Shop around is the answer. get away from the tourist areas and you'll get a meal for 2 with wine for £15Cyp or less.

Search the tourist areas for best deals on drink. Pint of local lager can still be found for £1.50, and shorts, well never mind the price, feel the quantity!

All in all its mnot really expensive - compares fairly generally to prices in England.

Richie

Don't believe all you read or are told, it is not expensive once you get here, getting here can be!! good advice above..p.s can you buy a pint in your local for £1.25 I can!! eat out for £7 with drinks in walking distance, I can, I could name many things cheaper here...Petrol for another..see this link..for more costing here.

http://cyprusliving.netfirms.com/phpbb/nfphpbb/viewtopic.php?t=13

have a good stay..dont bother bringing your woolies..

Jim

Pafos CY...

I think this is an urban myth caused by people who have been ( a long time ago) to other countrys that are dirt cheap compared to home.. you know the sort of places where its 10p for a pint and you can get as much plastic tat as your case will carry for under a fiver...

Cyprus isn't a "cheap" place, in the sense of kiss me quick hats for a pound, its normal.. roughly similar pricing to what you would pay at home.. I mean Cy£1.50 to 2.00 for a pint works out at what?. about (oh not maths on exchange rates that I haven't checked.. so please forgive me).. about £1.70 to 2.50 English (probably) a pint.. well thats not bad.. I was out the other week (in England) and my brother bought 3 bottles of water (as we were all a bit hot and rather drunk).. came to £8 !!!

We had this question about a year back the consensus as i remember was.
if you are going to compare Cyprus to say Spain/Turkey/Bulgaria then yes it is expensive if however to compare to a holiday in the UK then it is very reasonable, you can make it as cheap or expensive as you wish .,
If you must drink English /dutch/German beer as against the local brands you will pay through the nose, if you insist on eating in a sea side taverner rather than walk to the back of town where the locals eat then expect to pay up to double the price (the quality is also normally better in establishments frequented by the locals) if you drink brandy don't wast your dosh on French brand try the five kings. its down to you to work your budget to suit your circumstances.
yes the most expensive thing about holidays in Cyprus is the cost of flights,

Brian

We had this question about a year back the consensus as i remember was.
if you are going to compare Cyprus to say Spain/Turkey/Bulgaria then yes it is expensive if however to compare to a holiday in the UK then it is very reasonable, you can make it as cheap or expensive as you wish .,
If you must drink English /dutch/German beer as against the local brands you will pay through the nose, if you insist on eating in a sea side taverner rather than walk to the back of town where the locals eat then expect to pay up to double the price (the quality is also normally better in establishments frequented by the locals) if you drink brandy don't wast your dosh on French brand try the five kings. its down to you to work your budget to suit your circumstances.
yes the most expensive thing about holidays in Cyprus is the cost of flights,

Brian

Spain and France are more expensive than here so is the UK, just check out that link, but I am sure once you have been here you will say the same, you can discuss this all you like two thousand miles away but I know for sure where I can afford to live! I only Pay £1.20 a pint and a free bowl of crisps at my local, easily reached from Pafos.

again don't worry and enjoy yourselves.

Nissi Avenue Ayia Napa last week £1 a pint !!

Jim, you must have long arms to reach those crisps from Paphos!

Mark

Mark funny....I don't live in Pafos..but near by...as you know, my local is a short stroll and they don't sell that fake beer Leon though

Hi all just returned this am from a fab holiday in paphos thought i would let you guys (jimbox ) all know there was no rain and i didnt get bit by mossies ha ha like i was panicking about before i went.
Reccomendation for a cheap pint and friendly atmosphere i would reccomend the queen vic its brilliant i became a local on holiday and all the bar staff practically had my drinks for me at my table before i even got in the door. Also the best pint of carlsberg on the island so cold n mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm stop dreaming !

Yeah we called in at queen vic one night as there was supposed to be a 'magical' singer on. In we goes went to bar told to sit down and wait so we did and waited.... and waited... then walked out.. The singer was far from magical too lol
O'neils far better and a cracking band on too!

Where were you staying then blimpy76 and juttkeys? , you can't have been far from the kefalos beach village if you were making the queen vic your local.

Blimpy did you not need those sweaters then?

Glad you had a good time, bit warm and clammy though!!

You get this discussion about all holiday destinations....truth is Cyprus as with most foreign destinations is not as cheap as it once was, it would be fair to say that Cyprus like most other places has become a victim of it's own success and with the hoards of cash laden Brit holidaymakers has seen price rises well above inflation as regards eating and drinking out.

Of course the ex-pats have found little local pubs that are still cheap, but as a rule these are generally not frequented by many holidaymakers and are more aimed at the local population.

Basic rule of thumb in Cyprus like most destinations is that the closer you get to the holiday resorts, the more bar and resturant owners seem prepared to hike prices. The days of cheap as chips holidays in the sun are fast dissapearing, it's just a fact of life.

So what I need is a map of local bars/cafe/Taverna/coffee houses/resturants in the Pernera/Protaras area, that don't mind the odd tourist coming in and will understand my very limited Greek (ie, almost none at all, other than cheers and please..)

Can we just talk about the prices of meals, drinks etc IN holiday resorts.... after all most people who go on holiday do spend most of their time in a holiday resort!!!
I'm sorry but I have to say that we spent more money (almost £350 more ) on meals and drinks during the week we spent in Protaras in May this year than we've spent on the same thingsfor a week in Greece, Spain and Turkey during the last 3 years.
We had a good holiday in Protaras... but we've been to quite a few places where we've had just as good a time, or better, and for a lot less money - sorry folks
AskCy, in our opinion the best restaurant in Protaras is Nicholas Taverna.

Londonexiles

Yes of course we have our own cheap favourites but you look like a Londoner do you not know where to eat at the right price, also you like me pay for a decent meal in a good restaurant, the difference is it usually cost, you will pay three times as much in London, thats for sure.

It does not take very long to find good cheap food in CY, you just need to get off your bum and drive a mile or two inland away from tourist areas, if you cant do that then you may find tavernas even in tourist areas that are very reasonable, a set menus are easy to find at around £8.

I hear this that Cyprus is more expensive theses days well yes this maybe the case, but where is it not?, I can remember paying £1.25cyp for a coffee at the harbour of Pafos ten years ago when I was getting 68cents to the UK £, now it cost the same and I get 84cents locally!! and that Meze still cost more or less the same as it did in 1996!

There have been many new restaurants opening over the last few years to cater for those who like to push the boat out a little, usually not run by Cypriots but by other nationals, these I have found do cost more, on average around £15 a head for a three course meal, ok if this is what you are after but personally I prefer Cypriot food and always have.

So off for my £7 Meze and a pint of decent beer for £1.25, try that in London or Barcelona or Paris or just about anywhere else... no chance.

We had a week in Lanzarote in February and to be honest we did not find much difference with Cyprus at all. As Jim states there are plenty of restaurants where you can get set meals for around the £8 mark. This is our third year in Protaras, we go on the 16th, and we don`t find it any more expensive than most other holiday destinations that we have been to. Apart from the States, Cyprus is the only place where we have returned to in consecutive years..

When all said and done, I've been to other destinations with where you get different cultures and different food and if it is a bit more for a meal in Cyprus is money well spent.. We were paying around £5 a basic meal in Menorca and the food was ok but nothing fantastic... where About £7 a meal in Cyprus was getting us really good meals that are still being emulated by me back home... as one of my teachers used to say many many moons ago.. "you pays yer money, you takes your choice"