Paphos, Cyprus: exploring Roman ruins and the ‘Old’ Town
Tourists come to Paphos (and more widely, Cyprus) for a few reasons: the weather. The food. And, sometimes, to explore the history and culture.
I was excited to experience all three on my trip to Paphos in May. However, I would say that I didn’t think as much to it as I expected. I hope that’s because I chose to visit the wrong places, but who knows?
After arriving back home, I wrote this article to give you a flavour of what Paphos is like. I share a bit of what I saw exploring the town, as well as my overall thoughts on the place. I hope it’s an interesting read!
Ratings
Accessibility: 5/5 • Safety: 5/5 • Enjoyment: 3/5 • Value: 4/5 • Overall: 4.25/5
An introduction to Paphos
You’ll find Paphos in the south-west of Cyprus, an island in the south-east of the Mediterranean.
Paphos is a town with ancient roots. It was first inhabited during Neolithic times and grew during the Mycenaean period of the Greek empire. Later, it served as an important Roman port town.
Nowadays, Paphos has a population of around 60,000 people. It thrives on a strong tourism industry – hence my visit! And it has not forgotten its ancient roots, with many archaeological sites pointing back towards its past.
A legendary city of love
If there’s one thing that Paphos is known for in mythological circles, it’s for being the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and fertility. So the legend goes, Aphrodite emerged from sea foam, which blew onto the shores of Paphos.
Ask anyone in Paphos where this happened, and they’ll send you to Aphrodite’s Rock, near Kouklia village 15 km down the coast from the town. This sea stack is supposedly on a pretty beach, although I admit I never visited, considering it a tourist gimmick.
What I would’ve been more interested to see is the sanctuary dedicated to Aphrodite which was built in the 12th century BC at Kouklia. This temple forms part of the Paphos UNESCO World Heritage Site, signalling just how important it is to the fabric of the island.
My trip to Cyprus: why I chose Paphos
I headed to Paphos with my family in May 2025 for a little bit of sun and relaxation. I wish I could say I visited due to a strong passion for Roman ruins, but unfortunately that’s not the case: I just needed a holiday!
My mother suggested Cyprus as it’s a country I’ve never visited and has a similar cuisine and culture to Greece, her favourite holiday destination. So we booked in for a package holiday, with an all-inclusive hotel around 10 km north of Paphos.
As much as I like visiting new places, I was ready for a few days of doing nothing. So in the end, we decided to spend one day exploring Paphos, and the rest at the hotel (with all the cocktails, sunbathing and ice cream that brings).
Heading out to explore Paphos: first stop, Kato Paphos Archaeological Park
On our day of exploration, my mum, dad, sister and I headed out in the morning. To get into Paphos, we caught a bus to the bus station, then another one to the harbour. It was probably 11 am, but it wasn’t so hot – only around 23 degrees – and we pressed on with heading to our first stop of the day: Kato Paphos Archaeological Park.
Kato Paphos Archaeological Park is the site of Nea Paphos, or Old Paphos, which is where Paphos was located during the Roman period. Here, there are the remains of Roman villas and other parts of the Roman town, plus a little more on the side.
We headed in through the entrance, paying the €4,50 (£3.90) entrance fee, and I downloaded the app which proclaimed to tell visitors more about what they saw (how modern!). We then began to explore. In other words, we followed the pathway until we found ruins.
Roman villas and impressive mosaics
The first ruins we saw were those of several Roman villas, named the Houses of Theseus, Orpheus, and Aion, after what the mosaics they contain depict. These ruins of each villa sprawled out massively – according to the app, their size means they were residences of wealthy towners, potentially even the governor of the colony. For example, the House of Theseus has over 100 rooms!
Looking at them now, all you can really see are the foundations and the bases of some walls. I found it hard to imagine what these villas would have looked like, or how it all fitted together. I have no idea which parts were the entranceway, or the courtyard, or the bedrooms. How the residents and staff would have lived at these villas is a mystery to me.
But there was a star of the show: elaborate mosaics in each villa, mostly dating to the 2nd to 4th centuries. These took the form of a variety of things. The simplest were geometric shapes and motifs, but most featured scenes from Greek and Roman myths. The details were so impressive. It must have taken a saint to putting in a painstaking amount of time to bring them together.
The best mosaics were covered by big structures to keep them safe from the elements, with the highlight being the House of Dionysus with its many mosaics. My favourite was one of Phaedra and Hippolytus, because I could really see the storytelling in the mosaic (not that it’s a happy story!). In this, Phaedra proclaims her love for Hippolytus (awkwardly, her stepson) in a note and waits eagerly alongside Cupid to see his reaction…
I found it odd that we could walk on some of the mosaics, although these must be the ones which are deemed ‘less impressive’, sadly.
Ancient parts of Nea Paphos
Continuing to walk, I saw a range of other interesting landmarks. The first was the Paphos lighthouse. It’s whitewashed and dates to the 19th century. Kato Paphos Archaeological Park is right next to the harbour, so I knew that it would be near the lighthouse, but to discover it was inside the site? It was an interesting point.
Next, we headed along to the remains of the public parts of Nea Paphos. The star of this show has to be the Odeon, a carved amphitheatre where the public used to attend shows up until the 5th century AD. And still is, apparently!
Next to it, we saw the Asklepieion, a building which is thought to have been used as a healing centre. Just across there was the Agora, a massive court which was once the centre of the town. There’s barely anything left of the Agora, so it’s the pathways which surround it which gave me the best idea of its immense size.
Other ruins
Following the map, my family and I headed across the park to see Toumpallos, a complex of underground cavities. Looking at them, I didn’t see much beyond manmade caves, hollows in the rock; their stories were lost to me. However, according to the app, it was first identified as being a Ptolemic army camp, and is now thought to have been used as a temple for Apollo. I can’t imagine soldiers hiding out here, nor can I picture ceremonies being held in the musty hollows, but a lot can change in 2000 years.
The final part of our journey through time was a jump forward again (although not quite as recent as the lighthouse), to Saranta Kolones. This fort was built in the 7th century AD to protect Nea Paphos from raids. With the use of thick granite columns and walls, it’s stood the test of time well in my opinion. Unfortunately for us, an earthquake destroyed it beyond repair in 1223, and it was abandoned.
I wanted to explore Nea Paphos further – I had heard there were tombs and an Early Christian basilica – but it turns out that not everything is actually in the boundary of the archaeological park. Next time, maybe?
Walking through the harbour
Once we had our fill of Roman ruins, we left Nea Paphos to take a walk around the harbour.
The harbour has the classic features. There is a row of bars with servers waiting to entice you into their establishment; many tourist shops; and a long promenade with lots of seating. When I was there, the shore was covered in seaweed, with the waves literally dark brown as a result. Would I go in that water? Never.
To the north of the harbour, I took a look at Paphos castle. This castle has had a motley crew of residents, being passed from empire to empire since the 13th century AD. I had expected something perhaps a little more imposing or spectacular, but this one looked somewhat abandoned. I was more interested in seeing the sparrows that had made it home, to be honest… (The tweeting was very loud!)
For me, the highlight of the harbour was getting gelato from E Cosi Gelateria. You can never go wrong with stracciatella, and I’m not kidding when I say it made my day.
Heading to the Old Town
Around 2:30 pm, we decided to head to the Old Town to see what that was about. I’d read good things, so off we headed up the hill on a bus.
Initially, getting off the bus, I was treated to gorgeous views of the ocean and harbour below. A good start! However, several things quickly became apparent:
- The Old Town of Paphos is not actually old; and
- The Old Town is deserted.
I was surprised how unremarkable it all felt. After walking down a few roads which were insanely quiet and had half their shops boarded up, my mum suggested following the signposted walk to the town hall. It was a good idea, and the town hall was pretty itself, with classical columns holding up the entrance way. But did I see anything? Nothing beyond the saddest municipal gardens I’ve ever set eyes on.
Far from being the cute shopping or sightseeing place I had expected, I can’t lie; I was disappointed. We decided to cut our losses and head back to the hotel.
A quick trip to Coral Bay
Is it over yet? Not quite! On the bus back to the hotel, we decided to have one last sightseeing moment, over at Coral Bay, as that was where the bus terminated.
Coral Bay, around 15 km north of Paphos, is rumoured to be the nicest beach on Cyprus’s west coast, so I had high expectations. We hopped off the bus, ready to get exploring.
You might know where this is going. I was a little disappointed. The beach was fairly big but was ringed with hotels. The sea had varying levels of seaweed-ness, with half of the stretch of beach featuring a lot of the stuff. Holidaymakers were having fun in the areas which hadn’t got any seaweed, so it was clearly not putting anyone off, but I wouldn’t say I liked it.
I got a strong flashback to the touristy beaches of Cartagena, where not that nice beaches become the hottest place due to a lack of better options. Coral Bay reminded me a little of that, because it featured hotels so heavily. When I left the beach I was disheartened. I sure was glad getting back to the hotel!
My honest thoughts on Paphos, Cyprus
So, what did I think to Paphos?
I loved exploring the Kato Paphos Archaeological Park. It was incredible to see the remains of houses that were thousands of years old, especially having studied the Roman empire at school. The mosaics were spectacular, too.
But the Old Town was a disappointment, and I’d say the harbour was average. Whilst not strictly Paphos, Coral Bay was also a letdown.
For comparison purposes, I’ve rated Paphos following the scoring system I normally use on In Search of Everywhere. Here you go:
- Safety: 5/5 – I felt super safe throughout Paphos.
- Accessibility: 5/5 – it was easy to get around Paphos, with well-connected frequent buses. Likewise, I felt the town and sites were wheelchair- and pushchair-friendly.
- Enjoyment: 3/5 – I wasn’t too bothered about Paphos, although I hope it’s just because I missed the best bits. I liked the archaeological park, but it’s not enough to redeem the Old Town.
- Value: 4/5 – entry fees, bus prices and food were all reasonable.
Overall score: 4.25/5
Conclusion
I had mixed feelings about Paphos, loving the archaeological aspects, but not feeling so warmly to the Old Town or harbour. That being said, I would like to mention that the people were all friendly; the town was well-connected; and the weather was great. I still had a good time and have no doubt that there are better places I just didn’t find during my visit.
Do you have any questions about visiting Paphos? If you’ve visited, what do you think? Let me know in the comments.
