Overview

Our Experiences of getting around Paphos and Coral Bay using a manual wheelchair. I hope some of yiu find it useful. Before going to Paphos, I was debating whether to take the Gogo Elite, Jazzy Pride or the manual wheelchair I am glad we opted for the latter as it was more versatile getting over rougher ground or higher kerbs with my wife pushing. Our holiday was arranged through Enable holidays, and everything ran smoothly. Assistance ant both Newcastle and Paphos worked well, using an Ambulift to get on and off the Jet2 flight. Transfers to and from the hotel was arranged though Oberon Explorations, and a super guy called Ali. This was on a Wednesday and he then came to our hotel on the Saturday morning to see if he could arrange accessible tours. Ali’s wife, Kathleen, originates from Edinburgh and she kindly came along to say hello. They operate a number of services to disabled travellers through their website - https://www.accessibleholidayscyprus.com/ We booked two tours with Ali and saw pert of the Island that I don’t think we would have seen otherwise. Our first tour was with a lovely German family who were repeat customers and the second just my wife and I. Ali often took charge of my wheelchair which let Brenda roam about to take photographs. The seafront walk for the Kato Paphos area along to the Castle was just a short stroll from our hotel. Day or night, we found it a pleasant walk with lots going on either at beach or the hotels that were along it. My wife found it an easy push although there are a few areas that were more broken flagstones than a solid pathway. As one got nearer the Castle end there was an abundant of ‘touristy’ shops and cafes We used the Paphos buses quite a lot to get about. A single journey was 1.50 euros and a day ticket 5 euros. We didn’t get around to a weekly ticket as the drivers were having a few strikes as they hadn’t been paid. There was good wheelchair access and we only once encountered a wheelchair already on the bus. People with pushchairs moved without being asked. The only flaw we found with the buses was when they let us off, they were quite often too far from the pavement and therefore the ramp was onto the road, giving a fairly steep gradient. Throughout Paphos, including the old town, we found dropdown kerbs were fairly frequent which is just as well as the height of the kerbs was much higher than in the UK This was more so when we got the bus to Coral Bay in order to connect with the Zoo Bus. We had to find a pole for me to hold onto whist my wife got the wheelchair down and then me to get onboard again, only to have to repeat this at the other side of the road. In Cyprus, seemingly cars have the right of way at pedestrian crossings. However, we found most drivers, including lorries and white vans, stopped to let us across. One important waring I would give is that motorists have a habit of parking their cars on pavements, making it difficult for wheelchairs and, in particular, mobility scooters to get past. For other reviews I have posted on Euan’s guide relating to this holiday, please use the following links. The Avanti Hotel https://www.euansguide.com/venues/avanti-hotel-paphos-8442/reviews/very-helpful-staff-and-a-disabled-friendly-hotel-other-than-the-pool-7479 The Harbour Restaurant https://www.euansguide.com/venues/the-harbour-restaurant-paphos-8441/reviews/such-friendly-helpful-staff-and-refreshing-drinks-7481 The Moorings Restaurant https://www.euansguide.com/venues/the-moorings-paphos-8443/reviews/a-good-venue-for-a-meal-7482 Cavallini Restaurant https://www.euansguide.com/venues/cavallini-ristorante-italiano-paphos-8440/reviews/a-lovely-easily-accessible-italian-restaurant-7480 Café Nero – Kings Mall Paphos https://www.euansguide.com/venues/caffe-nero-paphos-8444/reviews/not-the-best-place-for-an-iced-coffee-7483 Archaeological Park https://www.euansguide.com/venues/archaeological-park-of-kato-pafos-paphos-8451/reviews/well-worth-the-effort-required-to-get-around-7497 Paphos Zoo https://www.euansguide.com/venues/pafos-zoo-peyia-8447/reviews/a-well-laid-out-zoo-and-worth-the-effort-to-get-there-7492

Transport & Parking

On the streets that we saw in Paphos and car parks, there were designated Disabled parking pays. The vehicles parked in these has the same blue badges as we do.

Access

On the whole we found access very good, Restaurants and shops made an effort to ensure that thee=re was space for wheelchairs, moving things out of the way were needed.

Toilets

As I did not have the need to try these out, I cannot really comment on how functional they were. However, I did see quite a number of public ones. On the front there are a number of hotels which, I am sure, would allow people to use theirs.

Staff

Not so much staff but I found people in general extremely helpful towards my wife and myself in the wheelchair.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Other than on our excursions, we stuck to Paphos and Coral Bay. Other than the pavement at the latter, we found the holiday to be very good. I would think carefully abut taking a powerchair as the payments/drop downs as not always good. We did see a number of hire mobility scooters which were fine along the main touristy areas. Note my comment in the review about finding cars parked on pavements.