Paphos, Cyprus – A Weekend Trip from Athens

If you’ve read this blog before, you should know that we are trying to tick off as many countries as possible. So, even though we have been enjoying Greece and Athens, we thought it’d be a great idea to go to Cyprus as well for a long weekend.

It was quite early in our planning this trip that we decided to go to Cyprus. Jesper has been there before. However, for me, it was the first time. The island of Aphrodite is famous for all its tourists, so we wanted to go somewhere a bit less touristy. Of course, one requirement we had was that it should be easy to fly there from Athens. In the end, we decided to go to Paphos on the western coast.

A Relaxing Long Weekend on Cyprus

We flew to Paphos on a Thursday. I must say that we were treated really well at the airports, both in Athens and in Paphos. As we landed quite late, we had pre-booked a taxi with a baby seat to take us to our accommodation.

Because of our short stay, we didn’t really make any plans for our trip. I knew that I’d want to swim in the pool and maybe explore the town a bit.

Paphos can be divided into two parts. There are the tourist areas in lower Paphos by the sea, and then there is the actual town on top of a high hill. We lived more or less between these two parts.

Friday: Exploring Paphos

We started our long weekend with a good night’s sleep. Or at least we slept in. Paphos has some very interesting sights. We wanted to check out the Tombs of the Kings – the large necropolis that is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We started our walk, approximately five kilometers in total from our accommodation. I was lyrical about all the beautiful flowers. We had made it halfway when we decided to grab something to eat and enjoy the aircon in the big shopping mall on the way. When we got out of the mall, it had started to rain and we barely made it home before the thunder started.

After the storm, Little A and I enjoyed the pool. I think she had more fun than me. Paphos has a lot of British tourists, which you can see by the number of British pubs and restaurants. Actually, on Thursday, right after arriving in Cyprus, we had a great dinner at an Indian restaurant. I mention this because of the fact that there are few dishes that beat a well-made Indian meal. In any case, on Friday we ended up having dinner at a British pub. It wasn’t too bad and the portions were huge.

Saturday: Exploring Paphos, Part II

Again we thought about visiting some historical sites. The weather gods were not our friends. We started by enjoying taking a long walk along the coast. We passed the old fortress and walked around the Paphos Archaeological Park. It would have been interesting to visit it, but we noticed that it’d be difficult with a stroller. Instead, we admired it through the fence.

Our plan was that I’d do some shopping with Little A while Jesper would go to the Tombs of the Kings. I didn’t feel like walking in the heat. Unfortunately, the weather was again unpredictable and we returned home. Some bathing and a nap later, we decided to explore Ktima Paphos – the administrative center of the town.

The climb up was OK. The pavements were not ideal for a stroller, but we made it! The center itself was quite cozy. I liked it! It had a much calmer feel to it than Kato Paphos. There were also some shops and restaurants that looked interesting. I could have stayed there for a bit longer, but we wanted to get down the hill before darkness. It was also positive to get a feeling for the real face of the town, not just all the tourist joints.

We made it down before the arrival of darkness and then we did something like so many other tourists in Cyprus do. We had dinner at the seafront. There is a certain charm in watching the sunset color the sky pink, and with the palm trees slowly swaying in the wind. The food wasn’t too bad either! Now I must make a confession, though. During our stay, we didn’t try anything typically Cypriotic. Shame on us!

Sunday: Leaving Paphos and Cyprus

Our last day on Cyprus started with a headache. We had been happy with the place where we were staying. However, on the last day, the lift stopped working. And the accommodation took a ridiculous fee for any type of contact outside reception hours that wasn’t life-threatening. Which meant carrying everything down the stairs.

After that, we really didn’t feel like being too adventurous. Instead, we sat down for a coffee, walked a bit in the harbor, and bought some postcards.
It was also at this point that I realized that we could have traveled by bus instead of trying to walk everywhere. But really, where’s the fun in that?

All in all, I’m happy with our trip. Cyprus (the little I saw of it) is a beautiful country. However, it really feels exploited and taken over by tourists. I actually don’t know if I’ll return. We were talking about this, and both Jesper and I agreed that if we ever come back to Cyprus, we’ll rent a car and drive around the whole island instead of just staying in one place.