PAPHOS – FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Located in the west of Cyprus, the entire town of Paphos is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was the capital of Cyprus for a long period of time in antiquity. (The capital now is Lefkosia – otherwise known as Nicosia).Paphos International Airport is easily
reached by frequent flights throughout the year with leading airlines such as Cyprus Airways, British Airways, First Choice, Thomson, Thomas Cook and Monarch. The airport terminal is perhaps not the most imposing of buildings, looking more like an afterthought when the runway had been laid!
That said, it is only a few kilometres and a short coach or taxi ride away to the main tourist area of Kato Pafos with its palm tree lined promenade leading the visitor naturally to the Mediaeval Fort at the mouth of the harbour. Luxury seafront hotels and apartment complexes and houses set back from the coast are inhabited mostly it seems by expat Brits who give it a feel of Little Britain. These newer settlements dovetail into the landscape of Byzantine churches, ancient monuments and the Tombs of the Kings underground burial site dating back to the 4th Century B.C. The old town of Paphos is located a few kilometres inland and retains more of the authentic Cypriot appearance of winding roads and a myriad of small shops to meet your every need. There’s even a small Marks & Spencer store in Paphos! The local market is fun and interesting to walk around. While you wander through the streets of Paphos you have to choose from an abundance of cafes and taverns to stop for a drink or lunch – ranging from modern stylish cafes to traditional courtyard restaurants within the old stone buildings.
For any British expat or tourist suffering from the withdrawal symptoms of reduced retail therapy there is also a Debenhams close to the harbour in Kato Pafos – with another branch in a retail complex at Geroskipou on the way back to the airport! A branch of NEXT is at the same shopping centre.
But Paphos is much more than a place to buy property and create a ‘home from home’ for the rain-soaked Brit looking for a place in the sun. It is the gateway to other popular tourist and permanent living destinations in Western Cyprus such as Coral Bay, Pegeia, Tala, Empa, Kissonerga, plus many more traditional Cypriot village – and Polis which lies many kilometres to the north beyond the rising mountain ranges.
