posting to Cyprus - Questions?

cath000

What sort of high street shops are available out there?
Like clothes, toys etc

thanks

mummyfleming

hey. ive heard there is a clarks, a debenhams, new look and few other english shops.quick question, is it true its flats instead of houses at the camps in the south??? sorry to highjack ur thread xx

Alias_Omega

Alot of stuff can be delivered out here from the UK, with the value of the euro to the £. Its not worth shopping local for goods, when they are 3x the price from the uk.

Clarks, Debenhams, Mothercare, ELC, Marks & Spencer, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King...are all here, plus many more.

We live in the WSBA, and we live in a house.

13Kent

We were told it was expensive here before we came but we took it with a pinch of salt and thought people were exaggerating - they were not!

There are lots of shops like next but the prices are extortionate - e.g €68 for a pair of jeans. Most people shop online - next, very, Early Learning (the same £28 car track is €50 here) m&s all deliver here. As does Boots - a can of hair mousse is about €4 on average here- shampoo, conditioner etc about double the price - nappies about €14 for a small pack of pampers. all toiletries are cheaper to buy off Boots and get delivered - sun cream especially. But they don't send aerosols. Pack loads of stuff with you if you can.

Ikea is great - food in their restaurant cheap. Some items are comparable to Uk prices but they are mainly much more expensive.

Some things are cheaper - petrol and diesel, strangely bottled water is really cheap among other things.

Eating out can be expensive depending on where you go - we had a meal for 2 adults and 2 chlildren (2 adult starters, 2 adult main courses 2 children's meals and drinks) and it was more than €80 at TGI fridays.

However the sunshine out of my window at the moment is free - as are the wonderful beaches and warm sea, and treats like delicious fresh local strawberries in Feb and March, and tasty fresh fruit and veg, more than make up for the expense, and you do get LOA which helps a lot.

We have a lovely house, - bit basic and old fashioned, but spacious - and all families I know live in houses.

Feel free to Pm if you want any more info.

Quiggles_2

Hi there, I spent 2 years at Episkopi and my whole family including myself loved it. Dont worry about the cost of food etc, do as the locals do, shop in their supermarkets. A whole lot cheaper and the fruit and veg is pennys. Eating out isnt expensive either, stay away from the usual McDonalds, TGIs and go to a local family run restaurant, usually on the beach front where you can feed a family of 5 for 50 quid at the most, and the dishes just keep coming and coming.

Most of all, enjoy it, life there is so easy going and relaxing. Please PM if you wish and good luck

13Kent

Some of the local places are reasonable, but not in our experience the beach front ones (must be going to the wrong ones!!) Unfortunately since the Cyprus pound changed to the Euro, and the Euro and sterling became almost equivalent the tourist trade has declined. Sadly to compensate for the lack of income rather than drop prices to increase custom they seem to increase their prices instead.

Our local Chinese takeaway (not on the camp in one of the local villages) charge approx €8-10 for a dish, and the rice is another €3 on top. - Don't get me wrong, the food is absolutely delicious, but it's a special treat not a regular one for us!

One of the local tavernas which serves excellent food charges €12 per person for a take away meze, €14 if you eat there. The food is wonderful, and the meze dishes keep coming until you are absolutely stuffed...and then they bring some more!!(That doesn't include drinks).

The LOA helps with the extra expense, and I agree it is a great life - we love it! We had dinner out on the patio this evening (much less stressful when the kids throw their food around than indoors !!) School and work starts early and finishes early, so you get to enjoy family time in the afternoon. The beach is close by lots of watersports if that's what you like, , also a choice of swimming pools and water parks. The washing dries quickly for most of the year - not that there is that much washing as my little ones don't wear much int he summer months!!, no wheeling wet muddy prams into the house or muddy footprints, etc etc I could go on! If for some reason you do get fed up with the heat, you can take a trip up to Troodos in the winter months and be freezing cold and sledge, and build some snowmen, then come home to T-shirt weather about an hour later - it's quite surreal.

Our children have met at close quarters some interesting wildlife - chameleons, lizards, turtles - and often they chase an unsuspecting preying mantis around the garden trying to coax it onto their fingers - all experiences they wouldn't get in the UK.

I haven't met anyone that dislikes it here yet - even those that didn't want to come here seem to start enjoying themselves soon enough, and most are reluctant to head back to the UK when their tour has finished.

jpwhittle

hiya, we are being posted to cyprus, its my first time and we go in 9 weeks, still finding my feet with everything but the storage allowance can seem quite small, now ive started packing though its looking ok and im taking all 3 beds with us, no other furniture but my beds i only just got my bed and dont want to be on a raf one for 3 years.
the guys on here are a great help. we arent bothering with sky out there as i want to make the most of it and also try and save some money over this end, then hopefully when we come back ill be in a far better position than we are now.
been told thats a big perk when you manage to save some of your wage.

Alias_Omega

Bring pushbikes, very expensive here. Anything you plan to buy online (kettles - britax filter, toasters etc) buy from Amazon / eBay and get them posted out now. Will take 4-6 weeks for items to come out on the ship.

Running season is now over here, Mr Whittle has missed out on a few half marathons, but the 10k races start again october sometime i believe.

As said above, join the facebook group (BFC Buy, Sell Swap Shop - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=163553201259) to look for things forsale before you get here (inc a car).

If you forget to bring anything with you, then there is a few large supermarkets (Orpahedez & Carrefour) in limassol, with the new mall on the outskirts. Ive found one cheap clothes shop in limassol which is called 'Spider stores', felt a bit like Primark in the uk. There is a flea market at Fissouri every Sat & Sun which is local which is good for this & that.

Weve found a discount store in limassol which sells english food & stuff items at pretty cheap prices (24 cans of pepsi - 6 euro, box of surf 60 washes 20 euro etc.

Only tips we can really give, is when you pack, put things like quilts into the dryer, washing powder & conditioner into the washer drum. Pack a box full of toiletries, so a trip to local bodycare and stock up on suntan lotion, insect bite sticks, shampoo, mouthwasher, razor blades etc.

Alot of the uk online retailers ship stuff out here through the BFPO address, and near enough every eBay seller will ship items out here too.

Alias

13Kent

We packed a lot of clothes and bedding etc in vacuum bags to save on volume for shipping.

13Kent

Just because it's on my mind at the moment as we are paying €100 to get the garden strimmed - if you have a strimmer it might be worth bringing it - the gardens are bare for most of the year, but the grass??/weeds grow up during the winter months and have to be strimmed and cleared at this time of the year as they become a fire hazard as the weather gets hotter.