Address

About Ayia Napa

Ayia Napa attracts a large number of tourists and features a number of sandy beaches, on which watersports such as water-skiing, windsurfing, canoeing, scuba diving and speed boating are popular. The Cyprus Tourism Organization supervises the beaches and is responsible for protecting the interests of all tourists. All beaches in Ayia Napa have been awarded with the EU blue flag for their level of cleanliness and facilities offered. The most popular of these beaches is Nissi beach, which is visited mainly by clubbers and young people at summer and gets very busy. Another of the beaches is the Harbour Beach (also known as Limanaki (CTID) or Pantahou beach), which is one of the longest beaches of Cyprus, and the longest beach in Ayia Napa. Harbour Beach caters more for families and is a more relaxing beach. The New Golden Bay, or Lanta / Landa beach as it is known to the locals, is a less busy beach with a number of activities available.

The Square, central to the town, is filled with restaurants, night clubs and shops, such as The Napa Castle Bar & Restaurant, the Bedrock Inn, Black & White Club , Starskys and the Castle Club, and is by many seen as the focal point of the Ayia Napa night-life.

Ayia Napa has changed it's image somewhat over the years, from a fishing village to a clubbers' paradise and now has found it's place as a multi - cultural town. Cape Greco is a 10 minute drive from the centre of Ayia Napa, and is considered one of the most beautiful places on the island.

In Cape Greco lives the reputed Ayia Napa Sea Monster which is meant to resemble a cross between a porpoise and dragon. It has only been spotted and photographed a dozen or so times and is thought to be a direct descendent from pre-historic times.

Travelling to Cyprus

In Cyprus there are two International airports: Larnaca and Pafos . Most travellers reach Cyprus through the Larnaca International Airport which is the larger of the two.

For the ECOWS 2010 Conference it would be more convenient to fly to Larnaca airport as it is the one closest to the conference venue 45Kms, while Paphos airport is 160Kms from Ayia Napa. 
The LCA airport is the main one, and it served by a great number of major flight companies. In particular, it offers convenient connections to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, Rome, Brussels, Vienna, and Athens.

Travelling to Ayia Napa from the airport

By Taxi
There are three types of taxi services available, covering the entire island:

- Transurban service which offers the opportunity to share a taxi with 4 - 7 other passengers. It provides connection between all major cities of Cyprus, every half an hour, from Monday to Friday starting at 06:00 in the morning until 18:00 in the evening. On Saturdays and Sundays the service finishes an hour earlier at 17:00. Seats can be booked by phone or online from the providing companies.

You can use the Travel Express website to find and reserve a taxi for your time of arrival. The average price of going from Larnaca Airport to Ayia Napa is close to 50 EURO. You can also use the Travel Express website to book travel between the different cities of Cyprus for sighseeing.

- Urban service is a 24hours service provided in all cities. Taxis can be booked or hired on the street. Urban taxis are obligatory provided with taximetres and charging commences upon the entering of a passenger in the taxi. An indication of the charges is listed below:

From 06:01 - 20:30:
Initial charge 3,07 Euro
Fare per km 0,59 Euro
Delay or waiting time per hour 13,68 Euro 
For every luggage weighing more than 12kg 0,99 Euro
Public Holidays surcharge 1,96 Euro

From 20:31 - 06:00:
Initial charge 4,01 Euro
Fare per kilometre 0,71 Euro
Delay or waiting time per hour 15,73 Euro
For every luggage weighing more than 12kg 0,99 Euro

During the following public Holidays, taxis charge an extra supplement of 1,96 Euro per ride: 24th, 25th, 26th and 31st December, 1st January, Good Friday, Good Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday and 1st May.

The transport of pets is allowed only when they are carried in small pet-carrying boxes and the charge in such cases is 0,54 Euro per pet.

- Rural service operates in village areas and can only be hired from and to their base station. These taxis are not equipped with taximeters and charging is based on kilometre/tariff rate.

An indication of the charges is listed below:
Tariff I: Single trip 0,53 Euro per kilometre.
Tariff II: Single trip from 23:00 – 06:00 0,59 Euro per kilometre.
Tariff III: Return trip 0,41 Euro per kilometre.
Tariff IV: Return trip from 23:00 – 06:00 0,53 Euro per kilometre.

For every luggage weighing more than 12 kg 0,53 Euro per piece.

Delay or waiting time charge:
For tariff I and III 12,08 Euro per hour.
For tariff II and IV 15,74 Euro per hour.
Minimum Charge: 3,04 Euro.

By Bus
There are three types of buses in Cyprus that can help you move around:
- Transurban buses that link all towns on a daily basis and with frequent routes 
- Rural buses that link almost all villages with the nearest city but with limited frequency once or twice daily except Sundays.
- Urban buses that link different areas within the cities and operate frequently during daytime. In certain tourist areas, during summer period, their routes are extended till late in the evening.

Shuttle Buses Schedules

Larnaka Airport - Lefkosia

Larnaka Airport - Lemesos

Larnaka Airport - Pafos

Pafos Airport - Pafos

Pafos Airport - Lemesos

Around Cyprus

University of Cyprus

The University of Cyprus is a new University founded in 1988 and started operation in 1992. The Department of Computer Science was among the first to start operation. It currently numbers 20 Academic staff and more that 350 students (of whom 50 are graduate students).

The University of Cyprus is highly research-oriented, producing hundreds of publications each year, and participating in dozens of locally and European-funded projects.

This year's ECOWS conference is organized by the Software Engineering and Internet Technologies (SEIT) lab, which is an integral part of the Department of Computer Science.