Where should we stay in Cyprus?

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

DH and I have sometimes been to Greece or Italy for a week of sea and sun with a bit of culture thrown in.

We're thinking of trying Cyprus this September, but don't know where to start. Ideally we'd like to be on the coast but I don't know which are the best beaches? We don't want nightlife but would quite like to be able to walk to bars and restaurants. We'd want to stay in a villa not a hotel or apartment. we'd hire a car so could drive to places to sightsee etc.

I've had a quick look and Paphos has cropped up a lot,but I have no idea if it's a nice town.

Any suggestions of which towns might be worth looking at?

so what do you want to know? we've been twice and are going back again. Its pretty, the villas are good value and there are 2 places we can eat - polis and latchi. beaches are pebbly and water is clear. there is not an awful lot to do other than chill/swim/eat. people are friendly and there is a good supermarket in polis. transfer is longish, but our villa company seems to have deals with everyone so we get a lift with the car hire company (but its late at night when we arrive and we arent keen on the windy roads). similar to greek island kind of vibe.

And try not to get a villa directly on the through road. its not super busy but would be for us ....we live somewhere super quiet though.

I live 10 minutes away from Latchi. It’s a perfectly lovely little harbour. The Cypriots tend to have their holidays in August, and a lot of them come to Latchi. The beach at one end is more pebbles than sand, but absolutely fine. €2 for a bed and another €2 if you need a brolly. Lots of fish restaurants there, and they have just opened a new chinese called Wok and Walk, which is a nice setting. However, you will get better food at the Farmyard up in Kathikas, which is about 15 minutes drive up the hill. Kathikas also has the gin bar, and a lovely taverna called Imogen’s. Polis is only 5 minutes from Latchi, which has Papantonias, a big supermarket. The town square in Polis is also nice, and there are more bars and restaurants there. I like it around here. Not as busy as Paphos, and the people are great.

thanks @dreamingofsun and @veiledsentiments that sounds really encouraging and just what we're looking for.

We will have a car so can get around.

Some ideas here
http://www.donthibernate.co.uk/winter-weekend-in-cyprus/

We go to Cyprus every year and have been going for over 20 years. We used to stay in Paphos, there is a lot of archaeological sites to see but the beaches are mostly rocky and not good swimming. We now stay in Protaras and LOVE it, the beach at Fig Tree Bay is the best I have ever seen, although does get crowded in summer. Its very safe to swim, shallow and so clear. There are loads of trips to do too, boat trips, scuba diving, we have been on the Red Bus trips to Varosha and Famagusta, there is Cape Greco to see too, loads to do and we find 2 weeks is never enough!

Cyprus is very safe, ignore the nonsense about proximity to Syria, etc, this comes up every year! We are all booked up for end of June, we stay in a hotel on the Strip, its crazy busy at night but that's what we like 😎

Fig Tree Bay

Kyrenia in northern Cyprus.... the north of the island is lovely and a little bit different.
The people are really nice too.

It's been a few years ie pre COVID though.

If you head to the right at fig tree bay where the steps into the water are near nausicaa blue and the king Jason hotels you might see turtles. I saw them twice when I was there.

I fully sound like I’m obsessed with turtles now but it was really cool seeing them