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Level 9

First trip in 15 years; one week in Cyprus

As a person who is really fond of staying at home, I have not been om many trips through the years. I have been to Madeira some 15 years ago and before that I traveled with my company to Düsseldorf, Germany. Other than that I have only been to the neighbouring countries of Sweden; Norway, Denmark and Finland. So when me and my girlfriend started talking about making a trip when the dark fall hits Sweden we placed our hope in Cyprus. We did some time browsing through Skyscanner and other travel sites looking for flights to Cyprus. We found a really good place to stay at up in the mountains on AirBnb and we booked it. We were to set out on the morning of November 31.
Traveling early have always been at good thing for me. I can start how early as is needed but my girlfriend doesn't like it at all. We arrived at Arlanda Airport just about 10AM and there was already lots of people. We had booked Blue Air to travel from Arlanda (Stockholm, Sweden) to Bucharest, Romania and from there to Larnaca in Cyprus. Blue Air is a budget airline and although we know that in advance we were not quite prepared for all the small things that added up to a bad journey. Check-in did not go fast, we could only get checked-in at the first leg of the travel and we had to make the transfer on our own in Bucharest. The airplane we were gonna go by to Bucharest was a 27 year old heap of junk and the pilot was terrible. Because of us traveling on the day of Halloween and the fact that we were traveling to Romania, the home of Dracula the cabin crew dressed up and handed out candy.

After a rather rough inflight to Bucharest we found that there are not that many at the airport that really understands and speaks english and we started to worry about not getting to the right gate in time. But we did and we were now on the last leg to getting to our holliday. We arrived in Larnaca at 6:45PM and the sun had already set. We got the rental car and we sat off to the mountains om small and narrow roads.


The beautiful sunset  as seen from the airplane somewhere over Turkey.The beautiful sunset as seen from the airplane somewhere over Turkey.
Early the next morning we woke up to..... the sound of silence. Yes, there were some tractors and small cars in the distance but other than that, nothing. We got dressed and set out to find the local store and explored the surroundings. We were now in Mandriá, just a few minutes south of Plátres in the central mountains of Cyprus. This is where we stayed: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tranquility+Lodge/@34.8787265,32.8381229,15.04z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x...
Agios Georgios, the village church.Agios Georgios, the village church. 
The frontside of our house.The frontside of our house.The Tranquility LodgeThe Tranquility Lodge

The day after that we started to explore the island. We went by car and first stop was Chantara Waterfall. It is a really bad road the last 1,5 km so beware of rather big holes in the road and large rocks falling from the hillside. But when you get to the small parking place it is all worth it. The fall itself is not all that high but the nature surrounding the place is really nice to be in. Take the steps up from the pool and go see the waterfall from the upside as well.
Chantara WaterfallChantara WaterfallChantara WaterfallChantara Waterfall

The day after that we started to explore the island. We went by car and first stop was Chantara Waterfall. It is a really bad road the last 1,5 km so beware of rather big holes in the road and large rocks falling from the hillside. But when you get to the small parking place it is all worth it. The fall itself is not all that high but the nature surrounding the place is really nice to be in. Take the steps up from the pool and go see the waterfall from the upside as well.
Chantara WaterfallChantara WaterfallChantara WaterfallChantara Waterfall

When going to Cyprus I have learned that there are a few really special things to see and one of these things are the old roman bridges left in some places in the mountains. The most famous of these are Kelefos and Gefiri Tis Elias. These old bridges were built mostly in the 16th century in a Venetian style. The brides are easily accessed from public roads and well worth a visit.

The Kelefos BridgeThe Kelefos BridgeThe Kelefos BridgeThe Kelefos BridgeGefiri Tis EliasGefiri Tis EliasGefiri Tis EliasGefiri Tis EliasGefiri Tis EliasGefiri Tis Elias

No trip to Cyprus would be complete without at least one visit to some of all the ancient ruins left on the island by the many different cultures that have been present on the island during the years. There have been Romans, Greek, Assyrian, Egyptian and Persian influences who all have left their marks in buildings, traditions and religion. Around Paphos there are really good places to visit. The Medieval Castle of Paphos, Paphos Archaeological Park and Táfoi ton Vasiléon (Tombs of the Kings). Be sure to bring good walking shoes and lots of time. 

A view from the top of the Medieval Castle of PaphosA view from the top of the Medieval Castle of PaphosHouse of TheseusHouse of TheseusHouse of TheseusHouse of TheseusForty Columns FortressForty Columns Fortress

Andréas S. Eriksson
Cypern
16 comments
Level 7

Re: First trip in 15 years; one week in Cyprus

Andréas_S_Eriksson Thank you very much for your story and great photographs. What a wonderful place!

Antonio Carmona
Level 10

Re: First trip in 15 years; one week in Cyprus

Hi @Andréas_S_Eriksson!

 

Thanks for sharing your experience here with us! 

You took a very beautiful photos (I love tour photos about the Kelefos bridge and Chantara waterfall)!!

Have you visited the village church of Agios Georgios?

 

Bye,

David

Connect Moderator

Re: First trip in 15 years; one week in Cyprus

hola @Andréas_S_Eriksson, muy buen post, con fotos muy lindas, salvo la primera foto del post, la que recomendaría que la cambies, te comparto las Reglas del programa Local Guides.

Me gusta como relatas la historia del viaje. Es para tenerlo en cuenta si uso esa aerolinea.

 

 Saludos Farid

For the case that has difficulty, in reading my answer, in the upper left part of the screen, in the drop-down menu of languages, you can select the language, in which you want to read the post.

Former Google Contributor

Re: First trip in 15 years; one week in Cyprus

Great post @Andréas_S_Eriksson,

 

Thank you for sharing your detailed story. What did you like the most while there? I loved the weather! I've been in December there and it was still warm. My favorite thing was food, halloumi and pita.

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Level 9

Re: First trip in 15 years; one week in Cyprus

Hello @VasT
Can I say everything? 😃
I love the nature. That´s the reason we stayed up in the mountains. The old bridges and waterfalls were two things I had decided I had to see, other things were bonus. I LOVE halloumi and my family eats it regularly here in Sweden. Although it is good here too it is nothing compared with eating it "in the right place" 🙂
One of the things I really liked was seeing all different nature when going by car. In the mountains there were lots of vineyards and when we went to Polis we saw almost only banana plants. So much differs in the nature and weather in just 1 hour drive by car. Left side driving was easy to get used to but I am glad I decided on a automatic rather than manual gear. Wrong hand for me and I think that could have caused some problems. 🙂
I really want to go back. Maybe in a few years to see what has happened to Limassol for example. There were a lot of construction sites and as I love architecture I am really interested to see what kind of buildings are coming up.

Andréas S. Eriksson
Former Google Contributor

Re: First trip in 15 years; one week in Cyprus

You're so right @Andréas_S_Eriksson you have to eat it in the right place. Left side to drive is so confusing.

 

I hope you get to travel more. I enjoyed reading your post :).

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Level 10

Re: First trip in 15 years; one week in Cyprus

@Andréas_S_Eriksson thanks for sharing your nice experience and awesome photography pictures. 

Google Moderator

Re: First trip in 15 years; one week in Cyprus

Hey @Andréas_S_Eriksson,

 

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. What a great trip you had! I enjoyed reading about it, especially the part where the air plane crew was dressed up for Halloween. I haven't heard anything similar up until now.

 

I've also visited Cyprus but I've only been in Limassol and Ayia Napa. You should definitely visit both. Ayia Napa is the party place of the island and its beaches are very beautiful, while Limassol has the busy city vibe but you can still go to the beach or just take a long walk along the promenade. 

 

Here are two photos which I took during my trip there.

 

Caption: A photo showing the deep blue water of the sea and the rocky beaches on top of which there are some people walking, Ayia Napa, Cyprus (Local Guide @MoniDi)Caption: A photo showing the deep blue water of the sea and the rocky beaches on top of which there are some people walking, Ayia Napa, Cyprus (Local Guide @MoniDi)Caption: A photo of the promenade, showing some palm trees on both sides and people who are having a walk, Limassol, Cyprus (Local Guide @MoniDi)Caption: A photo of the promenade, showing some palm trees on both sides and people who are having a walk, Limassol, Cyprus (Local Guide @MoniDi)

 

 

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Level 10

Re: First trip in 15 years; one week in Cyprus

@Andréas_S_Eriksson 

Thanks for sharing this wonderful review on your trip.

Very informative and liked a lot.

Regards,

R S Dev