Cyprus-Forum.com

[Susan66]

Hi, after a few months living in Paphos my family and I are moving to Limassol as the children have a new school to go to. I know nothing about Limassol but my main priority is which area to live in. We want to be near to The Heritage school. I have looked at villas to rent in Souni and Palodia. Are these villages nice, with good amenities . I want the area to be green and fairly quiet with detached villa and reliable public transport to the town of Limassol. Would appreciate your views on these areas. If not these areas where would you recommend.

Thanks.

[Tim Drayton]

As you probably realise, if you want good public transport in Cyprus, you will have to stay within the urban area. However, Polodia is a slight exception because it is served by occasional extensions to the city bus route number 9 - times of the Palodia extensions shown here:

http://www.limassolbuses.com/wp-content ... ISH_9A.pdf

Since the new public transport system started, a comprehensive rural bus network was introduced and every village has a bus, but in many cases that is just one bus a day each way.

I know Palodia a little. I think of it as being a "posh", peaceful sort of place. It is surrounded by hills and countryside on three sides. It is less of a traditional village and more of a place that well-to-do city people have moved into, although the old village is still there at the core. I am not sure what you are looking for in the way of facilities but, as far as I recall, there is a row of shops along the main road with all of the basic types of shop that you would need and the small supermarket is stocked with most things you would need.

I do not know, Souni, I am afraid.

Palodia is close to the Heritage School, as I am sure you know, although there is no bus route connecting the two places.

[Susan66]

Hi Tim, thank you so much for replying, very helpful.

[Tim Drayton]

PS - If you are a country walks person, I can tell you how to get from Palodia to the Sanctuary of Lavronius Zeus, near Fasoula, within an hour. This was one of the last places in Cyprus where people continued to worship an ancient Hellenic deity for a couple of centuries after the birth of Christ before they were converted to Christianity.

[Pyrpolizer]

It"s actually Souni-Zanajia, 2 villages joined together. Beautiful place but a bit far from town center.
Generally you need your own car to move comfortably and quickly in Cyprus.

[supporttheunderdog]

Bus details for Palodia here.

http://cyprusbybus.com/RouteDetails.aspx?id=243&t=2

Also think about Fasoula, Paramytha and Spitali, for being quieter villages, as Green as anywhere is in Cyprus, convenient for Limassol and easier to get to Heritage than Souni, albeit both by car, but you are likely to find only limited shopping facilities in them.

[Tim Drayton]

I lived in Spitali for the first three-months I was in Cyprus. This is a real village where there are few city people. It has one co-op shop, operated by somebody who has a day job in the city, that opens for about one hour each evening at times that appear to be known to the villagers but are incomprehensible to outsiders, and a coffee shop run by the moukhtaris which he opens once in a blue moon when he feels like it. The shops in Palodia, on the other hand, keep regular hours - I know because sometimes I walked the 2-3 miles over the hill from Spitali to do shopping there. Quite frankly, if you want to be in a village and have a fairly regular bus service to Limassol, it will have to be Palodia.

[Susan66]

Thanks Tim ! I think Palodia sounds just right my family

[Tim Drayton]

I have also heard that foreign kids can have a rough time from the local children in a small, inward-looking, traditional village like Spitali - and I had a reliable source of information about that because my late parents lived in that village for about fifteen years. You won't have this kind of problem in a place like Palodia which is more like a middle-class suburb of Limassol.

[Susan66]

Thanks for informing me!

If you know of any reputable estate agents please let me know.