After the Larnaca Marathon: Paphos

The Route: Larnaka → Limassol → Paphos → Larnaka or Paphos Airport Logistics: A weekday through bus runs from Larnaka to Paphos via Limassol in about 2 hr 45 min. Taxis connect the Karavella terminus with the harbour. Marathon Month: November Duration: 2 nights

Larnaka Nikolaidis ──(2 hr 45 min through bus via Limassol)──> Paphos Karavella ──(taxi)──> Kato Paphos harbour
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                    Paphos Airport (PFO) or Larnaca Airport (LCA) ◄──(bus or taxi)──────────────────┘

Paphos is the longest of the post-race trips on this list, and it only makes sense if you are willing to give the first afternoon to the bus. The reward is a compact harbour district where almost everything of interest is on level ground.

November in Paphos: the outdoor summer schedule has finished, so expect winter opening hours at the archaeological sites and a quieter harbour. In most years the weather is mild enough for a long stroll along the front, though conditions vary and wind off the sea can feel cold when you are not moving.

The through bus from Larnaka to Paphos runs on weekdays, with departures at 05:55, 10:15 and 15:45 from the Nikolaidis building. The Monday after the race is a weekday, so the 10:15 is the sensible departure. The journey takes about 2 hr 45 min and ends at Karavella, from where a taxi is the simplest way to reach the lower town with luggage. Check intercity-buses.com for the current timetable before you go.

Nights one and two: Kato Paphos

Kato Paphos, the lower town on the harbour, is where the sights are. The castle stands at the harbour mouth and opens daily in winter from 08:30 to 17:00, with an entry fee of about €2.50. Next to it, the Kato Paphos Archaeological Park holds the Roman mosaics. It follows the same winter hours, costs about €4.50 and involves a lot of standing on exposed ground, so choose one mosaic area and leave the rest. Panagia Chrysopolitissa and St Paul's Pillar, a short walk away in the same district, are free to enter and open on the same hours, with wheelchair access listed.

The Tombs of the Kings lie about 2 km north of the harbour. They cost approximately €2.50, and the underground chambers have steps and uneven ground, so go by taxi and view a few tombs from the surface rather than descending into all of them.

For a hotel, Anemi Hotel & Suites, at Iasonos 1 in inland Kato Paphos, advertises a walk of about 600 metres to the castle and harbour, though you should ask the hotel for the exact entrance. Pyramos Hotel, at 4 Ayias Anastasias, is the budget alternative in the same district. At the top end, Annabelle, at 10 Poseidonos Avenue on the lower seafront, has its own Italian restaurant. Ask any of them about stairs, luggage storage and a late checkout.

Mediterraneo at Annabelle serves lunch from 12:00 to 17:00 and dinner from 19:00 to 22:30, with dinner by reservation. Its menu includes tagliatelle al tartufo and risotto al tartufo e funghi, which are easy on a tired stomach. Ta Pinakia, on Kennedy Square in the upper town, serves daily from 12:00 to 23:00 and lists cabbage dumplings with beef and rice, oven potatoes and a vegetable moussaka, with meze for two or more. The dining room is on the first floor, so check access, and take a taxi up from the harbour.

Getting home

If you fly from Paphos Airport (PFO), bus route 612 serves the lower seafront and the airport, though its terminus has changed and it does not run early, so check the current route and the first departure. If you fly from Larnaca Airport (LCA), the Intercity service runs back to Larnaka on weekdays, and a taxi from the bus station to the airport is short. Allow a generous buffer on either route.