I didn't think the question was whether it was cheaper than the UK but whether it was on a par with other holiday destinations.
Cyprus are not competing with the UK for holidaymakers but other EU countries and non EU countries such as Turkey and Croatia etc.

We stopped going to Cyprus a couple of years ago as thought it was just getting too expensive (and that was before the Euro swap over) and judging by this thread looks like we made the right decision. It doesn't make me happy to say that as we have been several times over the last 20 years and it holds many special memories for us: Our Honeymoon, first holiday with my daughter, first holday with my son, 20th Wedding anniversary etc. Since then we have been to California and Mexico and our money has gone a hell of a lot further although that does have a lot to do with the $ rate obviously. Mexico was absolutely swamped with Brits (which isn't that great a thing but that's another story) so a lot of people are doing the same thing. Put it this way you can end up paying £1200 for a 3 or 4* hotel in Cyprus B & B for 2 weeks in August whereas we paid £1150 each in Mexico AI in a really good 4*. Cyprus just isn't value for money anymore and judging by other people's experience as well as our own the quality of service has gone out of the window. So many hotel/bar owners are now not employing Cypriots anymore but cheap labour Eastern Europeans who think a smile should be performed as often as a solar eclipse. This is a major downer as one of the great pleasures of Cyprus was the friendly welcome of the Cypriot people.

I know the circumstances are different now but they made the same mistake in the early 90s in Cyprus by trying to price out the "lager lout" culture, but ended up pricing out the backbone of the holiday industry- the average family groups. Doesn't look like they learnt their lesson the first time.

Just got back from Cyprus and must say that although prices have gone up with the euro, there are still some very good value meals and drinks about. We found set menus in Pernera with a reasonable choice for 8 to 12 euros, and beer at 2 euros a pint in some bars. Others admittedly were more expensive, but the most my husband paid for a pint of Keo was 4.05 euros at the new harbour by the Golden Coast. We also had house wine for 2 euros per half litre with our meal in one restaurant- total cost for food and drink came to 55 euros for 4 adults and 2 children (£45), which I think is very good value.
However, the prices in the small tourist supermarkets are very expensive and they are best avoided . If you can get to one of the bigger supermarkets you will save a lot of money. we had a hire car so were lucky there. The supermarket by our accomodation was charging 1.40 euros for a bottle of water that cost a quarter of that in Carrefour!

bellavista wrote:

We also had house wine for 2 euros per half litre with our meal in one restaurant

Would that have been Gordon Blue Flambé restaurant?
We ate there twice best meal in resort other than at the Toxotis apartment bar (where we stayed).
You must have been in Pernera the the same time as us. We got back on Sunday.
Really thought the prices were fantastic to be honest, the most expensive pint of Keo was by the small marina where the harbour police drink
TF

Spot on with your guess TF, the Gordon Blue remains very good value, we went there 3 times over the 2 weeks. Also special mention must go to Ifalos ( down near the Isaac) for superb value and friendly service.
We weren't actually staying in Pernera this time, but in Ayia Napa. However, old habits die hard and we just prefer the restaurants in Pernera for good value and being family friendly, we had a car so could travel.
It's not all doom and gloom, there are good value places about even in the tourist areas if you look around.

Arrived back from Pernera late last night. I was so pleasantly surprised with the prices which seem to have stablished and we were fortunate enough to get a exchange rate of 1.26 whilst there. When I went in May I seriously thought Cyprus was going to price itself out of the tourist market but there are plenty of places where you can still get very reasonably prices meal. Hogi's Bar (whilst not everyone's taste and certainly not at all Cypriot) but because some of our crowd insisted on the very English fish & chip Friday night and we were outvoted 8 of us went and with two rounds of the best measure drinks in the area 7 lots of fish and chips and a pork chop and salad the total cost was 83 euros. I have to give in gratiously here and confirm if you happen to like fish and chips they are without doubt the best in the area. The local tavernas out of the tourist spots are much cheaper but you have to balance up the cost of a taxi to get you there. The most we paid for a special anniversary meal for two of us at La Cultura De Gusta was 69 euros and that included two pre dinner drinks, two course fantastic a la carte meal and a good bottle of wine with free brandy thrown in. The biggest disappointment we encountered was Rocks on the main road to Protaras. This came so highly recommended but it was the biggest disappointment of all - most of the stuff on the menu (including their highly recommend kleftiko) had a star by it indicating it was all frozen and unless you had known what you had ordered once the sauces were poured over the meat you wouldn't have had a clue what you were eating. Complete waste of money. Prices in the Fig Tree Bay area are scandalous - double the price of Pernera but I expect you have to pay for the view. All in all pleasantly surprised this October.

Just returned last night from Protaras. Also expected the worst - but actually cheaper than Majorca in July. (where it was 4.50 for a Magners - but only 3.00 in Protaras).

Prices not gone up a lot at all in all of the places we frequent (taking into account the currency change to Euro) . Actually very good considering inflation etc. also. In a lot of places there was practically no change since last year.

We therefore had a ball!!Pleasantly surprised after reading the horror stories on here about spending extra 20-25%!!!!! No way!!!

hi all! too be honest we thought it was much dearer than last year much due to the exchange rate. A lot of restaurants had two sets of prices to give you a conversion of what you were spending. This however is well out of date and quite misleading. just for example a big banner at pizza hut says you can have all you want for 24 euros and states this is £14. It was infact £20 as with a 1.20 rate 6 euros is £5, 12 euros is £10 and £24 euros is £20. A lot of it was justification, i.e a pint of boddingtons costs 4.5 euros so i just kept to keo at 3 euros a pint. also a breville sandwich toastie was costing 4.5 and scampi and chips 11 euros. We used to walk to safiros kiosk (along the coast at the rising star) and found great food at sensible prices. All this didn't spoil anything, we still had a ball but that rate needs to improve to get the customers returning

24 euros is 14 cypriot pounds not sterling. cypriot pounds are no longer used, the conversion is for cypriot not english pounds.

34 Euros is approx 20 Cyprus Pounds - not 14 Cyprus pounds.....

The exchange rate set for 1 Jan 2008 is still being used today for the dual prices displayed on menus, in bars and local supermarkets. The rate was, and still is 1 Euro = Cy1.71 pounds.

CwB

I think a lot of the problem is the outlying destinations that are under the Euro currency, by that I mean just like Gran Canaria Cyprus is a lot further from the UK than mainland Spanish resorts. Of course this matters a great deal when airline fuel prices are taken into account, because of the steep rise in fuel prices package holidays in Cyprus and Gran Canaria have been adversely affected to start with.
This is before the strength of the Euro against the Pound is taken into consideration, together with the price adjustments that came in with the Euro and the whole rounding up of prices under the new currency, this has been a double whammy for both Cyprus and the Canary Islands.
When the EU announced that Turkey is some way off from being considered for entry into the Euro currency UK holidaymakers breathed a huge sigh of relief, for those that like holidaying in Turkey the Euro is less than welcome.
Like Cyprus and the Canaries, Turkey has already been hit with fuel prices adversely affecting flight prices to the country, the introduction of the Euro will just mean yet another holiday destination is more expensive for UK visitors.
Just read today that Thomas Cook have given a very poor forecast for profits in 2009 due to steeply reduced advance bookings for next year, the only positive that may come from this is the huge numbers of cheap last minute deals we could see next summer for package holiday prices in Cyprus and the rest of Europe.

cyprus100, my mistake i ment 24 euros not 34 as i was replying to post before mine. sorry for my mistake and thank you for correcting me.
many thanks

wizard wrote:

cyprus100, my mistake i ment 24 euros not 34 as i was replying to post before mine. sorry for my mistake and thank you for correcting me.
many thanks

No worries, Wizard...

It gets very confusing now as most travellers who've been to Cyprus before are trying to juggle prices in 3 different currencies. Makes it really hard work. I'm still getting the hang of the Euro - v - Cy pounds but at least Cy20 is a nice simple one for me to calculate, so it was an easy mistake to spot

Imagine what will happen if Turkey ever get to join the EU and take the euro

CwB

Just back from Polis. Yes - there are places charging 68 euros for a meal for 2, but we also found a great taverna, yards from our hotel, where I had a huge kleftiko (enough meat for 4 really) and wifey a chicken dish, with a carafe of wine, and a sweetened walnut dessert (never had it before), for a grand total of 18 euros.

Again, the secret is, wander (sometimes only yards) away from the tourist trap area and bargains can still be found. In this case it was the "Prodromi Tavern" - highly recommended.

Richie