles outside the town and tends to be less busy than the main beach next to the harbour. Fig Tree Bay is another good beach but slightly busier, next to the quieter resort of Paralimni, five miles north east of Ayia Napa.
We will be staying at the four star hotel "Adams Beach" in Ayia Napa, which has it's own private beach as well as the usual mod-cons. I certainly recommend having air conditioning wherever you stay as although you can probably bear it in the daytime, I for one have trouble sleeping when it's too hot. Air-con can be noisy though, to say the least.
The people of Cyprus are really friendly and appear to genuinely like tourists, at least that was our
experience last time we visited. An example was our taxi driver on the way from the airport after we arrived. He thoughtfully stopped en-route and bought both of us a nice cool drink. He probably added the price to the taxi fare (which was only £10 for a 45 minute ride) but the thought was nice as it was so hot!
Speaking of prices Cyprus is very good value for money. I wouldn't say it is cheap compared to say Greece or Turkey, but you can easily get a three course meal of good quality for £10. All the food I ate last time was very good quality, you can find Chinese, Indian, English, French and of course Greek and Cypriot food in the town with no trouble. I recommend anyone tries the local dishes as the food is really not too exotic for even those who love the blandest of foods!
Where drink is concerned you will find some prices are high for things that have to be imported, for example named brands of spirits, The local alternatives are mainly very good (especially the local lager, Keo) and much cheaper. If you look around you will find pubs with happy hours etc, example I bought a round of 4 Pina Colladas for only £3.60 with 4 shots of Peach Schnapps for free, not that I drink many Pina Coladas you understand!
It may seem a bit odd but the medical services on the island also influenced our choice of destination. Both myself and my intended have been into hospital several times in the past few years and indeed Melanie (future Mrs West) was in a local clinic last time we holidayed in Cyprus. Luckily we had good insurance and recommend everyone else to ensure they have similar cover.
The total cost for the honeymoon (for both of us) is around £1,500 which is a bargain, helped partly by a mother-in-law-to-be who works in a travel agents! This includes flights and two weeks in 4 star accommodation with good quality insurance.
The only black spot on Cyprus so to speak is the politics. Since the Turks invaded in 1974 the island has been
split in two with UN peace keepers keeping the two sides apart. The north of the island is the occupied half and it is possible to go there on holiday too, but due to the hatred the Cypriots have for the invaders if you have a Turkish stamp on you passport you may find it hard to get into Cyprus afterwards.

The north is beautiful I have heard but I will not be going as I feel totally with the Cypriots on this matter, maybe I believe their propaganda but I don't want to dwell on this issue as this isn't the place for it. Don't let this put you off the island as the UN do appear to have things under control, as they have for over 25 years now.

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