My Cyprus Holiday: Part 2

EDIT FROM SEPTEMBER 2025. About three weeks ago, I went on a one-week holiday abroad as an adult. Not only an adult but an adult with disability and mental health. Here’s my experience of visiting a few local places.

This is my two-part post about what happened. Part 1 (link here: https://open.substack.com/pub/daniellemariemcdowall/p/cyprus-my-disabled-holiday-abroad) is live on my Substack already and the second part (this post) will be posted on Substack in May 2026 (My week away in Cyprus, a local review).

MARIOS:

I started my holiday by touching down at Paphos airport. It was about 9 o’clock, and we headed straight to the local bar called Mario’s Snack Bar. It’s a small, sweet nook up a hill and situated on your left. The parking is limited but available.

Mario’s is the local pub/bar. When you get there, you are shown to your seats and order your drinks from the table. On weekends, there is also live music (see photo of me with the singer below). Mario’s is a family business with Mario still working there with family and extra staff. It is open till early in the night every night, and you pay your bill at the end of the night.

Stanra’s Tavern:

The next night, we went to a cute little local tavern for food, and it was an evening booking for 11 people. Mates of ours with us went to a wedding the week before and were on their last few days away. There were the groom’s parents, grandparents, my mum and our UK friends at the table (5 people).

I chose to drink a UK drink, Carlsberg. It was a large bottle. It was a traditional Paphos restaurant and had a small but tasty menu. I didn’t have it, but I recommend the Pork Chop (for meat eaters), I have never seen one that size before! Because it was still very warm in the evening (7 pm), we decided to sit and eat outside.

Mellitzia Tavern:

This was the restaurant we went to next. It was once again up a hill, and an evening meal sat on the balcony-style area, with a lovely sunset and warm weather. I decided to have a meat dish called Afiela, which is pork chopped small in a sweet sauce.

Something I found interesting about this tavern was that they had rabbit on the menu. I have still never (and won’t) have a rabbit dish. There was also a vegan options available.

The Harbour:

On Saturday, we travelled up to the seafront and went for a wander and I had a lovely prawn spaghetti on the seafront.

Polis:

On Sunday we decided to travel to a more mountain-like area of Polis, still in Paphos. After this we went for another wander around. We ended up wandering through the sea front and having a seafood meal by the yachts. After I ended up eating a vegan dark chocolate ice cream to die for - I would definitely recommend it

.

Paphos Market:

Monday became a day of coffee and shopping. We went for a walk around the local shops and market stalls. I ended up buying a new straw hat, a new purse & small bag. We also popped into a quaint little coffee shop & had coffee outside.

Casa Luna:

Once again a lovely meal in the evening with friends, at a posh Italian restaurant. I had the arriabata that I love but it was the nicest one that I have had in a very long time.

For someone who wasn’t sure they could do this, turns out Cyprus was exactly the right place to prove myself wrong...

Five places, one week, zero regrets.

Cyprus, I’ll be back!