Limassol, Cyprus

We will be making a stop in Limassol, Cyprus on a Jade cruise in February.

Any suggestions on things to do? Thanks.

Consider hiring a car (inexpensive) to explore the interesting divided city of Nicosia, about an hour away. (You won't be able to cross the border in your hire car unless you purchase extra insurance at the border, but plenty of parking near the border & easy enough to cross on foot - remember to take your passports).

Unless its very snowy, mebbe out via the slow & twisty but scenic mountain roads of the Troodos mountains (but don't take any unmade roads), & back by the main road.

Or along the coast to the historic town & harbour of Paphos, about 45 mins from Limassol.

(nb, if you use googlemaps :rolleyes:, use the alt. spelling "Pafos", because entering "Paphos" takes you to the a**e-end of nowhere :confused:)

Or mebbe take in both Nicosia and Paphos, depending on your time in port.

Check out these places on the web.

JB :)

Kourion (also called Curium) is a beautiful ancient Greco-Roman site not far from Limassol. If you take a taxi, be sure to see the following (several stops): the santuary of Apollo, the theatre (with stunning sea views), and the site where there are ruins of houses with mosaic floors still intact.

Paphos is nice but further away (an expensive cab ride); there are supposed to be shared cabs but I couldn't manage to locate one on my recent stop in Cyprus (second visit) last October.

Limassol itself is not anything spectactular, sort of a dusty town, but I suppose it's worth a wander.

If you're into Crusader history, you can visit Kolossi Castle, which once upon a time served as headquarters for the Knights Templars (and later for the Knights of St John).

With some internet searching I was able to find a company, christours which took two small busses of us to Paphos and then to Kourion. The ancient mosaics at both these places rival those in the Terrace Houses in Ephesus. Paphos is a lovely little tourist town. We had no problems with this company at all.

However, other cruisers have had no luck with Christours. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1015268

If you cannot find a tour company, I would rent a car. Because they drive on the left, i had been reluctant to do that, but there is almost no traffic, at least outside of Limassol. The scenery in places is beautiful. Or perhaps you can find a taxi at the port.

Here is a site which lists taxi companies. You may be able to work something out: http://www.yourcyprusportal.com/cyprus-general-info-transportation-taxi-services-paphos.php

We will be making a stop in Limassol, Cyprus on a Jade cruise in February.

 

Any suggestions on things to do? Thanks.

There are some great suggestions already; really it depends what your interests are.

* If you are interested in history and archeology then consider Curium and Paphos with possible side trips to Kolossi and the Sanctuary of Apollo.

* If you like beautiful scenery and food and wine then hire a car and head up into Troodos and back down through some of the prettier villages.

* If you want something a little different then hire a car and head to Nicosia, the last divided capital city in the world. Park up in the moat, below the towering city walls built by the Venetians, and walk up Ledra Street, cross into the north and have lunch at the old camel station. You get three cities for your money: the modern Nicosia, the old Greek Cypriot southern half and the old Turkish Cypriot northern half. They are all very, very different.

February is the most variable of the months. You've probably got a 1-in-3 chance of a wet day but if it isn't wet then it's likely to be bright, if cool. Layers would be a good idea.

Mands

Thank you for all the suggestions - now to decide what to do.

Can you feed back to us what you decided to do in the end and how it went?

I am heading there on Oceania's Riviera in August and would love to hear your experience!

Anyone with more updated info???? Availability of cabs at pier?? Reports on tour company mentioned??

Will be there late Oct...