When I saw a 5-euro flight to Paphos on Ryanair’s website I thought, at first, it must be some kind of catch – No way a flight could be that cheap, but we decided to book it and it turned out to be real. The whole two-way trip cost me and Roman 86 shekels. Seeing as we had other commitments, we decided to book Tuesday through Thursday, meaning 48 hours.
At the time, we didn’t know if it was going to feel like a hassle or not, but the trip ended up being a quick and successful excursion. We got to do a lot of fun things and eat great food.
We booked a last-minute room at the Pyramos Hotel, which was 290 shekels for two nights, with a basic breakfast included. The hotel itself is quite simple but it’s got a fantastic location. It’s situated right next the port, where many of the bars, cafés, restaurants and attractions are.
We rented a vehicle, which was 132 shekels for two days, and picked it up at the airport. The hotel also had private parking.
Tips before traveling to Paphos
SIM card
I personally recommend using an ESIM, which is an electronic SIM, and recommend Airalo. I was very satisfied with their user experience (simple tutorial videos for operating the SIM card) and everything worked without any special problems. I wrote more about them in an extended post on the subject of taking a SIM card abroad and also about other options such as buying a local SIM card.
Blog followers have a 15% discount code for the Airalo company to purchase an ESIM – to redeem the discount, click on this link. The discount code is already included in the link. See it at checkout.
The biggest drawback at the moment is that some devices do not support an electronic SIM. How can you know if your device supports the electronic card? Very simple: go to this link and you can see. Link to which devices support ESIM.
Car rental in Paphos
I think this is the most convenient and fun way to travel. Car prices are low and the roads are easy to drive.
You can search for a car in the search engine Papam Papam. Personally, I really like to search through them because they save me time (instead of going to several websites) and they also have the option of filtering out non-recommended rental companies.
Attractions in Paphos
You can get ideas for other cool things you can do on the various attraction sites and even order through them (sometimes at a discounted price). The first attractions site is tiqets the second is Get your guide and Viator.
Where to stay in Paphos
You can search for places to stay in Paphos via Booking.
Day 1 – Evening flight to Paphos and dinner
We landed in the evening, picked up the vehicle we had rented and drove to the hotel – Following which we made our way to dinner.
Dinner
We went out to eat at the Pingouino restaurant, a place we’ve eaten at before and liked a lot. It’s cheap, with great food and a view of the sea. I’ve written about it in detail in the Paphos restaurants post. I ordered pitta bread with haloumi and tomato, while Roman ordered souvlaki with potato chips. The food was really good and filling.
Day 2 – Good food, wine tastings and bar overlooking Paphos and the sea
Breakfast and coffee
We had a simple breakfast at the hotel, which included bread, several cheeses and vegetables. From there we continued to a bar-café, Alea Lounge Bar, by the coastline and had coffee.
Enjoying the sun
It turned out to be a really sunny day, even more so than we anticipated, and we decided to go lounge on the chairs outside the café and enjoy the sunshine. Two tanning beds will run you 5 euros. At one point, Roman got himself a beer and me a coke zero. It was so much fun to just lie there and get a little tan.
Trip to a quaint village
After having a good time by the sea, we decided to take the car and go for a wine tasting at a winery I found online. Since it was already lunchtime, we decided to eat first and go from there. A local recommended us a tavern in Letymbou village, which is approximately a 30-minute drive from the center of Paphos, and that’s what we did.
The waitresses were really lovely and we met the owner as well. Her husband made the haloumi cheese himself, as well as several other foods. We ordered the haloumi cheese as a first course, and for mains I had a vegetarian moussaka and Roman has Sheftalia (A traditional Cypriot dish). The food was delicious. We liked the atmosphere, food and service. Furthermore, the village itself is really nice and worth dropping by if you’re in Paphos.
Wine tastings
After a short stroll around the village, we went to Tsangarides winery, which was a 10-minute drive away, for wine tasting. From the moment we arrived, we fell absolutely in love with the place.
We sat outside and the owner, Angelos, brought 4 kinds of wine for us to try – White, Rosa, red and organic. I wrote about the experience in detail in a post about what to do in Paphos.
Drink with a view
After the winery, we came back to central Paphos and went to a bar restaurant titled Muse Bar, following up on a recommendation I got from a blog reader.
The bar is up on a hill and has a lovely view over Paphos and the sea. Roman ordered a cocktail, while I had tea, and we took some time to enjoy the atmosphere and the beautiful vista. They also have a wide food menu and desserts that looked really good (At least from the glimpse we had of other people’s orders at the tables next to us 😉 )
Japanese restaurant with a couple of friends
After the bar we went for a quick rest at the hotel, then drove to King’s Avenue mall to meet a couple of friends living in Paphos. Together, we all went to Wagamama Japanese restaurant, another place we have eaten at several times over the years and know to be really good. I wrote about it in detail in the Paphos Restaurants post.
For firsts we ordered a nice, light miso soup and for mains Roman and I shared a dish of piquant rice with coconut cream and a noodle dish with meat and egg. Our friends ordered sushi and noodles. Everything was delicious as usual.
Day 3 – Tour, Segway, Boardwalk stroll and more tasty food
Breakfast
We decided to skip breakfast at the hotel and went to a nice diner called Tea for two next to the sea. We sat on the upper level and I ordered an apple crumble with vanilla ice-cream and coffee, while Roman had English breakfast. My cake turned out to be a huge portion and after finishing half of it I couldn’t go on – but it was home-made and extremely delicious. Roman was pleased with his meal as well. This is a great place to have breakfast, especially if you’re looking for something cheap, quick, tasty and filling.
Fun Segway tour
After breakfast we arrived at Paphos Segway Tour’s Segway store for a pre-ordered tour. We were a group of eight and had two super nice guides, Liam and Callum.
After all the group members had arrived, we went outside for an instruction on the Segways.
During the tour, we went through several interesting sites on Paphos, stopping at each one while the guide told us about the place.
We rode along the sea a lot – it was really relaxing and I didn’t want the tour to be end.
The company has longer, special tours for those already experienced with Segways. Maybe next time we’re In Paphos we’ll try one of the advanced tours.
I wrote about the tour in detail in a post about the segway tour.
Lunch at a tavern
When the tour was over, we went for lunch at St. Paul’s Tavern restaurant (See map), which seemed good to us when we passed it by on the tour.
For firsts, I ordered a salad and Roman had clams (He claims it’s one of the best clam dishes he’s ever had) and for mains I ordered a pan-fried fish with garlic sauce and potatoes (I was accidently served chips at first, but then given potatoes on the side as well) and Roman had meat and potatoes. Since the food was really good, Roman wanted to try their dessert as well and ordered cheesecake topped with strawberries.
To be sure, this is a great attraction and experience, and a wonderful way of seeing Paphos. They also have colorful Segways which are really cool 🙂 I wrote about the tour in detail in a post about what to do in Paphos.
Boardwalk stroll and wonderful sunset
After the meal we went for a walk in the boardwalk area, as well as the port area – Then opted for another lie down on the tanning beds. Although the sun was nearly gone at this point, we did get to enjoy a beautiful sunset.
Getting work done at Café and end of vacation
After enjoying the sunset, we had a few hours left over before we needed to head out to the airport. We decided to take advantage of it, and get some work done at the moorings café. I worked on the blog, while Roman worked on his project and we ordered coffee. At some point, Roman ordered a personal pizza for the both of us, to serve as an early dinner. While it wasn’t a thin-crust pizza like we prefer, the haloumi cheese topping was really tasty.
We really liked this café, and if you’re looking for a place to work on your laptop or get some food, it’s a great choice. Despite the fact that it’s located in a touristy area, the prices are relatively cheap and the service is excellent.
Flight home
From the café we headed to the car and went about returning it to the leasing company, then we continued to our flight. The airport in Paphos is small, and getting there even an hour before your flight is enough.
Who said you can’t get anything done in 48 hours? 🙂
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More posts I wrote on that
Cyprus: Itinerary in Cyprus – Recommendations for accommodation, restaurants and attractions
Great day trips in Cyprus
In which hotels we stayed at while in Cyprus
Fun things to do in Paphos
Best restaurants in Paphos
What to do in Cyprus in winter
Relocation to Cyprus – why did we choose to move to Cyprus?
Cyprus with kids