What to do in Cyprus

pugsley_h

We are going to Cyprus in July, and we are looking for ideas! Normally, when we go away, we research somewhere, see what we would like to do there, and then book. This time, we thought we couldn't afford to go abroad, but some very cheap flights came up for Cyprus so we booked it. We had never considered going to Cyprus and we are not sure what to do whilst we are there.
We are a family of four with kids aged 9 & 7. We are staying in Oroklini, near Larnaca, and we have organised car hire for the week - and we plan on going to the north as well as the south. One thing we fancy doing is the night time turtle watch thing in the north of Cyprus.
Any ideas of what to do whilst we are there? My daughter wants to do something historical (but no doubt she will get bored very quickly) so we don't want to do too much historical lol. We really enjoy things like boat trips (we have done a lot of these in Turkey). We are not a sunbathing family, we would rather be doing something.
Any suggestions would be really appreciated - including details of affordable restaurants etc (we will be on a reasonably tight budget )
Thank you

ttoli

Not all car hire companies allow you to take their cars North, though I do see cars from Hertz, Avis and Sixt hired in the south ,here in the North .
You will have to pay additional Insurance at the border ( 15 euros for 3 days is the shortest duration) and it is 3RD party only .
For the turtles you do need to pre book https://www.cyprusturtles.org/
I go at least once a year and it is very special, be aware though that the visits are in the middle of the night/early hours of the morning and Larnaca from is a two hour drive away, so possibly think of staying overnight locally in a hotel .

Gloomendoom

The fact that the additional insurance for the North will only pay for damage to other people or things is an important one. You will be responsible for loss or damage to your own hire vehicle and any costs for recovery back to the South. The same applies if the car breaks down.

poppy_f1

the waterpark outside ayia napa is good for a day trip

nicosia is good to see but as others have said car insurance may not cover if you to to the north but if you go then kyrenia castle and bellapais abbey is good for historic stuff

go toward paphos as you have tomb of the kings which is a decent enough few hours to kill = not much to see but enough to kill a few hours

PompeyPete

Nicosia will be red hot in July, and all the coast as well as being v.hot will be uncomfortably humid.

If you hire a car make sure the a/c works properly. It'll be like driving in an oven.

Lived just outside Paphos for 2 years, and like a lot of expats we returned to UK for July and August.

pugsley_h

Many thanks for all your help. As advised above, we have booked a hotel for the night, near to the turtles.
I have contacted my car hire company who are fine with us driving in the North, but to be honest, driving with only third party insurance worries me! We were wondering about driving to the border, leaving our hire car in the South and hiring a car in the north for the day, so that we have the peace of mind of full coverage. Is this feasible - are there car hire places on the north side next to the border?

Gloomendoom

You may be better asking on here...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g190372-i9179-Cyprus.html

pmramsay

You can drive to nicosia and cross the border on foot for the day thats not a problem.

Trodos mountains is a nice drive.
Aphrodites Baths
Aphrodites rock - although very busy and not as nice as it looks on the pictures
Paphos is worth a look around
The drive up to poli is a good one
As you are larnaca side you could drive to agia napa/protaras way for the beaches.
Kourion and !!!!ori ampitheatre

Plenty to do in cyprus, im sure you will have a great time

Kernow666

alternatively you could go onto a dedicated travel site like TripAdvisor and ask there probably get better answers

gpc273

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kourion

Roman ruins that are well worth a visit, that'll fulfill the historic visit . Stand on the cliffs and you can still see the Roman harbour below the waves. The beach below is pretty good and has a good restaurant.