Winter Sunshine in Paphos, The Grand Finale

It was Clean Monday, the beginning of Lent for Orthodox Christians and a public holiday in Cyprus (and Greece). What better way to spend a brilliantly sunny March morning than a stroll along the beach?

We caught the 615 from the Tombs of the Kings bus station, which costs, like every bus journey on the island, €2. Coral Bay, a twenty minute ride up the coast, is the largest sandy beach in the area and, during the summer months is hugely popular with young Cypriots who head here at weekends for open air gigs and lively bars.

Early on a Monday morning there was only a handful of visitors and, outside of the summer tourist season, not a single sunbed in sight. Not expecting the weather to be as warm as it was I hadn't packed a bikini and although the majority say that the Med is too cold at this time of year, I'd have been up for a swim.  

After a frappe at a near-deserted beachside cafe with a disproportionate amount of waiting staff, we clambered up the rocks beside the tiny harbour and looked out over the crystal clear Mediterranean.

We followed the signposts to MAA Paleokastro, a Bronze Age archaeological site but of course, being a public holiday it was closed.

Like Paphos, the main street was dazzlingly white and immaculately clean but not tempted the bars offering All Day English Breakfasts or burgers and chips we caught the bus back to Paphos.

 

At Paphos harbour we spotted a table available outside Pinguino, a hip cafe bar which had been rammed every time we'd passed. We tucked into salads - Caesar for Jon, Village for me, which, unlike a Greek salad, comes on a bed of lettuce.

 

We walked off our lunch with a wander along the newly-opened Paphos Skywalk, an accessible walkway linking the archaeological site, Nea Pafos to the catacombs on Fabrica Hill. 

 

We sat for a while in the sunshine watching local families taking advantage of the public holiday by flying kites.

Seeing all the cats tucking into a late lunch, it looked like we'd just missed Gaynor, the Paphos Cat Lady . Originally from the Black Country town of Halesowen, she married a Cypriot and has loved and cared for the cats of Paphos for over thirty years. We'd chatted to her a few days earlier, given her a donation and sent her a little more when we returned home. Times are especially hard outside of the main tourist season.

After a few hours of sunbathing on the balcony we headed out for beers at - you guessed it - O'Neill's followed by dinner at Dias Zeus, a huge vegetarian moussaka for me and a platter of mixed souvlaki for Jon (the first and only time he'd eaten chips all week!)  

This was the view from our balcony, the night skies over Paphos were beautiful.

With the shops closed we'd not been able to buy our breakfast fruit the previous day so on Tuesday morning we walked to the bakery for tahinopita, a sweet Cypriot delicacy eaten during Lent, made with tahini, cinnamon and sugar layered with puff pastry. Seriously, it's worth the five hour flight just to eat one of these!!!

With some many charity shops dotted around Paphos it seemed a shame not to visit them. The stock was mostly Zara and Marks & Spencer - unsurprisingly as there's branches of both shops in the city - the prices were really cheap and almost all of the staff working in them were elderly ex-pats, one even had a resident cat, a toothless ginger boy named Buddy. We didn't buy anything but loved having a rummage!

It's good to see traditional Cypriot life continuing amidst the mass tourism of Paphos, the menfolk enjoying ouzo and backgammon in the sunshine. 

We headed to the coastal boardwalk and enjoyed another long walk along the sea front. 

Before stopping for wine and grilled halloumi at the harbour.

Before returning to Nea Pafos, the archaeological site with the amazing mosaics (seen here) to explore more of the city's treasures.

The Ancient Odeon, carved out of limestone, was built in the 2nd century AD, altered by the Romans and used until the 5th century AD. It is used for open air concerts and festivals throughout the summer.

Rising 36 metres above sea level, the Paphos Lighthouse is a relatively modern construction built in 1888 when Cyprus was under British rule. Acting as a marker for ships heading towards the harbour from the United Kingdom, its light is visible for 17 nautical miles, beaming every fifteen seconds.

The Asklepieion, the sanctuary of Asclepios, served as a treatment or healing centre. 

The castle known as Saranta Kolones (Forty Columns) was built in the 7th Century AD and once served to protect the port and the city from potential Arab raids. The site remained in use until 1223 after an earthquake destroyed it.

After a couple of hours of sun worshipping back on the balcony it was time for our last night out. It was a case of pathos in Paphos as the staff at O'Neill's and at Martelli's, where we had our final dinner, became rather tearful when we said goodbye.

On Wednesday morning we popped out to the bakery for a final bougatsa before packing our bags, handing our keys back to Evelyn and catching the 612 bus to the airport. 

Dubbed "Little Britain", we'd always avoided Paphos but were pleasantly surprised by our week there. Although most of the activities are geared towards the average British holidaymaker there's way more to do than sit in a tourist bar, eating fried food and watching the football. If you enjoy ancient history & mythology and crave some Winter sunshine it's well worth considering - and at just over £200 each for our return flights and a week's self-catering accommodation, it's great value for money, too.

Thanks for reading - and for virtually travelling with us - see you soon!

The Tombs of the Kings

Aside from the bargain price & the handy location, I think the deciding factor for choosing our Paphos apartment was that it was on the Tombs of the Kings road, which sounded like something from an Indiana Jones film. 

It was more than just a cinematic sounding name though, the road leads to The Tombs of the Kings, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a fascinating system of caves and rock tombs dating from the Hellenistic and Roman eras (the period between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD). Tombs of the Kings is a bit of a misnomer as they were built when there were no longer any kings left on Cyprus, in fact, those interred in this necropolis were the wealthy and prominent citizens of Paphos such as civil servants and army officers.

There are eight tomb complexes open to the public with stone steps leading to the underground vaults. Some of the tombs are surrounded by Doric columns beyond which you'll find burial niches carved into the sandstone whilst others bear the traces of ancient murals.

The architectural style of several of the tombs reveal the Egyptian influence, inspired by the Ptolemy tombs of Alexandria. Relatives of the deceased would, on the anniversary of their loved one's death, gather at the tomb for a ceremonial meal.

Over the centuries the tombs were systematically plundered. One of the most notorious looters being the original tomb raider, the American consul, Luigi Palma de Cesnola (1832 - 1904) who ransacked so many sites throughout Cyprus that he made Elgin's exploits almost mild by comparison. Read more about him HERE, Our audio guide described how New York's Metropolitan Museum, where Cesnola was appointed director between 1879 - 1904, was founded especially to house the 35,000 artefacts he took from 70,000 tombs during his time on the island. 

The tombs are open from 8.30am until sunset every day and admission is very reasonable €2.50. Each tomb has a QR code to access an engaging & informative guide. Top tip - visit early in the day like we did and you'll likely get the place to yourselves. 

Rather than exit through the main entrance back on to the Tombs of the Kings road, we used the turnstile opening on to the Paphos Coastal Boardwalk, a step-free walkway extending along the 7km stretch of coastline with strategically placed shelters, benches, waste bins and water fountains. There's even an ultra modern church if you come over all religious. 

I'd left the apartment with a blouse under my dress but with temperatures rising to a delectable 22°C I needed to feel that sun on my skin!

Having completed the entire trail, we treated ourselves to lunch at the harbour at the classy Theo's where we shared a platter of falafel served on a bed of quinoa and hummus washed down with a couple of pints of ice cold Cypriot beer.

The rest of the afternoon was spent sun worshipping on the balcony before heading out for another night of drinks in O'Neill's and a Greek Cypriot feast in Dias Zeus.

Readers of my pre-Paphos packing post might spot another change to my travel wardrobe, I swapped my marmalade orange velvet wrap top for a sari silk one (also bought from All About Audrey, way back in 2018.)

Dinner was courgette fritters with tzatziki, pitta, dolmades, baked feta and a tomato salad.

Not content with having walked 9 miles the previous day, on Sunday we decided to take another epic stroll, this time to the second largest town in the Paphos district, Geroskipou. We'd run out of fruit and, as the farmer's market closed on a Sunday, we stopped off at a bakery for bougatsa and ate them outside in the sunshine. 

*Translated as "Cream Pies" they're actually huge filo pastries filled with custard, dusted with icing sugar and absolutely gorgeous!

The named Geroskipou means Sacred Garden in Greek. The village was built on a forest dedicated to Aphrodite and to this day the area is renowned for its abundance of flowers and fruit trees, especially those of the citrus and pomegranate, symbols of the goddess.

Geroskipou is probably best known for its local delicacy, loukoumi made with fruit juice, sugar and water, thickened through evaporation and the resulting jelly cut into cubes and dusted with icing sugar (just like Turkish Delight). The workshops line the main street and are open so visitors can watch the production process before buying (which we did!)

 A world away from the British-ness of Paphos!

This 19th century mansion, close to the square, was once home to the British consul, Andreas Zamboulakis but now houses the Folk Art Museum which opens daily from 8am and admission is free. 

After a couple of hours spent wandering around the museum, we couldn't resist a peek inside Agia Paraskevi, a 9th century Byzantine church in the middle of the town square. The five domes are arranged in the shape of a cross with the sixth surmounting the reliquary.

Restored in the 1970s, the fifteenth century murals depict scenes from the New Testament.

The vault of the central dome is decorated with a praying Madonna and the three images opposite the belfry can be dated to the 12th Century Lusignan period due to the style of the armour worn by the knights. Even as self-confessed rampant atheists we couldn't hep but be impressed by them.

We headed back to Paphos old town for a late lunch, sharing a haloumi and fig salad with rocket and balsamic vinegar. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent sprawled on the balcony resting our weary limbs - our fitness app informed us that we'd walked 10 miles!

We again stayed local, beers at O'Neill's - studiously ignoring the big screen footie ....

And sharing a spicy vegetarian pizza (and a carafe of the local red) in Martelli's.

After walking 19 miles in two days we needed those calories!