More Photos

I flew with Thomsonfly from Bournemouth to Paphos as it is my local airport, and met up with a friend travelling from Gatwick as times were very similar. Arriving late at night I was a bit concerned as I was hiring a car at the airport and driving on roads that I did not know, but have to admit all went very smoothly as Paphos Airport is about 25 minutes from Paphos Town and the Avanti Hotel where we stayed.

Not having been to Cyprus before we wanted to see as much as possible but also enjoy the fantastic weather and hotel pool. The Avanti Hotel made us extremely welcome and we had a room overlooking the pool and sea facing. The room was very spacious and well equipped with plenty of wardrobe space, fridge, tea and coffee facilities, and a safe. The bathroom was also fitted out well.

The 4 star Avanti and its sister The Avanti Village work together and offer a wide choice of entertainment both during the day and evening which guests at both can enjoy and both can use each others facilities. The Avanti Village is self catering so caters mainly for families but if you do not wish to self cater then you have the option of eating at one of the on site eateries, or in a nearby restaurant.. The Hotel tends to have themed evenings in their restaurant from Italian to Chinese and of course Cypriot, this makes eating in the hotel more interesting. It can also cater for large groups and individuals and does hold many sporting events.

The Hotel has an outdoor pool with swim up bar and snack bar attached, and an indoor pool if the weather is bad, a toddlers pool is also close to the main pool. Facilities at the Avanti Village were similar. Our first day out of the hotel we drove via the Tomb of the Kings in Paphos which has a lot of historical interest to the pretty fishing village of Latchi where they have some excellent sea food restaurants, the food is so fresh ! Paphos itself has a wealth of local history with it’s Fort, historical buildings and other attractions, and if you just want to watch the boats then there are many cafes and bars along the sea front.

The island itself is scenically very pretty with the terrain varying from one side of the island to the other and with the Troodos Mountains very roughly in the middle. The Troodos Mountains are also a must to visit with quaint little villages and Monasteries nestled amongst the mountains and valleys. Very easy to get to from the motorway as everything is well sign posted, although think laterally as names are not always as we would expect. Driving in Cyprus is on the left hand but beware of some of the roads as they are in a bad condition and some even stop half way and resort to gravel roads, not good for a hire car which often does not cover anything other than a proper road. Also check very carefully the condition of the car as many have scratches and dents and should be noted at the time of rental incase of future queries. The local bus service was very good, clean and inexpensive..

Ayia Napa is two hours along the motorway a resort obviously for the young and a resort which has grown up very quickly, so has little character. Beaches are better there but crowded with sunbeds. The east of Cyprus is where they tend to produce much of their food as the soil composition is very different from the west.. Larnaca on the other hand has plenty to offer although we did not have too much time to appreciate it as we did not arrive until late afternoon but certainly a place to be revisited on a future trip. There is a lot to see and do in Cyprus but a week is perhaps too short and two weeks would enable you to see a lot more than we did. All the people we met were very helpful and happy to chat about their island and it is defiantly a place I would like to return to and see the places that I missed the first time around.

Places that would be on a future list would include Limassol, Famagusta, and a definitely a return to Latchi.