Kalavasos is on the very outskirts of Larnaca just before you reach the Limassol districts.

It's less than 10 mins drive to the seafront at Zygi which is famous for its' fish restaurants. Nicosia residents come to Zygi to eat fish in droves on a Sunday lunchtime.

Nearby, you have the village of Lefkara which is still known as the traditional lace making village and silverware but a lot of lace is also shipped in so you should be aware of this. Hand made lace is expensive and you will be able to see the difference. Just because some old lady is sitting there with a needle in her hand, doesn't necessarily mean she's made all you see in her shop - and, they will waylay you at every stop along the way There is a waxworks museum there too, if I recall correctly.

If you have kids with you, you may want to take a visit to the Camel Park near Mazotos. There is a large swimming pool and a restaurant so its a good place to go to spend the day in the summer.

Nicosia is easily reachable by car, within about 20 minutes drive and if you fancy a day of contrasts - park the car near to Ledra Street shopping area and shop on the south side before going through the crossing point and no man's land into the occupied north of the divide. You can walk around quite easily as it's not the biggest shopping area by any means but with lots of jewellery shops and a fair number of eateries. Try Buyuk Han (originally an Ottoman Travellers Inn) which has now been converted into small craft shops.

The shops in the north are generally open when it's a public holiday in the south and you will probably find it very busy then! 28 October is Oxi Day (No! Day) and is a public holiday in the south.

It's around 20 mins drive into Limassol main tourist area and there's a whole load of "stuff" to do there.... If you haven't already been, you could try the tourist village of Omodos - cobbled streets with houses tucked back off them, local restaurants etc and it's about another 15 mins drive from there to Platres and Troodos Square (top of Mount Olympus).

Thanks,
we really going for a bit of a 'reckie' with a view of looking for a place to buy to live.

Hi

If you don't mind me asking, how many times have you holidayed in Cyprus? It just seemed a bit strange asking for things to do when you are actually looking for a place to live.....

I've been living in Limassol district since March 2004 and started coming for holidays in 1985. We holidayed pretty much every year at different times and different locations in Cyprus before sticking with Limassol as this was the best area for us work wise.

We chose to rent a property rather than buying and opinion has definitely changed if you look at some of the big Cyprus forums on buying -vs- renting.

Initially, people always said buy but there have been so many issues with title deeds and fluctuation in exchange rates with the poor £ against the € that a lot of expats have either gone back to UK or are still looking to do so. Many cannot sell their properties due to lack of title deeds and lack of buyers.

I would truly suggest you try to rent for 6 months to make sure the area you have chosen is where you want to be for a permanent residence. We live in a street that is all Cypriot but on the outside of what was the original village. In the village, the houses are almost on top of each other and the Cypriots don't do anything quietly A telephone conversation in the house next door sounds like a shouting match and in the summer, they all sit outside on their verandas with the big screen tv's as it's too damn hot to sit inside.

We are very lucky that our landlord is considerate to us both working and no longer sits on the front veranda at night (they generally sit out from around 10pm until the early hours) but sits at the side instead so as not to make so much noise....

Don't get me wrong, we love our new life and enjoy the life in our village but are glad we chose this street rather than the middle of the village. We have stayed in the same property since we arrived but many of our friends & work colleagues have moved 3 or 4 times in less than that time so it's important to make the right choice that suits you.

We looked at Kalavasos and really liked the village. They were doing maintenance on the streets to make it into an agrotourism village and there are a few holiday houses and apartments there. The drive into the village from the highway is lovely but it was just a bit too far out for my daily commute into Mesa Geitonia (by St Nicholas roundabout) when I was working shifts and traffic on the roundabouts was pretty horrendous.

I hope you find something and October is probably the best time to start looking. There is an odd way of looking at property here though. Not like in UK that prices get reduced when it's been on the market for a while - they tend to increase them! It seems they are perfectly happy to lose out on a rental or a sale for another 6 months or so, rather than reduce the price and get the sale or rental there and then. One has to assume they either don't really need the money or they are more interested to see just how much someone is prepared to pay.... We've never really worked out the answer to that one

If you have any questions about locations etc, I'm happy to help out. You can ask me off the forum if you prefer.

You could be in time for the palouze parties too - as that's usually around October time. Enjoy!

Ah! a little misunderstanding!
Very usesful and interesting information, thank you
By 'places to see / go' I did mean towns as opossed to 'attractions' !

We have only been to Cyprus once, but liked what we saw. We want to move abroad to live and work . We are particularly looking at places away from major tourist centres, but with good communication links. Kalavasos / Zigi area looks interesting.
However, this is not anything we will rush in to. We will hire a car and have a good look round. Car hire seems very cheap unless we are missing something???
We have heard about all the problems over deeds etc both sides of the border, we will tread carefully.
I was told there was going to be talks about re-unification, but haven't seen or heard any more about this ???

Any other information you can give us will be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

Sue and Dave Seagull

Hi

Reunification is still a loooooong way away..... It's not going to happen in the very near future that I can see.

We have sirens going off every summer in the early hours to mark the day of the Turkish invasion in 1974 and this happens for approx 2 or 3 days in a row.

Car hire is reasonably cheap but be advised you may be charged for a full tank of fuel (you return it empty) and costs can be approx 60EUR even for a small car. If possible, tell them at the time of taking the car - you will return it empty so you will not be charged for the fuel. Some petrol stations are not manned all day every day but there are prepaid machines where you can use notes or credit/debit card. Instructions are available in English on the machine.

Depending on the type of job you are looking for, you will probably have to travel to Limassol or Larnaca and believe me when I say that nobody wants to drive for more than 20 minutes in Cyprus! Yes, we tutted and shook our heads too when we heard it as we used to drive an hour each way to work in UK without any thought - but it is not the done thing here....

Many positions require you to go away from the office for 2hrs in the afternoon and return after 3pm so that journey will take 30mins in each direction twice a day. Try that in 40c in July & August and it's torture as the car is only just cooling down by the time you reach your destination and in standing traffic, no matter how good your a/c is - it will not stop you baking in full sunshine.

We have 3 rush hours in Cyprus (early morning, lunchtime & back again plus the evening rush hour) so it's not so easy to avoid.

They are all things to consider if you intend moving to work.

Take a map, work out where you may be working and then draw a circle with a diameter of 20 mins driving time and work outwards. Take the drive in and out of rush hour and see how it goes....

We did that, and we are in the best spot - 10 mins from Curium beach and around 10 - 15 mins from work in the rush hour

Hi Seagull

I believe you may have sent me a private message but for some reason I cannot access it but if you check out my profile, you will find a way to contact me directly there.

I would like to help you out with any questions you may have if you are considering moving to Cyprus on a permanent basis.

We've been living in Limassol since March 2004 so would be happy to share experience and information.

Hi

I've received your email and sent you a reply....

I hope to be able to answer a lot of your questions as I'm sure there will be many over the coming months.