No wonder they call her Anapa
The big village is my first impression of Ayia Napa. When you are met at the airport by a dilapidated Mercedes with shabby seats, and the duty free on arrival is three shelves of alcohol, a shelf of cigarettes and two refrigerators with soda, then you immediately start to tense up - where did you go? It seems that he went to the country with the euro, but ended up somewhere on the Black Sea coast, and then, well, in the 90s. I will say right away: many people told me about the delicious food, the beautiful sea and the wonderful climate of Cyprus. And the people living here all say with one voice that everything here is great, wonderful and they live very well. But resting here for more than a week, something I had a completely different opinion about this country.
1. When choosing this country for a holiday, it is very important to choose a place, a hotel and a clear understanding of what you want. If you have a comfortable rest without worries - you are not here. Of all the hotels on the coast, I can only single out Nissi Blue, it is somehow newer, more interesting and modern, the location is more convenient. If you need everything cheap and simple, then choose an apartment or a boutique hotel, rooms with a kitchen, no food at all, because there are a dime a dozen cafes and restaurants here, and you can have breakfast with an omelette or porridge in your room. In restaurants and shops, everything is cheap and there is no need to tie yourself to the cuisine of one restaurant in a hotel. For example, on the advice of an agent, we bought a ticket to the Atlantica Aeneas hotel, and even for all-inclusive, and were very disappointed with the cuisine of this hotel, and the ticket is not at all cheap by the standards of Cyprus, the rooms are shabby and old, and the entire territory of the hotel is solid pool.
2. This is not a country for luxury holidays, everything here stopped developing somewhere in the 90s, there are very few even modern and expensive cars on the island. Everything is somehow simple and rustic, perhaps to some extent this is a plus, and on the third day of my stay I was already walking right down the street in a bathing suit and this does not bother anyone, everyone here walks like that. The shops all look like Chinese rows, the signs along the road are all in disarray, mountains of rubbish and dirt are everywhere. The service sector is poorly developed, no one is in a hurry, and you can wait 10 minutes for your coffee in a coffee shop or tea in a restaurant. Everything around is shabby, old, and even the heck can be calmly missing in the toilets and no one cares.
3. Ayia Napa has been chosen by young people from the EU countries, who come here in droves to hang out, get drunk and sleep on the street, throwing up or describing all the corners near local temples. Cyprus is a Christian country, and there are a lot of beautiful old monasteries here, but at the same time, many of them are located in the center of this party. It is not clear how the Cypriots themselves allowed this to happen? For the sake of these temples and holy places, I would only like to return here, but you wonder if God has forgotten this place, which now resembles Sodom and Gomorrah.
4. Looking back now, I would definitely go to a better hotel and, perhaps, to Paphos or Limassol. If you still choose Ayia Napa, then Nissi Blue or Nissi Beach. Only for breakfast.
5. Nearby in this area there is a 24-hour cafe where you can drink good coffee and eat delicious chocolate chip cookies with white chocolate. It’s quite far from all the hot spots, and the sea is clean and transparent, you can walk to the city on foot, and it’s not far to get to Larnaca.
6. Purchases. Be sure to buy halloumi cheese, which in the photo, I bought several types, all turned out to be tasteless, and only this one is not salty and not fresh, very tasty. I didn't like the olive oil. Delicious halva. And I completely forgot to buy sun-dried tomatoes, don't forget. Wine was bought in the Kiksky monastery in small bottles, and take rose water only there, the one in the shops is all nonsense. Fresh and very tasty nuts were taken directly from the car in Northern Cyprus, combine their purchase with a trip. Or on Saturdays at the market in Ayia Napa. Many took wine and zivania (local chacha). But all this is in duty free and not at all more expensive. We bought just such a gift with cinnamon, we don’t really drink, but we regretted that we took one, it’s just waste in a bite with an apple.
The duty free on departure is very decent, and the hour that we were given on the advice of the guide was not enough, leave earlier (we left 2.5 hours before we arrived - 35 minutes, went through passport control and received a refund of Tax free, there are 40 minutes left before boarding the plane, and an hour before the end of boarding). Tax free was returned without problems, however, the amount is very small - 9-10% of the purchase. Do not forget to take checks in stores for purchases over 50 euros (excluding food and medicine).
Vitamins and medicines in Cyprus are very expensive, 40% more expensive than iHerb. But cosmetics are quite affordable, there are many European luxury brands, as well as Greek natural cosmetics. The best pharmacy in the center of Ayia Napa is Petinos, opposite the museum, it has everything - medicines, cosmetics, sports nutrition and even sweets, it is quite possible to pick up goods for 50 euros and get another Tax free refund. It is better to take groceries in Plus, Rossos or Metro chain supermarkets. Oddly enough, you can also buy clothes and things from European brands, especially at the end of the season there are 50% discounts everywhere. Bought a Moncler down jacket for half price. In Northern Cyprus, there are only Turkish fakes or cotton and leather, there are also good specimens, but look carefully, look at each seam and bargain, we, however, managed to throw off only 30%. Leather wallet (Louis Vuitton), Hermes handbag and men's toiletry bag (Louis Vuitton) - all together for 260 euros. I think it could have been even cheaper, but we didn't have time. Silk tunic - 60 euros.
7. I already wrote about cafes and restaurants earlier, we were very sorry that we went to the all-inclusive, we didn’t like the food at the hotel. We only visited the Stamna Taverna restaurant in Ayia Napa (tasty, colorful, but nothing special, but very cheap), the 24-hour cafe next to the Zorbas hotel (delicious coffee and cookies, especially with white chocolate) and the Petek cafe-restaurant in Northern Cyprus (just fairy tale, a must visit). I would like to say separately about the Petek restaurant: I have never seen such a long display case with sweets and desserts, you can try all the sweets for free, bought it home and as a gift, everything is inexpensive and very tasty. And be sure to try their orchid root ice cream, there are only three types of it, you won’t find it anywhere else: chocolate (the most delicious), pistachio and vanilla (it’s called Maras). The rest of the ice cream is also delicious, but it is simple, make no mistake, I bought the wrong one at first.
8. We didn’t have much time on the excursion, we didn’t dare to take a car, because on the island there is left-hand traffic, it’s very unusual, even crossing the road, let alone driving. And in a good way, of course, it is better to take a car and go around everything slowly. Since we were a big company, we took individual excursions, but even so, everything was somehow blurry and running.
The first excursion was to the monasteries, we passed: the Monastery of Lazarus four-day, the Monastery of Cyprian and Ustinya, the Kiki Monastery and the Monastery of Trooditissa. After the trip, I concluded that there are too many places to visit in one trip. It is better to take two excursions and stay longer, and take a walk near each monastery. For example, the temple of Cyprian and Ustinya is located in a small village, you can find a cafe nearby, and there are shops there where you can buy church paraphernalia without hurrying and not running around the store where the guide brought you, but to walk everywhere, you are nowhere else do not buy many goods, besides, having bought icons, crosses and other attributes here, you can attach them to every shrine that you visit. Take your time, there is no hurry here.
I regret that all this went so blurry and thoughtlessly with us. The temple of Lazarus for 4 days is located in Larnaca, it could be combined with a short walk, and in Larnaca itself. And so to build these two excursions so that it is not difficult, and to relax, and to visit holy places. So do not try to fit everything into one trip, otherwise you risk not getting anything from it. This long and tiring excursion cost us 400 euros. Another agency offered 250 euros, I think, because of the delay, they would also pay more, but not more than 300 euros. The second excursion we had was to Northern Cyprus, and we took it just from the second company, which is located near the Aeneas hotel. But with the second tour the same mistake, the guide said that it would take 15 minutes to go there. It actually took about 40 minutes, advised me to visit the ancient city of Salamis. If you are a ruin lover, then visit, beautiful. If not, do not waste time on this, because the road to it and the tour itself takes at least an hour and a half.
We did not manage to swim on the beach in Famagosta, because there was no time, plus the weather was bad, and, to be honest, the beach is no better than ours in Ayia Napa, even worse. Better go to the center of Famagosta and stay longer in the Petek cafe and take a walk along the nearby streets, visit the ancient castles nearby, they are like from a fairy tale, it's worth it, a 5-hour tour cost us 170 euros. In Ayia Napa itself there is a temple and a monastery of the Virgin, you can walk to it or take a bus, I was at the service on Sunday early in the morning, a very beautiful temple, it was interesting to listen to the service in Greek.
Only one moment was unpleasant, which I wrote about above: the temple is located right in the center of the party and in the morning drunken tourists are just starting to fall apart from the clubs. I watched a drunken company of the English, it seems, in the center with a girl who was not at all embarrassed by the ringing of bells and a prayer coming from the temple, they behaved noisily, yelled, and the girl sat right next to the temple to relieve herself. Everywhere on the streets there was dirt, garbage and the stench from a night of drinking, despite the fact that there are large garbage containers everywhere. Leaving the temple, I went towards the embankment to the pharmacy, and already through the dirty streets they were replaced by clean and well-groomed ones, which somehow improved my mood, but left an unpleasant aftertaste in my soul.
And, of course, how not to go fishing in Cyprus, not to see the caves, the bridge of lovers. Arrange to rent a yacht and equipment right in the port with the owners, bargain, it will be cheaper, and you can immediately see the yacht. We sailed on a large catamaran, we liked it very much, we even caught fish.
