Unlike much of the Mediterranean, Cyprus’s ‘Velvet Season’ continues well into October — courtesy of its position as the most southerly island in the Med and long, warm days that keep restaurant terraces and poolside scenes in full swing. While hotels have choreographed themselves around this insatiable British appetite for sunshine, with elegant pools offering lounger-side lunches and an easy saunter to a groomed beach, the island’s culture isn’t to be missed. This is, after all, the island Mark Anthony gifted to Cleopatra in 40BC. History courses through its veiny old streets, from the birthplace of Aphrodite (Aphrodite’s Rock), where a dip in the crystal-clear waters surrounding it naturally comes with a promise of eternal natural beauty, to the ruins of the ancient city of Paphos (a series of underground chambers) where visitors can marvel at the mosaic-clad Tombs of the Kings.
For a more modern, white sugar-cube take on Cypriot architecture, check into Almyra in Paphos, where sharp contemporary lines of roof terraces trace the blue horizon of the Mediterranean.
Click here to read the article in The Standard.