My own perfect picture of Heavan (Cyprus)

Member Name: mickeyhunt

Product:	Cyprus
Date:	05/08/09 (22 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sun Sea Sand and History. The people are lovely

Disadvantages: The four hour flight

If I had to think of somewhere I could compare to heaven, then for me it would be Cyprus. For the last 6 years on the trott we have been to Cyprus on Holiday. We have hired a villa four times, stayed in a cheap hotel in Pisouri once and in a 5 star hotel in Pissouri last year. For me the place to stay is Pissouri, which is 16 kilometers from Paphos airport travelling towards Limasol. It is made up of Pissouri village up in the hills with Pissouri Jetty down on the beach. I have stayed up in the village and down by the beach and my preference is for the beach, being a water baby. When I arrive in Pissouri I just feel like I have come home.

The best hotel is the Colombia Beach Club and it's sister hotel the Columbia Beach Hotel. They are right down on the Beach next to Pissouri Jetty with their own private beaches. We stayed at the Beach Hotel last year and it is the closest I have come to the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Our basic room had a problem with the A/C so they moved us to a suite on the first floor and we were there for the rest of our holiday. It was hugh with its own bed room area, a seating area for watching television, two balconies, a hugh dressing room and a bathroom with a separate shower cubicle. I could have lived there for the rest of my life. The balconies both had sea views. To be quite honest it was the best hotel that I have ever been in and they made us feel very special. The other advantage of staying at the Columbia Beach is that it was only a minutes walk to our favourite restaurant Liminaki. The food at Liminaki was excellent fare at very reasonable prices. It was mediteranean food with some eastern twists and a fantastic pudding that they called floating islands which was chocolate sponge cakes filled with liquid chocolate with vanilla ice cream. Yum.

Pissouri is a really good place to base your holiday because it is near to the main highway that travels the length of the Cyprus coast between Paphos and Limasol and beyond. The beach has plenty to occupy with watersports on offer and plenty of good restaurants on the beach and a few just off. For evenings the Village up in the hills is a must especially if they are having a Greek night. Again there are a number of good restaurants and tavernas, particularly the Bunch of Grapes. There is a beautiful little gift shop there called Christina's, owned not suprisingly by a lady called Christina and I go back year after year to buy little trinkets.

Once you feel that you need to expand your wings, you can then start to explore the surrounding towns and villages. Drivng is easy as they drive on the same side as us and the roads are very clear. Just be careful to avoid driving in the mid-day heat if you don't have AC or a roof. We always hire a suzuki Vitara, not the most comfortable of cars, but fun to drive and good on some of the mountain tracks. One of my favourite places to visit is Malcom's cat sanctury down at Fasouri. You take the turning for Fasouri from the main road in Episkopi. They are usually open each day till lunch time and then again from 2pm onwards. If you go about 2pm you get to help feed the cats and they have hundreds all needing a bit of love. I always go there and I always buy from their shop.

Another favourite place is Kurium Beach where they do the Para sailing. Brilliant to have lunch there and watch them. We once had lunch, but when we came to pay were about £5 short. They said to us bring it in next time you come by. We made sure we went back the next day. Can you imagine getting that in the UK. There is also a beautiful ampitheater above Kurium Beach and that is worth visting. They have had opera and theatre presentations in the past. Again this is best for a morning visit as the afternoons get too hot and the white stones get hot enough to fry eggs on.

When the termperatures really get hot in Cyprus one of the best things to do is to visit Pano Platris and Troodos up in the Troodos mountains. It is cool and tranquil up there and very relaxing. We always have lunch at the Petit Palais Hotel. They make a georgeous potatoe salad that goes very well with Lamb souvilaki. On the way back down you can visit Omodos which is a stunningly beautiful stone village. It has lots of ally ways to get lost in with little lace shops.

Unfortunatley we are not going to Cyprus this year, not going any where because of the credit cruch, but if I won some money today, I'd be on line straight away booking back up to go to Pissouri. Well there is always the lottery.

Summary: Cyprus nestling in a bright blue mediteranean sea.