Paphos, as a town, is very touristy – but has a long history of which the Cypriots are undeniably proud, including occupation by the British, which means they speak excellent English and drive on the left! There is plenty to do but I would strongly recommend that you hire a car to find the best beaches away from the towns and drive up into the Troodos mountains, especially when it gets too hot by the coast.

Most things, like food, drinks and souvenirs, also get considerably cheaper the further you get from the tourist areas.

There is an absolutely superb beach at Coral Bay, just follow the road to the west and the road skirts the edge. Don't go into the Coral Bay resort - this beach is on the left of the main road. It doesn't look much from the road but there is good sand, fine swimming, and a superb view of the sunset if you're feeling a tad romantic!

The actual resort was extremley clean. All places we visited most people were friendly and very helpful. The beaches were good but my favourite which was all sand was Coral Bay. I would not go in August again it was ridiculously hot. One thing to remember, we used a lot of taxis and unless you agree the price before your journey some of the taxi drivers will try to rip you off, it happened to us 5 times whilst we were there.

Paphos is a typical Cypriot town, it is functional and although it caters for tourists it has a local charm which can be explored by moving off the regular route and strolling through the residential areas where typical local customs can be experienced, most charming. The harbour boasts all the water sports and a whole range of restaurants, we went to Theos' for a freshly grilled Sardine lunch, not to be missed. Beaches are small and the litter if any is merely sweet wrappers and although at times inconvenient thay do not represent a health hazard. Entertainment is varied and plentiful from live bands , karaoke, and wide screens televisions. I would not hesitate to visit this resort in the future.

3rd year back to Paphos. We hired a car for the 2 weeks, as we like to travel about a bit.

Enjoyed playing mini golf, but not until the sun was setting as too hot in full sun.

Fat mamas was an experience - dancing waitresses and characters dressed up in searing heat - fun for us, but not for them I suspect. However, children seemed to enjoy it and a few birthday parties in where the waitresses sang 'happy birthday' to them. A bit of fun, but just the once.

Porto Bello - opposite the Almyra is fantastic. We have been there before in previous years and were not let down. The food is still high quaility and reasonable prices.

Olivetos & Chloes (next door to one another just out of paphos/coral bay road) - both absolutely fantastic. Cannot fault eithers menu/staff attention/food etc etc. Recommend these both very highly. Chloes is a chinese and Olivetos is an experience where you can cook you own food on a sizzling granite bloke (you have to wear a bib - be warned!).

other Restaurants worth a try - Dumous on the corner up from the Elysium - really nice Italian.

Cheap and cheerful - Phivos (one of my son's favourite). Good set menu, but check you bill!

Coral bay is the only best bit of sandy beach - clean and can hire pedalos, jet skis etc. My son and his dad went out on a joint jet ski and really enjoyed it.

hotel is out of the way. there is no footpath for most of the walk into the town and very dangerous due to the speed of the trafic.

Beach not good at all. we visited Coral Bay the beach was very nice and lots to do however the showers and toilets need a good cleaning and someone on duty. i would sooner be charged to use the facilities then use dirty ones.

WE WERE ABOUT 20 MINUTES ON THE BUS FROM PAPHOS. NOT MUCH TO DO LOCALLY, SO WE STAYED AT HOTEL IN EVENING. THERE IS NO BEACH.WE WERE HAPPY WITH THE POOL.

Places to eat: Camera's (4.95 for 3 course meal with a free glas of wine.) Food isn't brilliant but more than ok for the price and the people are very friendly (including the parrot that meows at you). Oasen's is the same but bigger. Avoid Chloe's the food is awful ! The Mexian is fantastic ! Food is gorgeous albeit a little pricey.

The 4 hour Ocean Flyer cruise is also well worth it Costs 28 CYP with a buffet (which was rubbish) but a free bar and Captain Elvis provides the singer when you've all had a few too many. Stops off in Coral Bay for snorkeling.

The glass bottom boat is also worth the effort. 8 CYP gets you to the Vera-K wreck where you can see it on the bottom. We also dived the wreck and actually saw more from the boat !!!

Visit the Mosaics in the harbour. Cost is 2 CYP but make sure you go when it's cool as they lie over a massive area with no shade.

The resort was quiet in the location of our hotel, but we did visit the harbour area and the market in the centre of Paphos.

The shops we went into were expensive and full of touristy rubbish, poor quality for the money that was expected. Bargains can be had in leather goods - wallets, handbags and belts in particular, and also lace items, table cloths etc. which are very pretty.

Traffic was quite busy but seemed quite safe.

The beaches are nice in that they are quite small, have plenty of sun beds, are not over crowded, and are easy to access, however there is a lot of seaweed which looks like shredded paper and isn't very nice. Walking into the sea through a mass of seaweed spoils the experience.

I have given resort entertainment a 3 because we did not use it. We gained our entertainment from the hotel, however there are plenty of nice looking tavernas dotted around.

Paphos Aphrodite waterpark is about a 6 minute walk away which is a big plus to the resort, especially for families. To be able to casually wander to the waterpark in your bathers and flip flops is so much nicer than having to take a coach trip with other holiday makers. We walked along a dusty path, looking at little lizards and crickets darting in and out of bushes. The entrance fees and regulations are a bit strange - adult prices apply at age 12 and only adults can go on the faster, bigger rides -so if you have an 11yo you can either pay the adult price in which case they can go on any water rides, or you can pay the child price but then they are restricted on what they can go on. This is unusual as normally a height restriction would be the guide about what a child can or cannot go on.

The watersports on offer are amazing.
From the Louis Phaethon hotel there is direct access to sea - the brochures make it look like a small beach, but there is virtually no sand and you cannot swim in the sea featured in the brochures, which would be a downside, were it not for the fact that you can do jet skiing, donut rides, banana boat rides, inflateable sofa rides, speedboat rides, boat cruises etc. There is a beach where you can play on the sand and swim in the sea etc. but it is a public beach about 150 meters walk to the left of the hotel. It's pleasant enough to walk there however so no big deal.

There are other bigger, nicer beaches a taxi drive (or bus ride) away, but our family was content with what was on offer on our doorstep.

There are many boat trips and rides of different types available from the harbour including glass bottom boats, thrill rides and many others. The harbour also has pavement caricaturists, sponge sellers and jewellry sellers which all offer degrees of entertainment.

the resort was good not much evening entertainment though. the outback bar has elvis once a week that was brilliant if not its kareoke!!! everywhere ideal if you can sing but not many could the 2 weeks we were there!!! beach at coral bay was lovely but stay on the bus to the end for a better beach.buses are only 80c but if we were going to the harbour the taxi would do a deal £1 each.ask first thoughwater park was ok apart from everyone keeping the rings so if you didnt have one you could not go on the rides. boat trip on glass bottom boat was a brillliant 2 hours friendly crew made the trip

The resort was very family friendly and the harbour areas was very convenient.