We’re just back from a week in Cyprus. We returned to Paphos after enjoying a holiday there last March. Cyprus is popular with Brits as its usually a lot warmer than the UK at this time of year, although there wasn’t much in it this time. We landed in heavy rain and high winds although that was the last we saw of any wet weather.

It remained windy for a few days but after that we had warm sunshine. So, we packed away our fleeces and put on our walking shoes whilst the other hotel guests kicked the feral cats off the sunbeds.

We did a lot of walking on this holiday. We averaged just over eleven miles every day. It was a three mile walk in to the Old Harbour and a bit longer to reach the Paphos Old Town from the hotel, so it was easy to cover that overall distance. There is a superb bus service to everywhere local you might want to go but we chose to walk.

We’d visited some of the popular tourist sites on our previous holiday. I’ve written about that here. The Old Harbour is always a buzzy place to spend some time and enjoy a coffee. We did that several times during the week. We also visited the Kings Avenue Shopping Mall which is a really smart modern complex. It reminded me of some of the plush Malls we visited whilst we were in the states. It’s full of the usual outlets and prices were slightly more expensive than the UK.

I’ll touch on the amazing bakeries we visited at this point. I love a cake and I think Greek/Cypriot cakes are the best I’ve ever had. I particularly love Greek Orange Pie and ate my body weight of it last week. I was also introduced to Greek Chocolate Pie, and that was just as good, although I struggled to find it anywhere. No problem though as I’ve found a recipe and I’ll make my own now we’re home.

We spent two days exploring Pathos Old Town. We revisited where we’d explored last year, around Kennedy Square, but then discovered another area of alleys ways, craft workshops and the usual tat tourist shops on the opposite side of the road. A lot of the lanes and buildings were being renovated and redeveloped so getting around wasn’t always that easy. All the same, it was a pleasant way to spend a morning.

We spent our final full day walking out along the coastal boulevard, west of the Old Harbour, passing the lighthouse and on to a viewing point to see an abandoned ship that ran aground a few years ago. It’s been left there to rot as it’s too expensive to salvage. The boulevard is really impressive with lots of viewing points, arranged like frames, at points along the walk. I’m not sure how far out you can go along the coast, but after a few miles we took a right turn and walked back in to town.

Our week passed really quickly and we both agreed we could easily have stayed for a few more days. It’s somewhere we’ll go back to. In fact, I’ve already checked prices for next March but we’ll get a better discount if we book later in the year.

We stayed at the Louis Patheon Beach Hotel, on an all inclusive deal, with TUI. The hotel is a bit tired but the restaurant area is a new building and the food was phenomenal. The best all inclusive food choices and quality we’ve ever had. We were returning clients and we’d be happy to stay there again.

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