Travel With Nigel Thompson
CYPRUS IS PLACE TO RELAX
“BUT it’s f-f-f-freezing,” said fiveyear-old Freddie, as we stared into the darkness, waiting for the bus.
There aren’t many more desolate spots than an airport car park in the bleak predawn of an English November day.
Thankfully where we were going, he would struggle to remember being cold.
Southwest Cyprus is among a handful of places that have the winning combination of short-haul distance and pretty much guaranteed year-round heat.
And the second we stepped off the plane at Paphos, it was as if the wet and gloomy English autumn was just a bad dream.
Our good dream soon became a reality when we were handed a glass of sparkling wine while checking into the Louis Paphos Breeze hotel.
Blessing
And by the time we were sipping our second glass, we were sat on our balcony, basking in the heat and looking out to sea.
As it turned out, drinking – and eating – whenever we liked became a bit of a habit at the hotel.
The all-inclusive element means you never have to stick to strict time schedules – which is a bit of a blessing when you have two small kids.
Relaxation is very much the order of the day at the Paphos Breeze. Some three or four miles outside Paphos town, you can have everything you want without leaving the confines of the hotel complex.
The main swimming pool is the largest I’ve ever been in and the kids’ pool next to it means you can relax on the loungers while the children play safely.
Before we knew it we had adapted admirably into our daily routine; breakfast, followed by lounging at the pool, followed by strolling down to the grassy area that looks out to sea at the back of the hotel, followed by lunch, a bit more lounging at the pool, a couple of cheeky drinks, perhaps a game of boozy darts, before the sun goes down at 4.30pm and you head up to the room to get ready for dinner.
This horizontal lifestyle would have been easy to continue with for the whole trip – and some residents permanently took full advantage of its sedentary pace.
But after a couple of days with the kids getting restless and our stomachs getting full, it was time to see what the area had to offer.
Despite being three miles away from the town, the Paphos Breeze is one of a number of hotels located on a long and well-maintained coastal path that leads right to the main harbour. It’s about an hour’s steady walk away.
So while there are plenty of buses and taxis – as well as a free shuttle from the hotel – to take you into the centre, another option is to stroll for an hour alongside the sea if you want a more energetic and adventurous journey.
Along the way there are several spots to either rest on the beach, or swim and snorkel in the crystal-clear Mediterranean
Sea. It actually took several attempts to walk the full distance because of the distracting headland and all it has to offer.
Freddie and twoyear-old Albie particularly liked “lizard land” – a family-named part of the path that was home to a very large population of reptiles that were clearly not used to being disturbed by a couple of excited boys.
Paphos itself offers everything and more that you would expect from a resort town in the Med.
Dozens of restaurants have great views across the bay, there is entertainment including buskers and guys doing tricks with iguanas, and you can hire a boat for fishing, diving and pretty much anything you would want one for.
We were lucky enough to be shown around the area by a Cypriot tourist board guide. Our man Nemo (the kids loved his name and he loved telling them)
demonstrated to us how bananas were grown, showed us some wrecks in the Med and told us a lot of good facts about the western side of Cyprus (including a great tip about where to get the best halloumi).
But as far as the kids were concerned, the best thing Nemo did was to take us to Paphos Zoo, where we saw an elephant, ostriches, toucans, a white lion and a giant tortoise that was pushing 200 years old. The zoo’s big attraction was the parrot show, which didn’t disappoint with its impressive demos and opportunities to get very close to these intelligent birds.
Paphos is famous for its Neolithic sites and ancient ruins, and as the mythical birthplace of the Greek goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite.
Her temple was erected by the Myceneans in the 12th century B.C. and she was said to have risen from the sea beside Aphrodite’s Rock, near the road from Paphos to Limassol. The pebble beach is a popular picnic area. We can’t claim to have explored those aspects of the town fully on our trip, but I can say that we very much did love the place and to watch the sunset over the sea was a genuine thing of beauty.
As we went to the kids’ disco for a final time, Freddie said: “I want to do this every night, Daddy.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that in less than 24 hours, we would be back in that freezing airport car park.
At least on this occasion, he would have plenty of top memories to warm him up.