Larnaca region holiday villa

We stayed at 'The Old Lemon Tree' in late September / early October 2008 and had a blissful week based in the tranquillity of Kato Drys, largely lazing on the roof terrace.

The cottage is comfortably contemporary in furnishings but retains a classic Cypriot character after the high quality refurbishment and is fabulously well maintained. The kitchen is particularly impressive and we left feeing guilty that we had not used the professional set-up more extensively instead of eating out so much!

The owners were very helpful in arranging the let, particularly in flexibility until our flights (each from 3000+km away, but in different directions) were confirmed; and left very useful information about the cottage for us on arrival. They had also thoughtfully provided bread and milk for our arrival, and as there were some store cupboard items available, we didn’t have to worry about shopping as soon as we arrived. This was especially helpful as the nearest shop with any real selection was in Larnaka. It is worth noting, however, that shops are closed on Sundays in Cyprus, so if you arrive on a Saturday, you might want to plan to eat out or take a chance on what is in the cupboards for your first day or so.

We would recommend this cottage to others, particularly if, like us, they want a "half way point" between the UK & the Middle East, especially as Kato Drys is less than half an hour from Larnaka airport if your flight arrivals times are not perfectly synchronised. However, we would not recommend it for families with very young children who do not want to travel with a stair gate, which may required to limit access to the 3rd bedroom, or those who might find the step to/from the kitchen quite high.

Nicosia (Greek: Lefkosia) & Paphos are both around 70 / 80 minutes drive away, with excellent tourist attractions, ancient and modern. Larnaka is only 30 minutes away and has little to offer in this regard, but does have a wide choice of restaurants. Well past the ‘main strip’ of restaurants in the pedestrianised area of Larnaka, (at the airport end of town), there are some excellent low key, local dining options with fish meze highly recommended. The taverna in Kato Drys was closed when we were there, but the taverna at the junction of the Kato Drys and mountain road was friendly, welcoming and well frequented by locals. We recommend the mixed meze, but not the local wine, made by the owner’s father, who would be qualified to supply fuel to NASA!