Cyprus is an island with a unique mix of religions. During its existence, it belonged to the Greeks, Phoenicians, Crete-bearers, Templars, Turks, British, and many others. This has given rise to an unusually rich array of attractions, where Greek amphitheatres coexist with alpine monasteries. To visit most of the tourist attractions you should better hire a car in Cyprus so as not to miss a single interesting thing.
Cyprus has very friendly people with their own set of traditions.
Here is a shortlist of why people tend to visit this magnificent island:
- Relaxing on the beaches – Summer beach holidays are why most of the tourists visit Cyprus in general. Here you can have the best of both worlds, relax with your children and in the evening go to the bar with friends
- Ski resorts – Cyprus is the southernmost ski resort in Europe. In winter, the climate is mild, but there is snow in mountains, so you can ski or snowboard.
- Greek mythology and culture – According to the legend, the goddess of beauty Aphrodite emerged from the sea in Cyprus. It belonged to the Greeks for a long time, so the ruins of ancient cities and temples have been preserved here.
- Monasteries – Mountain monasteries, which saw the apostles and performed miracles, attract many pilgrims to the island.
- People – Cypriots are extremely tourist-friendly folk and speak English fluently.
The biggest tourist cities in Cyprus
- Larnaca
- Paphos
- Limassol
- Ayia Napa
Lets talk more about Larnaca
Larnaca has good reasons to claim the title of the oldest city in Cyprus: the evidence found by archaeologists suggests that people inhabited it 6000 years ago. However, in the current appearance of the resort, such grey-haired antiquity appears not that often. Modern Larnaca is the twin sister of other Cyprus seaside resorts in terms of development and architectural features: the old city centre plus an abundance of hotels and restaurants along the beach, along which a promenade stretches. There are so many great beaches around the city where you won’t be to get without renting a car in Larnaca, it is surprisingly cheap and the service is quite good. What is more, as we mentioned earlier in the article, all Cypriots know English pretty well, so you won’t be having any problems.
To help you out a little bit we decided to make a list of top destinations you shall visit:
- Church of Saint Lazarus – Saint Lazarus is the patron saint of Larnaca, he lived in Cyprus for 30 years and all this time he preached Christianity.
- Larnaca Salt Lake – keep in mind that In summer, the reservoir dries up completely and is covered with a 10 cm crust of salt.
- Larnaca castle – according to one version, the fort was built in the 13th century during the reign of King James I to protect the city from enemies
- Finikoudes beach – a small city beach 500 meters long with clear and clean water. It is perfect for children, as the descent into the sea is quite gentle, and there are no sharp stones on the soft sandy bottom.
- Mackenzie Beach – the beach is located in the western part of Larnaca, its territory is close to the airport. Tourists vacationing on Mackenzie have the opportunity to see aircrafts taking off and landing every now and then.
These are the best destinations for travellers to most of which you have to rent a car in order to be able to get to it.
