Blessed with great tracts of unspoilt wilderness, the Mediterranean island has a lot more to offer than Agia Napa and Aphrodite, writes Fiona Tyrrell
IT IS MID-MORNING in Nicosia and we are queuing to go through the border in what is billed as the last divided capital in Europe. It's hot, around 39 degrees, but that hasn't deterred a swell of tourists from forming an orderly queue on Ledra Street to make their way through the UN-controlled buffer zone to cross from the Greek Cypriot sector of the city to the Turkish Cypriot sector.
It's an odd sort of tourist experience. On the Cypriot side a friendly guard cheerily asks where we are from before waving goodbye. A couple of metres later we fill out a flimsy form at a checkpoint before entering the Turkish sector. Stamped and inserted into our passport, this form will be removed when we cross back, erasing any sign that we have been in a country that is not recognised by most other nations.
Traditionally the main shopping thoroughfare of Nicosia, Ledra Street has been split in two for the past 44 years. While other crossings have been open to pedestrians since 2004, the division of Ledra Street, the main commercial district of the capital, had come to symbolise partition.
The decision to open the crossing last April was made in the run-up to reunification negotiations that are ongoing.
Politics aside, it has been a big hit with tourists. There is nothing like a checkpoint and a buffer zone to add an edge to a walking tour of an otherwise beautiful medieval city.
Smart shops and well-kept colonial buildings on the Greek side give way to a labyrinth of narrow streets in the Turkish sector, with crumbling houses, cafes and craft shops reminiscent of a bygone era.
The abandoned buildings of the buffer zone, which can be spied between the old Venetian walls and UN bunkers, are an eerie reminder of a troubled and not-to-distant past. This no-man's land was once the thriving heart of the city, but now its elegant buildings are home to cats and landmines.
Like many other tourists in the capital, we went to Nicosia on a day trip, taking time off from the beach-bum holiday for which the Mediterranean island is famous. The capital was an easy two and a half hour drive from the coast. The roads are decent and, thanks to its British colonial past, they also drive on the left.
Thanks to wild stories from Agia Napa and the tourist board's insistence on marketing Cyprus as the island of Aphrodite, it has earned a reputation as a party island. There is a growing perception, however, that Cyprus is more expensive than its Greek island neighbours. The entry of the southern section of the island into the euro zone has compounded this, and the party crowd are beginning to go elsewhere, leaving the island to beach-holidaying families, history tourists and hill-walkers.
My sister Niamh and I were based in Paphos, on the western side of the island, for our week's stay. It proved to be an ideal base, offering a good mix of tourist services and easy access to the unspoilt wild west of the island and the lush Troodos Mountains, which are home to no less than 10 churches and monasteries on the Unesco World Heritage list.
The west of the island is famous for its long, remote beaches, and fresh off the flight from wet Dublin we wasted little time acquainting ourselves with the many beach options.
There were the gleaming white beaches to the west of the island. These were empty except for the odd turtle enthusiast; thanks to Trojan conservation work, Cyprus's beaches are now a haven for the endangered green turtle. There were also lots of well-developed tourist beaches clustered around the main towns, where all whims are catered for.
One of our hotels, Aphrodite Hills, had a beach club. It had an endless supply of fluffy towels, a decked walkway down to the water, to protect delicate toes from hot sand, and attentive waiters who said "excellent choice" no matter what cocktail you ordered.
After a few days of pampering we reluctantly peeled ourselves off the loungers and piled into a jeep for a tour of Akamas Peninsula. This rugged area to the west of the island was used as a training ground by the British army for years and as such remains relatively untouched by development.
Our dirt-track tour took in the glorious Lara Beach, some cute fishing villages and a decent hike into Avakas Gorge, where mischievous goats overhead have a habit of kicking rocks down on to unsuspecting walkers' heads.
Even in Akamas, reminders of Cyprus's unresolved past are plentiful. We passed through a village once populated by more than 600 Turkish Cypriots. Its square and mosque are now empty, with two lone families remaining to work the surrounding fields.
It is a different story up the Troodos Mountain. Here, sleepy villages have also seen better days, but the faded elegance of the area's hotels harks back to the good old days before the advent of the beach holiday, when chic mountain resorts were all the rage.
King Farouk of Egypt is said to have invented the national drink, brandy sour, while on holiday in the village of Platres in the 1930s. (To an unsuspicious eye, a brandy sour looks just like an iced tea, ideal for disguising the Muslim monarch's penchant for western cocktails.)
Although invented in the mountains, they taste just as good in a waterside deck chair. I've a funny feeling that when it comes to cocktails in Cyprus, a brandy sour is always an excellent choice.
Where to stay, eat and go on the island
Where to stay
As a well-established holiday destination, Cyprus has a good choice of accommodation to suit all wallets.
Almyra Hotel. Poseidonos Avenue, Paphos, 00-357-26-888700, www.almyra.com. Super-chic harbourside four-star hotel where suites have private roof terraces with views of the water. There are two freshwater pools and a "baby go lightly" service so that parents can order essential equipment once they arrive. Double rooms are from €190 (including breakfast) in high season. The restaurant has a Japanese-Mediterranean fusion menu.
Anassa Hotel. Baths of Aphrodite Road, Latchi, 00-357-26-888000, www.anassa.com.cy. Glamorous five-star resort popular with mega-rich Russians and the odd Hollywood star. Prices start at €270 per person per night.
Intercontinental Aphrodite Hills Resort. 1 Aphrodite Avenue, Kouklia 00-357-26-829000, www.aphroditehills.com. A five-star resort hotel. Double rooms start at €230.
Where to eat
Cypriots pride themselves on their meze, claiming that their Mediterranean neighbours' versions are stingy and unadventurous.
7 St Georges Tavern. Seven Street, Yeroskepos, Paphos, 00-357-26-963176, www.7stgeorgestavern.com. This restaurant does a great trade in introducing tourists to the fine art of meze eating. The dishes keep coming until you say stop, and all of the produce is grown by the owner.
Theo's Restaurant (100 Ap Pavlou, Paphos harbour) does a great fish and seafood meze for €17.10.
Mattheos Restaurant. 6 Plateia, 28 October Square, Nicosia, 00-357-22755846. Family-run diner serving homely Greek salads and lamb stews. With a shaded and quiet terrace beside crumbling old city walls, it is a welcome respite from the city high streets and looks as if it hasn't changed since the 1970s.
Where to go
One way to explore the wild Akamas Peninsula is to take a tour in a sturdy four-wheel- drive vehicle. We went with Exalt, a Paphos-based company, owned by an American archaeologist, where the guides are well-informed and enthusiastic. The day trip included some hiking and cost €70, including lunch (00-357-25-315145, www.exalttravel.com).
The spa concept is really taking hold in Cyprus, and all the top hotels are offering tempting treatments and pampering massages. For sun-worshippers, a vigorous body scrub is a must to prepare the skin for a week on the lounger. The Almyra Hotel charges €55 for a great seaweed salt scrub. Aphrodite Hills offers a seemingly endless list of delicious treatments at its award-winning spa. How about a waterlily aftersun soothing gel wrap for €100?
For the real deal, it has to be the Hamam Omeriye (8 Tyllirias Square, Lefkosia, 00-357-22-460570, www.hamambaths.com). The restored 16th-century Turkish bath is a temple to tranquillity, with domed ceilings and candle-lit nooks and crannies. It charges €20 for the use of the baths and €50 for a 50-minute massage.
There is no end of historical sites and archaeological wonders in Cyprus. Even the most devoted beach bunny will enjoy the two big attractions in Paphos. The Roman mosaics on the outskirts of town offer beautiful and surprisingly colourful visual representations of many of the Greek myths familiar to us all.
Two kilometres out of town the Tombs of the Kings is the main attraction in Paphos. This Unesco World Heritage site is home to a series of well- preserved underground tombs from the third century BC on an impressive waterside site.
Go there
Panorama (www.panorama.ie) has package holidays from Dublin that start at €420 per person for a week this month. Budget Travel (www.budgettravel.ie) has trips from €399 per person, based on two people sharing self-catering accommodation. It also has flights only for about €299. Better deals are often available at the last minute.