Cyprus-Forum.com

[scooter]

we are republic of Ireland fans and have some time off work to visit Cyprus for the game on 8th October. The problem is the Irish FA are slightly disorganised and haven't got a clue where the match will be played.
I have searched the web for answers to no avail, and this is my last chance. I have seen that previous international games have been played all over Cyprus so that doesn't help. If anybody could answer any of the questions we would be very grateful
where is the 8th Oct match to be held?
can you easily drive from one end of Cyprus to the other, for a game?
Is the city that holds the game a nice place?
can you put us up and show us the sights for a week, we enjoy drinking (joke)

[Hazza]

Hi Scooter. Though I'm a big football fan, I wouldn't know where the match is going to be played. I suppose your best bet is to stay in either Larnaca or Limassol as they are both pretty central to all the other town and villages.

At a guess, and it is just an educated guess, I would imagine that it will be played in Lefkosia (Nicosia) or Lemesos (Limassol).

[scooter]

Thats great mate, if I did stay at Limassol and the match was at Nicosia, how long would it take me to get from one to the other.
Looking for flights and packages at the moment but your island isn't cheap to get to, too popular.
If we get a flight only, how easy is it to get accomodation over there. Is there plenty of apartments/rooms, and what sort of price per night are we talking about.
Sorry for all the questions but you did answer
Ta Max

[sk]

usually matches are at gsp stadium in nicosia,you can see it just before entering the city from the limassol,larnaka-nicosia motorway.its the newest on the island ,about 22-25,000 seats. you can check worldstadiums.com for pics of the stadium(have to click on cyprus).as to where to stay it depends on how you would like to spend your time....(clubbing,museums,excursions etc).

[Hazza]

I'll ask around to see if anybody knows for certain where the match will be played.

Limassol to Nicosia is around a 45min drive, give or take 10 mins. See if you can contact First Choice and ask them for a quote to the Atlantica Hotel and Appartments which I can recommend very highly (my friends came over from the UK and stayed there).

First Choice website = http://www.firstchoice.co.uk/
Atlantica Hotel/appartments = http://www.atlanticahotels.com/hotels/A ... .asp?lg=en

Should you stay in Larnaca, I can recommend the Princess Hotel which is where i used to go every year on holiday, though it is quite pricey.

http://www.louishotels.com/larnaca/loui ... ncess.html is the hotel. Perhaps if you fax them and tell them that you are a friend of George (me) the may give you a discount. They know me quite well in there. Make the fax for the attention of Elena.

http://www.cyprus-holidays.co.uk/ might help you find something. They are based in North London.

There are appartments here that advertise on the outside for short rent holidays, but how good they are or how much they cost, I wouldn't know.


EDIT.
Just came across this link if it helps you.

http://www.soccertravel.com/custom.php? ... k=00008009

[Piratis]

International games are held either at GSP (suburbs of Nicosia towords limassol) or in Tsirio in Limassol. Basically they are both right next to same Nicosia-Limassol highway.

Just book a hotel at the east coast of Limassol. (Nicosia is not much for tourism) This way you will be 10-15 minutes drive from Tsirio and 35-40 minutes drive from GSP.

[sk]

for flight tickets maybe you can try to fly through athens. there must be cheap tickets from london to athens and there are definately cheap tickets from athens to cyprus(and a lot of daily flights so it will not be a problem finding a place in october)

[scooter]

well you three, thank you sooooo much.
Hazza, the amount of links you gave me is too much for me to start looking for now, at this time of night ( boring work in the mornin)
I will have a good look through them later in the week I'm sure we will be able to find something. I'll keep you posted on our progress
Sk, Thanks for the suggestion about Athens, unfortunately we are north of Manchester , so London is a pain in the arse to get flights from, that always add a few quid to the flights avin to go from up here. you don't happen to know which local airlines fly in from Athens do you. I think we could get a good price to Athens. At the moment , all our searches for Larnaca are coming up at around £450-500 for the two of us, Ouch!! when we are used to Easyjet prices!!!
Piratis, ta for that, I was informed by my local travel agent that we wouldn't be able to drive from Limassol to Nicosia and back in one day because it was too far, You've just blown that theory out of the water , Ta
As for Nicosia not being very touristy, is it a nice place though. My idea of a holiday isn't sharing it with fat Germans and drunk English, If i'm going to Cyprus I want to see Cypriots and the way they live. sorry if you arn't Cypriot. so is Nicosia a nice city or are we better off somewhere else.

P.s. if you keep answering me I'll keep asking more questions

Thank you all, I'll keep you informed on how we get on

pps. none of you have a little old aunt in the country with a farmhouse in a beautiful valley, next to an exquisite village, for hire then (its worth a try he he he)

[sk]

hi scooter! airlines that fly from athens to cyprus with cheap ticket fares are : aegean airlines,helios airlines,cyprus airways,olympic airways.if you go to cyprusnet.com and click on airlines you will get most of the airlines that have flights to cyprus.click on the ones i told you before and you will go to their websites!!!
well,if you will stay in nicosia i would recommend europa hotel or classic hotel. they are 3* hotels but quite good! classic is at the city center and europa in the suburbs(5min from city center...hehe...its a small city!!).
as for things to do....hm....i would recommend visit to the archaeological museum and to the byzantine art museum. you can also spend some time walking in the old city center which really makes you feel that you live around 1900!!!the venetian walls that surround the old city are still today an example of architecture!!!also there are several old churches and 3 mosques that worth a visit.
from nicosia you can go for an excursion to the mountains(about 50 min) and enjoy the forests and the tiny villages.there are i think 9 or 10 churches protected by unesco that you can visit in the mountains.
there are many cafes in nicosia ,most of them at the city center,drinking coffee its a national sport in cyprus ,more popular than football!!!
to summarize,nicosia is for calm relaxing vacations and a starting point for excursions to the mountains.
let us know if you need more help or info!!

[Michael Coumas]

Scooter
Change your travel agent, saying you cannot drive fron Nicosia to Limassol in one day is an admission of ignorance in their product.
I'm afraid that easy jet type prices are not available and that around GB£240 would appear to be average although I have got as low as GB£156 and I am told others have found GB£100. It would depend on time of year & consequently availability. Early October may still be pricey.
I currently live 40 minutes from Manchester Airport but still more often than not choose to fly from Gatwick or Heathrow. Bristol is also another decent departure point. Manchester does seem to carry a surcharge perhaps they are a Private airport & not part of the British Airports Authority.
Rest assured though that a drive to and from Nicosia / Limassol is not difficult. I travel further every day to work. Enjoy your trip