A James Villa Holiday in Cyprus

 

Having just spent a week in Cyprus, I am completely spellbound with the whole island.  It is full of contrasts – from the cuisine, the landscape with archaeology and ancient churches, to the vibrant bustling and noisy commercial new areas surrounding Paphos.  Quite a harsh landscape in the mountainous areas, but beautiful unspoilt beaches too. It was hot, scorcio in fact (can you tell I have GCSE in meteorology!) I was surprised to see even cacti struggling at the side of the roads in some places.

Now we quickly realised that the kind of holiday we wanted and, most importantly, needed, was one of complete relaxation, so we didn’t do boating, scuba diving, or any of the other more adventurous pursuits that the island is known for.  We also didn’t want to spend time in the overly commercial and touristy parts of Limassol and Paphos. We prefered a more peaceful holiday this time, keeping to smaller villages and the coast.  Visiting areas and restaurants in between spending much-needed relaxation time at our villa.

Our James Villa (Villa Mou) was really secluded.  It was classed as being in Coral Bay, however, it wasn’t in the busy area, but up a dirt track, only accessible by us. It was a home away from home, except it was about three times the size of our house in the UK, with a gorgeous pool, and we definitely settled in straight away.  I wonder if they would consider a house swap?

We did head out every day to discover what Cyprus had to offer, and to sample the amazing food, which I wrote about recently HERE. One of the things we spotted and intrigued us every day when we went out was, a shipwreck on the coastline.  It was a very bumpy ride trying to find it, but it was definitely worth it.

The Edro III, an 83 meter long, 2,517 ton freighter ran aground in stormy weather in the Sea Caves area of Paphos between Coral Bay and St. George’s Island on 8 December 2011

Strong winds and rough seas caused Edro III to drift off course and strike a rock, leaving it stranded on this section of the Peyia coastline.

It was an impressive sight, which you could see from miles around. Below is a photograph of the coastline right next to it. You can see how easily in bad weather a ship could get into trouble.

The Sea Caves below are on the same section of coastal road as the wreck, we spent a really long time just gazing out and this gorgeous view. The sea was both a deep and azure blue, just beautiful against those white caves and rock.  If you can spot those people on the rocks, they each jumped into the sea as we were watching. It was funny to see them psyching themselves up to do it, though I’m not sure I would be brave enough!

It was also a place of gorgeous sunsets, uninterrupted skylines tranquillity and peace, this was the view from our pool area, that was surrounded by flowers and plants.

I couldn’t believe how serene it felt on our little hillside property, it was perfect for us.  However, we were to really close to the touristy areas, so great if we needed something a little different that day. We did pop into the busier Paphos and the Coral Bay centre too during our week, which was so different from where we were, yet only 10 – 30 minutes down the road.

I thought I would finally share with you a short video I made of our last night when we ventured into the busier end of Coral Bay where we decided to not go for the local Cypriot cuisine and sample the local *cough* teppanyaki. Which was great fun…

I was on a week long review holiday with James Villas.  We paid for the flights, car hire and all other incidentals.  My review of the area and the villa is honest, and my own words.