Holidays in Paphos

Mands

SuzieSue wrote: »

Mands wrote: »

Thanks very much for all this information. As long as it is warmer than here, it will be good. What is the temperature there at the moment? How long have you been in Cyprus?

We've been here almost four years now.

The maximum temperature today was about 17, it'll drop to about 10 overnight. In contrast to the UK that doesn't sound cold, but few Cypriot houses are insulated well particularly new builds designed for expats. Central heating isn't particularly common and where it is available is quite expensive to run.

If you do decide to move out here then do give some thought to the type of house you might buy; older village houses have fireplaces for a reason.

To give the weather some context this week has been one of jeans, heavy socks, tshirts and thick sweaters or sweatshirts. Soups and stews have featured fairly high on the menu plan for the same reason. Beds have got heavy quilts on.

But, in a couple of weeks the days will be a little longer and the weather will be a little warmer and the air will be sweet and mild. The almond and cherry trees will start to blossom and it'll seem like nothing was ever wrong with the world :-)

This winter has been unseasonably wet and cold. I mention it only because we didn't truly appreciate quite how wintery it could be down near the coast, although it's expected up on Troodos.

It's snowing quite heavily up there this week;
http://www.skicyprus.com/webcam/

Mands

SuzieSue

Mands wrote: »

We've been here almost four years now.

The maximum temperature today was about 17, it'll drop to about 10 overnight. In contrast to the UK that doesn't sound cold, but few Cypriot houses are insulated well particularly new builds designed for expats. Central heating isn't particularly common and where it is available is quite expensive to run.

If you do decide to move out here then do give some thought to the type of house you might buy; older village houses have fireplaces for a reason.


Mands

Thanks Mands. We were initally thinking about buying but now we think we will rent for at least a year. But after what you have said, we will make sure there is adequate heating. Is there much variation in weather/temperature across the island? Where abouts are you if you don't mind me asking?

Did you rent before buying?

Also, do you work or are you retired? I won't be working and I will be below retirement age, so I think I will need to take out private health insurance after 18 months or so. Do you know if this is correct?

Thanks for your help.

Mands

SuzieSue wrote: »

Thanks Mands. We were initally thinking about buying but now we think we will rent for at least a year. But after what you have said, we will make sure there is adequate heating. Is there much variation in weather/temperature across the island? Where abouts are you if you don't mind me asking?

Did you rent before buying?

Also, do you work or are you retired? I won't be working and I will be below retirement age, so I think I will need to take out private health insurance after 18 months or so. Do you know if this is correct?

Thanks for your help.

Hi Suzie,

We rented first. It was, by far, the best choice for us. Had we bought straight away we'd have picked a very different type of property; probably new-build, probably in one of the villages with a large expat community as that's what we knew.

Instead we waited a couple of years and got to know the island better, exploring and wandering about small villages. We ended up buying an old village house half way between Larnaca & Limassol. The previous owner said it needed 'a little replastering and then painting'; in reality our builders were onsite for 20 weeks ;-)

We don't work, but neither of us are entitled to free health care. The OH will be in a few years; I've got a lot longer to go.

When we tried to get our immigration paperwork aka pink/yellow slips we were told that we had to take out some form of medical insurance. At that time the real concern was that we had cover for the repatriation of mortal remains. The cemeteries on the island are filling up and there are cultural/religious objections to the concept of cremation. The authorities would really rather that non-Cypriots be buried off the island but shipping bodies back to the UK, or elsewhere, is expensive hence the insurance.

Now, other folks haven't had to get insurance so you might not. The rules, the interpretation of the rules, the whims of the bureaucrats change frequently. What was necessary a month ago may no longer be necessary next month.

If you do need insurance then consider talking to Universal Life. They offer a relatively cheap policy that has correspondingly low coverage but does include repatriation of bodies. The policy is cheap and premiums are age-related. From memory the maximum premium is 150 CYP so 250€ or so.

http://www.universallife.com.cy/main/default.aspx

We've never claimed on it, choosing to pay out of pocket for any treatment so far, so I can't comment on how useful it is apart from appeasing the authorities!

Hope that helps some, and apologies to the OP for diverting their thread!
Mands

RachelW1987

How about Mkynos or Skiathos.

Ios, Naxos

There are loads of options

Im a DE for Santorini on Tripadvisor, that website in invaluble for researching holiday destinations

SuzieSue

Mands wrote: »

Hi Suzie,

We ended up buying an old village house half way between Larnaca & Limassol.

Mands

Thanks a lot again Mands for the useful info.

Does it matter if you can't speak Greek if you are away from the large expat communities?

Also, are there any other areas that you would recommend living apart from where you are? We would want a property that we could live in without doing any work to it at all.

And where would be the best place to rent (rather than buy)? We don't mind about not being near the sea at all (my OH grew up on the south coast so he has had enough of the sea to last him a llfetime).

Also, are broadband and and English tv easily available everywhere?

Thanks again

Mands

Hi Suzie,

I'd hate for you to make any decisions based just on information I have so I've culled links to a few threads on some of those sites I mentioned to give you some broader info.

SuzieSue wrote: »

Does it matter if you can't speak Greek if you are away from the large expat communities?

Lots of expats don't learn. It becomes more important the further you are from tourist areas.

Regarding where to live and what is available for rental

What's Special about your area?

• http://www.cyprusliving.org/phpbb/nfphpbb/viewtopic.php?t=22389

Where to live in Larnaca

• http://www.expatforum.com/expats/cyprus-expat-forum-expats-living-cyprus/38791-advice-best-place-live-larnaca.html

Property for Rent

• http://easterncyprus.com/viewforum.php?f=2
  
• http://www.buysellcyprus.com/#home_page_search_obj=RTL

SuzieSue wrote: »

Also, are broadband and and English tv easily available everywhere?

English tv is available but can be expensive. To run sky you need to keep a UK contract, breach their T&Cs and install a dish here. Depending where on the island the dish may need to be as large as 4 meters. We don't have tv so that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge.

See this thread for other people's experience;
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/cyprus-expat-forum-expats-living-cyprus/29474-tv-cyprus.html

Broadband is available in towns and some of the larger villages. It is slower and more expensive than the UK.

And finally;

Cost of living discussions

• http://easterncyprus.com/viewtopic.php?t=27035
  
  
• http://www.expatforum.com/expats/cyprus-expat-forum-expats-living-cyprus/35396-annual-income-needed-comfortable-lifestyle.html

HTH,
Mands

SuzieSue

Mands wrote: »

Hi Suzie,

I'd hate for you to make any decisions based just on information I have so I've culled links to a few threads on some of those sites I mentioned to give you some broader info.

That's great Mands. Thanks very much for all the time you have spent answering our questions, we really appreciate it.

We will look at all the sites you have mentioned. We're planning to go in around 5 years time so we have quite a bit of time to look into everything.

Thanks again.

sally06

C_Mababejive wrote: »

It depends what sort of holiday you like.

If you are happy with...

1)crap,sparse ,overcrowded beaches
2)Poor quality restaurants/over priced
3)An airport which is inefficient and overcrowded
4)Being pestered by cockney scrubbers and lads selling timeshares
5) a general chavtastic atmosphere
6) Rubbish,hyped up sites like the Tombs of the Kings ..blah blah blah
7) Lots of building,drilling and concrete pouring..

Then have a nice holiday.

I went once and i wouldnt care to repeat the experience. Not in Paphos area anyway. Other parts are slightly better.

wallbash wrote: »

Do you get the idea that someone did not enjoy themselves :rotfl:

Will agree about no.6 , disappointed about the Toms of the Kings, my own fault did not do enough research,


Booked Turkey ( second year running ) yesterday.

I agree with all the comments made. I found paphos to be more expensive than sardinia and it's expensive there! I would never, ever go back to paphos, (horrid place, in my opinion) even if someone paid me:rotfl:but hey, that's all part of travelling. Some places you'll love and some you'll hate I'm hoping to go to turkey this year. The last time I went there was about 10 years ago. I'm definetly avoiding eurozone this year!

Mands

SuzieSue wrote: »

it.

We will look at all the sites you have mentioned. We're planning to go in around 5 years time so we have quite a bit of time to look into everything.

Happy to help. Enjoy the researching, the anticipation is part of the fun :-)
Mands