How to correctly plan a car route for an independent trip to Cyprus. How to create the perfect travel itinerary How to create the right travel itinerary
A car is not a luxury, but a means of transportation!
© Ilf and Petrov. "Golden calf"
This quote from the famous novel is still very relevant today for traveling in Cyprus. If you are determined to rent a car and drive around Cyprus on your own, then this story is for you.
The first thing you need to understand is that rental companies provide a car for at least 3-4 days (in a row, and not in total for a vacation), so you need to approach the planning of your travel routes around Cyprus responsibly enough so as not to regret later about wasted years of wasted money. .
If you start to think, “Where should we go now?” after the car is already in your hands - consider half a day already lost. The option “to go wherever your eyes take you, because Cyprus is small island, “something will come across along the way” - you must immediately discard it. Maybe you will come across it, but you will successfully whistle it past.
On the other hand, coming to Cyprus with ready-made routes, on which so much effort has been spent, and not being able to find a suitable car there is also not good enough. Therefore, we advise you to book a car in advance.
Let's finally move on from lyrics to action. First, we’ll tell you a few basic rules for creating a route for independent travel around Cyprus by car.
Having mastered the main postulates, let us now move on to the particulars, which also should not be overlooked.
Summer season
If you are planning to vacation in summer season, especially in July or August, then you need to consider the following:
- In Cyprus it is very hot in the summer, especially in the daytime, so the best route option would be a trip to the Troodos Mountains, where it is ten degrees cooler.
- If you still want to visit the coastal attractions of Cyprus, for example, such as Kourion or the archaeological park of Paphos, which involves a fairly long walk under open air, then plan to visit this place as early as possible, while the sun is not yet so strong. Don't forget hats, water and sunscreen. Immediately after such an excursion, plan a visit to the nearest beach.
If you have children with you
There is no danger here. It would just be nice to plan the route in such a way that it would be interesting for them in the end. Of course, a lot depends on the age and temperament of the children. It's up to you to decide who is more suitable. But if the children are small, then there are also certain rules when planning the route.
Plan to visit some children's place at the end of the route. “The last phrase is remembered,” said Stirlitz. It’s the same here, the child will like the trip if last place will be interesting for him. Yes, even if it’s a beach, if nothing else comes along the way.
We hope that our above tips will help you, and you will be able to independently create the most suitable routes for yourself.
If you still have doubts?
If you feel that your head is a little spinning from various travel options, then you can turn to us for advice - we have come from and traveled Cyprus far and wide, but always believe that we have not yet discovered much here for ourselves. If you agree, then move on to the next section.
So, we are in Turkey. Turkey is an independent republic occupying territory partly in Europe and partly in Asia, which has played an important role in world history as a bridge connecting East and West. It attracts tourists from all over the world due to its wonderful weather and climate, warm sea and endless beaches. Tours to Turkey are popular due to the abundance of historical sites. Holidays in Turkey mean warm and clean seas, wonderful beaches, as well as a large selection of types of entertainment. In addition to relaxing on the beaches and active recreation, tours offer a variety of excursions where you can get acquainted with the unique culture, traditions, customs and history of the country. Türkiye is an incredibly interesting and beautiful country. Therefore, this cannot be limited to just one moment.
Istanbul Istanbul - city rich history, with a unique location - divided by the Bosphorus Strait, it is simultaneously in Europe and Asia. Istanbul The main attraction of the city is St. Sophia. This grandiose temple was built in the years. The attractions of Hagia Sophia include the copper-covered “weeping column” (they say that if you put your hand in its hole and make a wish, it will definitely come true). Another attraction is the Ahmediye Mosque (years, " blue Mosque"),. The walls of Ahmediye are covered with light blue tiles that reflect the sun's rays, which gives it a special charm. It is from here that pilgrims go to Mecca. Sultan's Palace Topkapi is one of the largest attractions in Istanbul. Built in 1466 by order of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. The bridge over the Bosphorus, connecting the European and Asian shores of Turkey, has become another symbol of this country. This is the fourth longest bridge in the world. Not far from Istanbul is the Turkish Disneyland - the largest in Europe and the fourth largest in the world Tatilla amusement park
Ankara Ankara is the capital and second largest city of the country. Now it is a city of ministries and embassies, universities and medical centers, as well as a winemaking center and a large transport node countries. Ankara Historical center The Ak Kale Tower ("White Castle"), surrounded by a double wall, is considered the city's landmark, through which one can trace the turbulent history of Ankara. Another symbol of the city is the Hadji Bayram mosque (XV century), built next to the ruins famous temple Augustine and Rome, on the walls of which are carved essays from Roman history and a list of the deeds of Augustus. A real place of pilgrimage local residents- the majestic building of Ataturk’s mausoleum (1953). The sarcophagus of the founder is kept here Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal - the first ruler of the country.
Tourist capital Antalya is considered the Turkish Mediterranean, attracting rich tourists historical heritage and unique nature. According to UNESCO, this area is recognized as one of the most environmentally friendly places on the planet. Antalya One of the symbols of the city is Hadrian's Gate, erected in honor of the visit of the city by the Roman emperor Hadrian in 130 BC. e. There are many ancient monuments in Antalya, of which the “symbol of Antalya” is especially good - the Yivli minaret built by the Seljuk Turks, as well as the Eski Cami Mosque, built on the model of a Byzantine church in 1373, the tombstones of the wife of Sultan Bayazed II and Mehmet Bey, the former the monastery of the “dancing dervishes” of Mevlevihane with an exhibition of modern art, and the Cut Minaret, destroyed at one time by lightning. At the exit from Antalya to Kemer there is a wonderful water park "Aqualand" - the oldest of Antalya's water parks, designed for 1,500 people and built to world standards on an area of 40 thousand square meters. m.
Belek, located between Antalya and Side, is considered a recognized golf center in the region. Located in close proximity to the ruins of the ancient cities of Perge, Aspendos and Side, and boasting a number of first-class hotel complexes surrounded by pine, cedar and eucalyptus forests. Belek Must visit the magnificent cypress-eucalyptus national park reserve"Koprulu Canyon" with an area of 500 hectares. The reserve offers opportunities for mountaineering, horse riding and all types of water activities, but the most popular is rafting on the Kyupruchay mountain river.
Welcome to Egypt! Egypt is one of the few Islamic states open to tourism. This beautiful country of pharaohs and pyramids, ancient monuments and interesting museums, excellent beaches and the Red Sea, rich in corals and exotic fish, never ceases to attract tourists from all over the world. Traveling to Egypt is becoming more and more popular every year. More than 5 million people visit it annually. Let's get acquainted with the characteristics of this country.
Cairo Here you will see the openwork minarets of the Mohammed Ali Mosque and the Sultan Kalan Mosque. In the Egyptian Museum you will be greeted by a national collection ten times richer and more complete than in the British Museum. You can take unforgettable excursions to the papyrus and jewelry factories, as well as to the Perfumery Museum. You will see the giant aqueduct from the Nile to the Citadel, the Beit Al Sennar tower and the building of the oldest Arab university, Al-Azhar.
Giza" Business card"Egypt - pyramids. There are about a hundred pyramids here - large and small, stepped and with smooth sides, which have come down to us almost unchanged and more like a shapeless pile of stones. They are located along the left, western bank of the Nile in small groups. The most famous of the pyramids - on the outskirts of Cairo, on the edge of the desert Giza plateau, hanging over the green Nile valley. Here, in Giza, there are three great pyramids - Cheops, Khafre and Mikerin. At the foot of the Giza plateau there are funerary temples and the Great Sphinx.
Port Said is a very young city, by Egyptian standards. Located 200 km northeast of the country's capital, it was built in the middle of the last century along with the Suez Canal, at its northern entrance. Port Said is a kind of sea gate Egypt. The National Museum in Port Said displays examples of the material culture of the Egyptians from pre-Pharaonic times to the present day.
Greece is a country of heroes and gods, unprecedented architectural monuments and simple, friendly residents. As the popular saying goes, “Greece has everything!” Let's look at its attractions.
Athens Capital Greek state bears the name of the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom and knowledge - Athena. This is a city of surprises and contrasts, beautiful and diverse, always smiling. In architecture and art, styles of different eras and movements are harmoniously intertwined. No matter what part of the city you are in, the majestic Acropolis is visible from everywhere, with its magnificent temples and a museum where authentic masterpieces of ancient Greek sculpture are kept. The Parthenon Temple is a stunning masterpiece of architecture, built according to the drawings of Phidias, famous for its perfect and flawless contours. The Theater of Herodes Atticus is located west of the Theater of Dionysus. The semicircular stage is characteristic of the Roman era, since the stages in Greek theaters are circular. Olympion (temple of the gods of Olympus) - the ruins of the majestic temple of Zeus, from which fifteen columns remain. Argolis is the northeastern region of the Peloponnese Peninsula. Your path along the national road leads to the Corinth Canal, where you can admire this grandiose structure from the end of the last century.
Austria is a fairly compact country, but has a variety of landscapes and diversity cultural heritage. Majestic cities, charming villages, soaring mountains, rolling plains, royal resorts mineral waters, alpine lakes - all this creates a picturesque picture. Let's get acquainted with its capital.
A tourist who comes to Vienna for the first time first of all rushes to Stephansplatz - St. Stephen's Square with the famous cathedral after which it is named. St. Stephen's Cathedral is the symbol of Vienna, and St. Stephen is the patron saint of the capital of Austria. The cathedral is more than 800 years old. Majestic complex imperial palace The Hofburg (XIII-XIX centuries) houses a number of government organizations of the country and the OSCE. The Spanish Riding School is located in the palace premises. The Belvedere, built by Lucas von Hildebrandt as a summer residence for one of the greatest commanders of his time, Prince Eugene of Savoy, was once located outside the city walls. Schönbrunn Schönbrunn, the summer residence of the Habsburgs, is also a must-see.
So you have chosen perfect place for relax. Now it's time to get into the details: what will you do there? Where and how will you eat? How can you see everything in a week? For some people this is a pleasant activity, while others find such planning a tedious process. We've put together some expert tips on how to plan your travel itinerary.
1. Determine what kind of traveler you are.
Think about who you are in Everyday life. Are you a planner or a spontaneous person? Do you prefer lots of weekend activities or spending time on the couch watching TV? When you go on a trip, your preferences and lifestyle are unlikely to magically change. Instead of worrying about what you "should" do on vacation, figure out what kind of activity you'll find most rewarding: laying around or going on excursions all day. Once you decide which type is right for you, you'll have an idea of what to add to your travel itinerary.
2. Don't over plan.
There is always a temptation to cram as many activities into one trip. Let's say you are planning a tour to Europe. Instead of trying to cover four countries in four days, spend time in two major cities and don't overload your travel itinerary with too many activities.
3. However, do not forget to consider important details.
It is worth noting the time, address and cost of any activities on your route. Also, don’t forget about the bus and train schedules so you don’t have to search for it all in a hurry.
4. Make a daily map.
Instead of planning every day of your trip minute by minute, come up with several different options for your daily schedule: perhaps several events in one city or a museum day - your choice. Google MyMaps is a great tool for this because it allows you to create personal maps and mark the places you want to visit.
5. Give yourself time to relax.
Add planned breaks to your travel itinerary. How many you need depends on whether you prefer quick or slow travel. If you are terribly tired, you will not get any relief from contemplating the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.
6. Don't rely only on Google.
For example, a city's tourism website is good option for information. Also, do not forget about guidebooks and even local newspapers, where there may be announcements of interesting events.
7. Find out in advance where any festivals or holidays are held.
If you love parties, parties and making new friends, put Oktoberfest in Germany, Holi in India and Carnival in Brazil on your list. This is a great way to interact with locals and get to know the culture of a city or country. The ideal travel itinerary is one that includes a holiday.
8. Plan practical activities.
A pasta making class in Italy or tango lessons in Argentina are also great ways to learn about. First, you'll gain new skills, and second, it's a useful strategy for travelers who are worried about not having a specific schedule.
9. Take advantage of long transfer times.
An eight-hour layover might be intimidating, but what if you turned it into an educational experience rather than just sitting in the airport? If you have enough energy after the flight, head into the city to enjoy local food and get to know the new area.
10. Be flexible.
Something can definitely go wrong - something you never expected. Be prepared for all possible outcomes. Stock up on cash as an emergency fund and don't worry if situations don't go according to the plan you've so carefully crafted. You can always change your travel route.
11. Talk to local people.
Again, if you search online for “best pizza in Chicago,” there is a risk that you will end up in a hyped and expensive place, crowded with tourists. Talk to real people instead! Ask local taxi drivers, vendors, and homeowners to get their recommendations on where to eat, where to watch the sunset, and where to see interesting events. You can get a lot of useful information from them.
Where does any journey begin? From packing your things, or from boarding the plane? No, in my opinion, any journey (especially a long one) begins with an idea. From making a decision - where to go, why there, what is interesting there. Let's talk about this today - how to choose a direction and plan the route of the upcoming trip.
4. Activity planning
By this stage, you have already decided on the main list of points for the upcoming route; now you need to calculate the forces. You don’t want to collapse from fatigue on the 3rd day of your trip, do you?
To make your vacation (or adventure) as rich and varied as possible, without being too exhausting, think in advance about what you are going to do on each day of your trip.
Alternate activity with relaxation and rest. This is especially important in long journey when the constant change of pictures and impressions becomes boring over time, and it’s no longer so interesting to discover new places - the brain is simply fed up with new information.
For example, when I plan a trip, I usually alternate between active exploration and beach activities.
Here, look for information about what you can do in this area - maybe only in this village you can ride elephants, swim in a waterfall, fly hot-air balloon, swim with sharks or climb to some interesting observation deck.
Add more specific information to your plan, For example:
day 1 - we go to see the pyramids
day 2 - we walk around the city, go to the museum on such and such a street, then go to the park on such and such a street
day 3 - go to the beach, snorkel
day 4 - moving to the next city, etc.
If the trip is long, then you can write a more general plan, for example:
city 1 - 2 weeks, leisure, be sure to see such and such sights
city 2 - 3 days, we go on a walking trek through the jungle
city 3 - 3 days, enjoying local beaches
city 4 - 10 days, we go on an excursion, see the sights
It is advisable to plan a short trip more carefully so that it is clear what day and what you are doing. But on a long trip, I usually plan only 1-2 nearest settlements. But if I know that, for example, we won’t have Internet until the 4th city, then I plan for a longer period of time, with a reserve.
5. How to get there
One of the most important questions at the route planning stage - how you will move between points on your route.
If you don’t find out in advance how and by what means you will get there, a situation may arise when according to the map there seems to be a road, but in fact the road has been under repair for a long time, and in general public transport there isn't. You'll have to figure it out on the spot and look for other options. And if you have a clear reference to dates, then the entire route will have to be changed, so you simply won’t get to where you really wanted.
It’s clear that if you are traveling to only one city, you have round-trip tickets, you don’t plan to travel around the surrounding area, or you plan to take advantage of organized excursions, then you don’t need to think through different options for “how to get there” (except maybe how to get there from the airport or station to the hotel).
But if your route is complex, with a lot of crossings, and the attractions are not in the cities themselves, but in the surrounding area, then it’s still worth thinking about moving issues in advance.
Moreover, when you are just starting to plan which cities you want to visit, it is not always clear from the map that there is a direct road between two cities. Everywhere has its own characteristics, taking into account which you will have to build the entire route. You may have to swap several cities, perhaps you decide to exclude something, because... You can only get there by transport and it takes 3 days to travel, but you planned to spend these 3 days on something else.
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