Riu Cypria Resort Paphos

... can be attractive but not all. Some of the coastal towns such as Larnaca and Limassol are quite industrial whereas areas in the west of the island are less so. My favourite part of the island is around the town of Paphos which ...

We stayed in Polis for the morning and left after a last lunch at one of the restaurants in town. We were sorry to leave Polis, it's a lovely little place, so relaxed and quiet, we got very comfortable there! We headed off down to Paphos and looked around the Fort & the ruins of Old Paphos before watching a stunning sunset over the sea, having dinner in the harbour and heading back to the airport to fly home...

... quite close to it further along. Spent the day here chilling on the beach in the sun & swimming in the Med - what more do you need?! There's a lovely harbour in Latsis with a mix of fishing & pleasure boats. We walked around it in the morning and returned for sunset. There are a number of restaurants along the harbour front with lots of fresh fish options, it's a really nice place to have dinner.

... across the mountains. And this began Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Now, if
you have read previous entries I'm new to driving on the left. And
I'm was new driving around mountains...and on gravel....dirt
roads.....and the like. As you will see from the pictures the views
were stunning but the journey to cover a mere 20 kilometres took us
close to two hours. It was exciting in the end and the views were
spectacular.

... hold onto the wing. Needless to say
but the time we got to the gate, there were maybe five people there.
But at least we had made it and I could breathe easy. The plane
boarded on time, however, we were delayed by half an hour and unable
to take off until 10am. And that's where I am now. Miles above the
ground, flying over Germany on my way to Paphos.

I arrived in Paphos without incident
and fairly quickly found the pick up ...

... you choose which you want at check in. To me the Thalassa Boutique Hotel is the best on the island. At the western end of the island the splendid Anassa Resort LINK in Latchi a true five star resort. The only hotel left to mention is the Columbia Beach Resort LINK in Pissouri Bay between Paphos and Limassol. There are only two hotels in this bay and only a small village very much away from it all. The hotel has a good Spa centre its altogether a good place for total relaxation

... the town has been kept quite far back from the beach so it's not all hemmed-in with high-rise hotels. It's a nice beach & we settled down on some sun loungers for the day. We had lunch at the beach bar which was pretty awful food (burgers, pizzas - nothing Greek!) and swam in the beautiful sea. It wasn't too crowded but I imagine it gets absolutely heaving in-season, it is a very nice beach.

We set off quite early to drive up to the Kykos Monestary, one of the more famous monestaries high up in the mountains where Archbishop Makarios retired to and is buried (he was the first and fourth president of Cyprus). We took our time driving up, the roads are good but very twisting, and there are some magnificent views that should be stopped at to take in properly. On the way up the mountains we ...

... it's pretty long. We walked a smaller circular route that took about 3 hours, it was gorgeous. It was very hot & we were glad to have taken plenty of our own water because there are no facilities except at the entrance. We stopped for a late lunch at a beachside restaurant in a little village called Latsis on the way back to Polis.

... time of year it had a handful of 'mature' guests who go at the same time every year, year after year. The owner is very nice & welcoming & is full of info. There's a pool, a bar, we have a balcony with a view and a fridge for the gin & tonic - what more do we need?! There's a supermarket close by and it takes 5-10mins to walk into the town centre.