laid back holiday in the sun (Paphos)

Member Name: emma_ski

Product:	Paphos
Date:	29/09/09 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: sunshine, touristy, plenty to see

Disadvantages: big place so check your map before booking!

We spent a week in Paphos in September 09, booking our holiday through teletext holidays online and stayed at Agapinor Hotel, which was about a 35 minute walk from the main Harbour front.

Food:
We enjoyed walking through the streets around the harbour front and found there were hundreds of different places to eat. This included many restaurants, where you could order a very nice 4 course meal, to smaller cafe-style places. There was something for every one, such as Indian, Japanese,Greek, English, Italian and plenty of places which did a bit of everything! The prices were very reasonable, costing around 20euros for a main meal and drinks.

In Paphos town centre (near the market) there were also a range of places to eat, particularly around the market area, which were similar prices to the restaurants and cafes on the Harbour front.
Personaly we enjoyed getting our lunch from one of the many bakeries in
Paphos, You could choose fro a huge selection of pasteries as well as pizzas, biscuits and sandwhiches. These were very cheap and delicious!

The Harbour:
As I've previously said, there were many palces to eat around the Harbour area. As well as these there were plenty of tourist style gift shops, selling a range of gifts, from tacky magnets, to crystal ornements and cyprus vodkas. The prices vary from shop to shop up to 5 euros difference so try shop around.
Also a few minutes walk from the Harbour Front is the Castle ruins and some Mosaics which are well worth a visit! Offering wonder views from the castle/fort over the harbour front.
Buses run from the Harbour front to a range of smaller towns in Cyprus as well as to the famous Tombs of the Kings, Coral Bay and to the local market. These were simple to use and normally 2-3Euros.

Around the harbour you can also book a range of tours to do such as boat trips, jeep safaris etc. These were much cheaper than booking it from your hotel rep's although I didnt personaly book any, it may be worth picking up some brochers and comparing the prices and trip content!

After reading a few reviews on here, I was given the impression that I would be constantly pestered by shop keepers and tour guides, this was not the case when Ii went and I am glad I was not too put off by the other reviews as I was quite nervous about been pestered. While around the harbour front we happily roamed around the gift shops without been pestered/bullied by shop keepers or pressured into buying things or eating at certain restaurants. We found it a very laid back area and did not feel pressured by anyone whilst walking around the harbour front. Only once did a young waiter asked if we'd like an ice-cream at one cafes, we said no and that was the end of it, no worries! Im not sure if this is the case all year round, but I certainly found it very laid back and easy :)

Tomb of the Kings:
We spent a good few hours here and walked from the harbour front which took around 30 minutes. It was under 2 euros to get into the site which was worth every penny. I'd definitley reccomend buying a tour book/guide as we went around without one and didnt find the best tombs until last! There are plenty of tombs to look around, majority of which are underground. There are some very basic ones which were obviously crudly made, to huge ones with carved stone works and stone pillars. This was a fantstic day out and well worth a visit, it gets very hot here, so bring plenty of water.
On the road leading to the Tomb of the Kings, there were a wide selection of places to eat which were reasonable prices and easy walking distance to the Tombs.

The Market:
The market is open from around 9-1pm and sells all sorts! it had a range of gifts, magnets, tea towels, glass things etc. The prices are a little cheaper than on the Harbour Front. It is a little bit like a maze in the market, and easy to loose your bearings, but well worth a visit! Plenty of restaurants and cafes around the market which are reasonable prices too.A range of buses go from the market to the Harbour Front costing around 2-3 Euros.

Taxis:
Unless you can not get to a place by bus/walk I wouldn't use a taxi as they are pretty expensive. From the harbour front to our hotel (approx 10 min drive) cost us 10Euros. The taxis drivers are very friendly and most speak plenty of English but they are pricey so I'd ask about local buses if possible.

Hotels:
We stayed in Agapinor Hotel, approx 35 minutes from the habour front and 2 minutes from the local market place. There are literally hundreds of different hotels to choose from. We even spotted a few themed hotels, such as 'flintstones' and 'roman themed' We spent hours on the internet trying to find a hotel as there are simply so many out there!It's worth checking out the ratings of the hotel as well as how far it is from the harbour/market.

Other:
There is also a waterpark in Paphos but we did not visit it, but heard very good things about it if you've got kids it may be worth looking at!

I found the majority of people spoke reasonable English which made asking for directions easier! Also a lot of hotel owners/restaurants and shops are run by English people which was a little strange lol!

I really enjoyed our holiday to Paphos and i hope my opinions about the place and things i did whilst here help!

Thanks for reading!

Summary: fab holiday i would definitley go again