After leaving Ukraine in mid-September 2020 and spending 3 months in the Schengen Area (1/2 months in Poland and 2 1/2 months in Greece), it was time for me to leave the EU/Schengen Area and move to an EU/non-Schengen country for 3 months. So I decided to move to Cyprus.  For me visiting WHSs has become a matter of changing country of residence during the pandemic. On the day I arrived in Cyprus I traveled from Larnaca through Choirokoitia WHS to Paphos by bus. 

I ended up settling in the District of Paphos, one of the 6 districts of Cyprus, for 3 months. As such, I had a plenty of time to explore the 3 locations of this WHS, which I visited on 4 separate days by bus. 

The website to use for bus in Cyprus is: http://www.cyprusbybus.com/setups.aspx

I visited them in the following order: Aphrodite's Sacred City at Kato Paphos, The Tombs of the Kings at Kato Paphos, Aphrodite’s Sanctuary at Kouklia. However, I will report them in the following order, which is the order I would recommend for visits. 

1. Aphrodite’s Sanctuary at Kouklia / Palaepaphos

Bus 631 goes directly from the Kato Paphos / Harbor Bus Station (by the Archaeological Park) to the Aphrodite’s Sanctuary at Kouklia 7 times a day all year around. (Bus 630 also goes from the Municipal Market Station in Paphos to the Aphrodite’s Sanctuary 3 times a day all year.)

But both buses also go on to Petra tou Romiou, further south, which is a beach where Aphrodite (Venus) is said to have emerged in the Greek mythology and the most photographed site in the whole country of Cyprus. So I took Bus 631 all the way to the last stop of Petra first before going back to the Aphrodite’s Sanctuary in Kouklia. 

The folks at the cafe/restaurant/souvenir shop with a large parking space in situ at Petra told me that the parking was typically completely packed in summer. You need to go to this establishment because it is from the side of it where an underground tunnel leads to the beach area with several large rocks with birds. 

At Kouklia, as I enter the gate, I ambled past several ruins of religious edifices, checking out things here and there. And the last one before reaching the museum area is supposed to be the most important: the Aphrodite's Sanctuary 1 from the Late Bronze Age. Every notable attraction in the District of Paphos is named after Aphrodite, but they say nothing is more important than this one. 

After that, I was escorted by a guard / tour guide to the museum area with 3 exhibition rooms and a video theater around the courtyard. Unfortunately, for the convenience of the guard, he had me watch the introductory video at the very end of my visit, so he can just relax after leaving me in the theater. I had to wonder how much relaxation he needs, as I was the only visitor at that time. Obviously it is better to watch the introductory video first so you can get the grip on what you can expect to see in the museum and in Kouklia in general. If I had known this, I would have walked straight from the gate to the museum and asked the guard to let me watch the video first before walking around at all. 

Notable objects displayed at the museum include, first and foremost, a sexy dark rock (photo) that initially symbolized Aphrodite for worshippers for centuries. This rock, like modern art, lets you use your imagination.  After that, several artists created portraits of Aphrodite, some of which are displayed at this museum.  But the most famous ones are certainly "Venus of Milo" by Alexandros at the Louvre and "Birth of Venus" by Botticelli at the Uffizi Gallery. Another notable object at the museum is the mosaic of "Leda and the Swan." 

2. Aphrodite's Sacred City at Kato Paphos / Neapaphos

Neapaphos was developed under the Kingdom of Ptolemies, the Macedonian dynasty based in Egypt, from the 3rd century BC on and the height of its prosperity was in the 3rd century AD during the time of the Roman Empire. 

The ruins in this location called Aphrodite's Sacred City are scattered across Kato Paphos (Kato means lower in Greek and closer to the Sea). Most of them are grouped as a park called "Nea Paphos Archaeological Site" situated along the coast. I visited this park on my second day in Cyprus but ended up visiting it again some weeks later.  I would recommend up to 4 hours to see this park thoroughly. 

There is a simple map available at the entrance in several languages, which has 23 places of interest numbered. I would recommend following the numbers as much as possible. If you follow the numbers, you start from the northern end of this park with a place called "Subterranean complex of Toumballos (Sanctuary of Apollo)". 

This park, as other reviewers have noted, is a major site to behold, mainly for its mosaics.  They were supposedly created during the height of the Roman period. Of particular interests are the Houses of Aion and Dionysus (interior) and the Villa of Theseus (exterior). These are more extensive mosaics than anything that exist at WHSs in Greece. Among Romana del Casale, Aquileia and Paphos, I have to say Paphos is hands down my favorite. 

But actually mosaics are found at even minor archaeological sites scattered across the District of Paphos, such as the Agios Georgios Archaeological Site. I can't speak for other districts of Cyprus.

Among the other ruins than those in the park in the Sacred City I would recommend the Chrysopolitissa Basilica, complete with St. Paul's Pillar, and Fabrika Hill Cave Complex, a series of interconnected quarries, both of which are in the core zone and within the walking distance from the park. 

3. The Tombs of the Kings at Kato Paphos / Neapaphos

Bus 615 travels north from the Kato Paphos / Harbor Bus Station (by the Archaeological Park) to the Tombs of the Kings every 10 min. all day from Monday to Friday. The ride takes less than 10 min. 

There are 8 main tombs in this cemetery, also situated along the coast. If you diligently follow all the tombs from 1 to 8, you will never forget what they look like because they all look like the same. But the way they are arranged is different at each 8 Tomb, and it gets progressively more complex and becomes more like a house as the number progresses. 

But again tombs of this magnitude can be found in other areas in the District of Paphos, such as Meletis Forest Necropolis near Agios Georgios. 

Over all I believe Paphos WHS is one of the most intriguing WHSs related to the Ancient Greek / Roman world.