Prices have risen steeply since joining the EU - if they carry on like this they will price themselves right out the market.
Kath x

Just like spain. Except that to spain, you do get the budget airlines.

We started going to Cyprus when we found Spain getting expensive. I agree the prices have risen in the last few years.

According to what we were told last year, the introduction of the Euro next year is a worry. They expect prices to rise even more.

Have still booked to go again in October.

fwh

Just booked up for next year, plenty time to save up then

Strange this as the wife recently visited the UK and thought how expensive the UK was compared to here..our rates less than a hundred pounds a year, as you say petrol is a third cheaper as is road tax and insurance, just had one of our motors serviced today, a full 5.000kilometer service on a Mazda the cost £51cyp, eating out, only last night we had local food that was as usual excellent with several drinks and two bottles of local plonk less than £10 each, try that in the UK!!

I think the problem may well be that when you are on holiday you usually go out most nights and then it becomes expensive, but I have to say compared with the UK there is no way I could live as well as I do here on my small pension, so I am sure it is a lot cheaper on Cyprus..maybe it is local knowledge, but I don't think this is the case..

when the wife and i started going to cyprus,about twelve years ago the prices was great,example we used to go to a resturaunt called charads in limasol , we would get a four course meal ,starter soup main course (lobster) sweet and a bottle of plonk .£13 sterling and on the way out the door we got two tickets for a kareoke bar they owned up the back ,which entitled us to our first two driks each free, because of the eu it is getting dearer and dearer ,we go to turkey mostly now ,twice a year and it is great , but i suppose it will get dearer as tim,e goes on.

bluepeterno1

Cyprus, like all destinations in the world is as expensive as you make it.

I admit that prices are not as cheap as the former Eastern Block countries of a few years ago, but Cyprus is not a former Eastern Block Country.

Having read many posts on this forum, we have found some interesting places to visit for approximately C£1 - C£2:

Tombs of the Kings
Paphos Mosaics
The Kurion
Chalcolithic settlement near Lempa
Adonis Waterfalls
The Beach

One of our favourite Restaurants is Siennas and you would expect to pay C£10 for a main course.

However we also like the Peyia Tavern and paid around C£20 for 3 including drinks.

You can pick up a meal for around C£5 but as you do get what you pay for usually unless you find a real gem in the form of a hidden traditional taverna.

Personally, I too think the karting in Paphos is expensive as too the mini golf next door but enjoyed it so much that we went for a second time.

At least a pint of Keo has not reached the prices back in the UK yet, which can be found in bars for as little as C£1.50

I am looking forward to our next trip during the summer and yes we will have to be careful but we love the island.

Stewart

Thank you all for your interesting and informative comments

We were self catering, and so it was the supermarket prices that really struck me as being expensive (we went to the bigger ones not the village ones) ....but I was wondering whether it was perhaps because inevitably so much has to be imported to the island ?

Eating out ...prices were so, so - but you don't eat out to save money in my book

We also visited the tombs and mosaics which were cheap to enter and we were really impressed with them - it was the business run attractions and souvenir shops that seemed to be rather OTT ....that said it must be based what the market will stand ...so perhaps there are too many wealthy Brits holidaying or retiring out there

As I said I wasn't expecting it to be megga cheap - but I wasn't expecting it to be expensive either ! I'm now looking forward to our holiday in Switzerland and will be interested to see how prices compare since that does have a reputation having a high cost of living !!!!

Thanks again everyone

Jim will keep me right here, but I think Paphos is a bit more expensive than say Limasoll or Protaras.

Little bit more 'upmarket' than us you see

Cheers,
Janet

Morning Janet!! from another beautiful Cyprus morning!!

Well I do get around the island when I can, I go to Limassol fairly frequently, I have to say although the town is an interesting one I don't particularly like the place, but have to be honest I don't find it any cheaper than Pafos already is, it is on par for most things including eating out, Limassol has some excellent restaurants of course, and the ones I have been in are not particularly cheap.

But then again nor are they in any other large EU town or city, I reiterate Cyprus, or Pafos is not expensive in my opinion, I have posted only a few things above that are more than reasonable, holiday makers would not know of course we do not pay for hot water most of the year, we need far fewer clothes, I don't have central heating in our small bungalow and we find it is not needed, there is so much more to living in Cyprus than you of course would not be aware of, I think the main problem coming here is the air fare, it is expensive compared to say Spain, but then again this is not Spain, thankfully.

We have a very low crime rate, and living here is wonderful, I know this again will not concern the average tourist, but as I said with just a little insider knowledge eating and drinking out in Cyprus can be surprisingly cheap!! many never look further than tourist areas or always looking for food they are used to eating, locals on the other hand avoid this at all cost's, and to be honest again this does not take much effort to find, a car would be needed and a short drive inland and you would be amazed just how reasonable Cyprus IS!!

Whatever do have a nice holiday...try not to think of your pocket money.

Hi Jimbox

Thanks for your response - its always facinating to get an 'insiders' point of view

You are right of course, local knowledge is a big advantage !

I was making the comment purely as your average visiting tourist, against other places we have been in Turkey & Greece recently..... rather than looking at permenant resident costs (you lucky thing )

A shop at the supermarket was very expensive for even the basic cheese, bread, eggs, fruit etc....I'm not talking branded T bags or Marmite here !! Certainly alot dearer than either Turkey or Greece and a good 30% dearer than at home .

As for the tourist attractions; in Turkey last year, we had a full days boat trip, including lunch, for half the price we were offered the 2 hour boat trip around Paphos bay !!

As you say though, living there permenantly has other benefits...not least the weather ...and no amount of money can buy that in Britain !!!

Enjoy your day - we miss Cyprus, despite the cost, and hope to visit your beautiful island again next year.

I cant comment on Turkey's prices but it has always been cheaper there, they are not in the EU remember, as for Greece I have been to many Greek islands at least ten, and I have found prices on par with eating like for like here, a Meze for instance was the same price in Kos as Cyprus (not far for us to go) so I cant agree with you on that one.

We always buy local produce here when available and when in season, it is so much cheaper that the UK so the wife tells me, as those that do know me are aware I don't do shopping... but as I have pointed out further up this thread I do live on a very small pension, there is absolutely no way I could do this in the UK, I would have to find a job, and no thank you to that one...

So I am absolutely sure that at this moment in time Cyprus is cheaper than at least the UK..Spain certainly!

Traveling out here is more expensive for sure, and this is a problem the Cypriots will have to sort out if they wish to retain any tourism at all..

Sorry, we will have to agree to differ on this one Jimbox - in our experience Cyprus was very expensive compared to many other Med destinations and even the UK !
But that is our opinion..... and you are just as entitled to yours.

Enjoy your day ..at least it is sunny here today

some very interesting reading

i have not been to cyprus yet

but i have herd how expensive it it compared to other popular tourist destinations

i put this down to popularity if a place is very popular then you expect to pay more

i am like most people who go abroad for my holiday i travel with a budget but i have found that going to the so called cheaper places (turkey, bulgaria) that because its cheap you tend to indulge a bit more therefore not really saving anything

i knew about the slightly higher prices of travelling to cyprus before i booked and so do many others but it doesnt stop you from booking to go

and from what i've read on here and other websites that once you've been to cyprus you will go back again and again regardless of how much things are to buy

that once you've been to cyprus you will go back again and again regardless of how much things are to buy

Got it in one !!!!

Cheers,
Janet

I will say this for the last time, it is NOT expensive here, but if you chose to use as it seems expensive eating places then that will be down to you, I have paid forty five pounds for snobs fish and chips for one in London and I knew I was being ripped off, but I excepted this because of the type of restaurant it was....

Also you refer to supermarket cost, again wrong they are not more expensive here, again it was probably the smaller type found in tourist areas, go inland to the larger supermarkets, there are only a few in Pafos and again the wife assures me that they are far cheaper than the UK she should know, she is in there most days!!!!!

Hi,

The wife and I have been going to Cyprus twice a year, for a number of years now and yes, agree flights can be expensive.
However, once in Cyprus we think that prices are very reasonable, certainly compared to the UK and Spain.
I must admit though, that we have spent a good deal of time searching Paphos and the surrounding areas in search of good priced supermarkets, resturants and bars.
I appreciate that not all people wish to do this, but to us this is part of our holiday enjoyment. Besides, we have found some great places and made some great friends along the way.

Breezer

Actually Jimbox - if you read my posts, I haven't made any remarks about eating out in Cyprus being any more or less expensive...as I said before, in my book you don't eat out to save money anyway, so I don't really feel that is relavent the particular issues I raised.

As far as inland supermarkets go, then most self catering tourist will not have either knowledge or access to these...all I can say then is coastal supermarkets are far cheaper in Turkey & Greece !!!

As I said before, I'm telling it like I found it -EXPENSIVE ! and looking at my visa statement this morning has only confirmed this

If you have a resident's hat on, then no doubt you are going to have a different opinion/experience to me, with my tourist hat on - as I said, we'll have to agree to differ.

This, is afterall is a holiday discussion website and not a residents discussion website. While I have found your contributes both interesting and informative, I would like to think you could likewise respect mine as a fellow HT buddy, and as a tourist to Cyprus (amongst many other places). My views are not necessarily going to be the same as yours, but it does not make them wrong....just different.
Please do not take them as some kind of personal attack on your decision to live there, because that's not what was intended at all by my post.

I am a self catering tourist and have not been in a tourist supermarket for years.

We always shop in Orphanides, Carrefour, E & S or Papantoniou.

You only have to ask where the big supermarkets are, or, as I did, do a bit of research on T'interweb before you depart. I now know where most of the 'proper' supermarkets are in Larnaca, Paphos and Limassol.

We do use the village supermarkets in Pissouri in emergencies. They do not seem expensive when compared to UK corner shops.

Mark