SPECIAL INTEREST HOLIDAYS

Family Holidays

Spacious Villa Auriga provides a perfect base for a family holiday. Our position on the outskirts of Peyia Village and yet only 5 minutes drive to Coral Bay allows you to relax yet be close to activities if desired. Coral bay is a child friendly resort with a Blue Flag beach, watersports and 2 cafes for cool drinks. Take the Cooler Box if you wish for a picnic on the beach!

A second beach at Corralia a little further up the Coast is quieter and provides good paddling opportunities!Buckets and spades, bats and balls all to be found in Aladdin's Cave in the villa!

Coral Bay also has a crazy golf course and numerous child friendly restaurants.

Paphos Water Park is always a good day out (25 minutes drive)

Golf

A new driving range is open approximately 10 minutes drive away. 3 courses are within easy driving distance including a fantastic new Jack Nicklaus Championship Course. Please ask for further details. 

Birdwatching

Birdwatching from Villa Auriga

Cyprus lies on one of the major bird migration routes across the Mediterranean. With Turkey to the North, Syria to the East and Egypt to the South, it forms a major staging post for vast numbers of passage migrants travelling between Europe, Asia and Africa via the Nile delta. March to May is the main period of Northward migration and August to October the Southward.

Although there is birding interest throughout the year, the best time is Spring, when Cyprus is a mass of wild flowers and butterflies.  Field trips are also much more pleasant if you avoid the high Summer months, when temperatures can soar well above 30C.

Villa Auriga is a great base for all types of birder-whether you are intent on visiting many of the "hot spots" in the area in the hope of spotting a rarity, or just content to keep your "bins" next to your G & T as you sunbathe by the pool. The area immediately around the villa is a remarkably good habitat for birds, with the Auriga Villa list including Black Francolin, Fan-tailed Warbler, Bee Eater, Cyprus Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Cyprus Wheatear and Lesser Grey Shrike. An evening walk along the nearby lanes through the banana plantations, olive groves and vineyards is a great way to spot birds and work up an appetite.

The Villa is only a few minutes drive from the wild and unspoilt Akamas Peninsula, where mile after mile of rugged coastline and scrub-covered rocky terrain provide ideal habitats for a wide number of species. Spring and Autumn are the best times to see large numbers of migrants: wagtails, wheatears (including Black-eared and Isabelline), buntings such as Ortolan, Cretzschmar's and Black-headed, shrikes, flycatchers and all sorts of warbler.

Further afield, there is the Akrotiri Salt Lake. Home in Winter to several thousand Greater Flamingos and  numerous other waterbirds, this is an area which regularly attracts exotics. Although it is about 1.5 hours drive from the villa, it is well worth a visit to take in the Akrotiri peninsula (including the famous Lady's Mile Beach) and drop into a couple of hot spots on the return trip. Although it does not usually feature on birding guides, we have always found that the Ancient Roman remains of Kourion are a brilliant place to see birds as well as being an un-missable architectural wonder. A short drive further up the coast are the dramatic white cliffs of Cape Aspro -home to a large population of Eleonora's Falcon, Alpine Swift and Peregrines.

The Troodos Mountains are also within easy driving distance, and during the hotter Summer months they can provide a welcome relief from the searing heat on the coastal plains . The heavily wooded mountain valleys are the home for Nightjars and Nightingales in Summer, and raptors such as Goshawk and Bonelli's Eagle are also possible.

A number of guides are available in the villa, and a growing number of Cyprus birding sites are well worth checking out in advance of your visit.

http://www.birdlifecyprus.org/

http://www.cyprusbirds.com/

http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/eucyprus.htm

Hiking Trails

Our location close to the Akamas Peninsula and Peyia forest offers numerous marked walking trails close by. The Troodos Mountains are easily visited in a day and provide some beautiful walks. Details available in villa or we are happy to advise.