Just came back from a holiday to Cyprus on a self catering basis. We went to Ayia Napa to enjoy the beautiful Nissi beach. The flight time from UK (Luton Airport) to Cyprus is around 5 hours and we travelled by Monarch Airlines. We landed at Larnaka airport where a private taxi was waiting to take us to Elena Court in Ayia Napa. The transfer time was around 40 mins and the drive spoke little english so it was hard to make an actual conversation with him.
Once at the apartment, we met Jon who works for Overseas Keys. He showed us the apartment and made me signed some documents just in case we break things. No sooner than Jon was gone that we headed for the shops to buy the basic things that we needed – milk, bread, butter etc. The shops/supermarkets were only 5 mins from the apartment but we walked along the main street to get a better idea of what was around us.
Although there was a swimming pool in Elena Court, we did not use it because we did not see the point since Nissi beach was extremely beautiful. The water is crystal clear and increases in depth gradually which makes it very likeable. We spent most of our time at Nissi beach although we did enjoy the waters of Macronissos beach as well. Other beaches were not as nice as those 2, for example, Lande beach was a bit too wavy as well as the other beaches on the opposite side of Nissi.
We went to the Harbour one time and it was such a struggle to walk in the heat that Cyprus provided in the month of October. Instead of taking a taxi to come back, we decided to take public transport and the bus cost us a euro each and the air con was nice. It was the first time we travelled by bus in a foreign country.
There are lots of souvenir to take from Cyprus and the things which caught my attention were the shells. You can have really big shells with different designs for around 20-30 euros or a pack of small shells for 5 euros.
All in all, we had a really great time in Cyprus and it is well worth the money spent.