My husband Chris and I recently spent about a week on the beautiful Mediterranean island. We have been much on the road with the car.
Most visitors come to Cyprus for the beaches. This is understandable, because the beaches of Aphrodite’s mythical birth island are among the cleanest in the world. But why is the island more than a large tourist beach?
1. Cyprus offers culture of 10,000 years
Stone Age, the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, Assyrians …
All have left their mark. The cultural wealth is so great that you could spend weeks just with archaeological sites, churches, frescoes etc.
2. Cyprus is Diversity
Cyprus has charming villages. I love these idyllic places with stone houses, flowers and cobblestones. Modern cities with hip-quarters are often not far away. The capital has a bit of both. There you can find lots of cats – often in the shadow under the car. Walks across cultures are possible if you just cross the border in the capital Nicosia.
3. Cyprus has a wonderful Food Scene
Delicious food: Mediterranean meets Middle East.
What is more, incredibly beautiful cafes and restaurants. Often outside and between ancient walls. In Cyprus there are also very good wines. There are special wine routes you can drive.
4. Cyprus is fantastic landscape
As measured by its small size, the island is very diverse. Cyprus has a desert-like landscape that seems oriental, as well as forested mountains that are up to 2,000 meters. When I think of Cyprus, I always see this great clear water in front of me. Mostly far away from rows of umbrellas:
I like capturing architectural details like beautiful doors and there are particularly pretty ones in Cyprus. So I decided to create an own gallery for them:
If you like my blog post, you might be also interested in my article about our babymoon with island hopping on the Cyclades in Greece or the most beautiful places at the Ocean.
Transparency: The naming of destinations is based on my voluntary decision. We paid for the costs of our trip completely ourselves.
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This looks like my kind of beach! I love the beach, but sometimes find myself getting bored after just laying on the beach for too long. The orthodox church, food, and everything else in such close proximity would be the perfect solution to my problem!
Actually we didn’t spend much time at the beach as the country has so many attractions 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Can’t beat a good door photo 🙂 Cyprus is definitely on my bucket list and for all the reasons you mention here – not to sit on the beach!
Thanks for your comment, Natasha! Happy to learn you share my love for door photos 🙂
There’s so much diversity here … what a great place to visit. I love your door pictures .. what is it about doors that attracts us? I’m a sucker for them too. I spend a lot of time in neighboring Turkey, and I’ve snapped my fair share of blue doors there too. ~ Jay @rovingjay
Thanks for your comment! That’s really interesting. I didn’t know that Turkey has beautiful doors. Will keep this in mind.
Stunning! I love a good beach and some history, culture and food thrown in sounds like the perfect destination for me
Happy to read this. Thank you, Jess!
Love your pics, specially those various doors! Actually, I was stunned by doors in Tunisia, taking pictures one after another! And you are so right, the island is not that big, so it’s not that hard to plan a visit to some of those cultural heritage locations, when their history is so rich. Looks like you had great time there! 🙂
Thank you so much. Also interesting to read that Tunisia has a good choice of doors.
Haha, I love the door photos 😀
I’ve heard so many great things about Cyprus, I definitely wanna go! Thanks for this informative post – I’m super into history, tombs and churches, so I know I’ll have a blast there 😀
What’s a dish you’d recommend?
Dear Jennifer, Thank you for your lovely comment. I’d recommend to try Cypriot Meze. It’s rich in terms of variety and delicious.
That dish looked delicious! I didn’t realise their cuisine is a mix of Mediterranean and middle east.. Sounds like a place for me 😉
You’re definitely right, that landscape is absolutely stunning, I don’t know too much about Cyprus but this post has made me curious.. One to add to my ever-growing list! Really great how you covered the “hidden bits and pieces” of Cyprus – especially those doors! So vibrant and colourful!
Thank you so much, Caroline. The food is really awesome and so are some architectural details. I loved Cyprus. It’s definitely one of my favorite places in Europe.
My family have been to Cyprus but I didn’t get the chance to go and I regret it; they absolutely loved the island for many of the reasons you’ve described here. One of the things I think I would particularly enjoy is seeing the true history of the Island and its effects today with the two sides to the island. How interesting. I also absolutely love the gallery of the doors! I am going to keep an eye out for pretty doors on my next trip!
Hi Abbi, Thank you for commenting. I’m happy I could give some inspiration regarding doors 🙂 They are at so many places all over the world…
You have TOTALLY sold me on Cyprus! I love visiting places where you can feel the history and the history on Cyprus looks unparalleled. And not to mention the foot looks DELICIOUS.
That’s great, Jacklyn. Thank you so much. It’s really a dream destination.
I went to college for archaeology and i desperately to go to Cyprus for all the rich history. Tbh I never even thought of beaches there! I guess thanks for letting me know they’re great ones, haha.
That’s really funny, Kristina. It’s great that you know so much details then. I loved both, archeological sites and beaches. And much more 🙂 Thanks for your comment.