Just off Tomb of the Kings Road in Pafos lies an extensive necropolis dating to 300 BC — the final resting place for Pafos’s elite. Officials and aristocrats were buried in rock-carved tombs alongside jewellery and personal artefacts, though most valuables had been looted centuries ago. What remains is a striking atmosphere of stillness and mystery. The site features 100 tombs hewn from solid rock, some with frescoed walls and towering Doric columns. For the best-preserved examples, head to the atrium area.

Learn more about the Spanish Civil War and take an emotional trip to this interesting and informative museum. Here you can experience real life bunker completed by air raid sound effects. It also provides many exhibits, oral histories, films and photos.

The regional park Calblanque is a beautiful nature reserve with amazing sandy beaches, cliffs, and mountains. There is a small visitor centre where you can get more information about both flora and fauna, and routes for the hiking trails. Be aware, there are no facilities like cafés and restaurants here as this is a protected area.

Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia, the island’s capital, combines both old and new in a busy modern commercial and business centre and a centuries-old culture. The centre of the city comprehends its old quarter surrounded by a Venetian sandstone fortress wall with a moat and heart-shaped bastions. Mosques and palm trees give an oriental atmosphere to the old city. Wander along narrow streets with overhanging balconies and beautifully restored pedestrian precincts with craft shops, cafes and taverns. Make sure you stop off at St John’s Cathedral with its frescoes and the marvellous museum of Byzantine icons. In the evening catch a concert or an exhibition at the Famagusta Gate, one of the three original entrances into the old city, which has now been restored and it is used as a cultural centre. The new town spreads beyond the walls with a modern European-like centre of high-rise buildings, office blocks, shops and cafes, expanding into suburban residential areas. Lefkosia offers the best in shopping with Stasikratous Street as the destination for an ultimate shopping experience. Of the city’s main sights, Cyprus Museum houses the best collection of archaeological artefacts on the island, including a first century AD Roman statuette of Aphrodite of Soli and the original mosaic of Leda and the Swan, while the Leventis Museum depicts the history of the town.