Facing the Lebanon and set in a wide bay is Larnaca, the shopping is excellent and the sea front is wide and paved with many outdoor restaurants which specialise in Cyprus cuisine, you will also find kebab vendors, (the local take away,) who's kebabs and sheftalies ( a type of charcoal grilled sausage/meatball) served in pitta bread with salad is a reasonable value meal at around 5 euros.

You can hire a sun bed and umbrella and eat that kebab in comfort, or maybe try your hand at jet skiing, go for a boat trip, or hang from a parachute over the sea whilst being pulled along by a speed boat. Sounds interesting ? Well we think Larnaca is ok.

Activities in and around Larnaca include horse riding, which is available at both Oroklini (sometimes Voroklini), Dhekelia and near Tekke. Sailing and boat trips can be taken from the marina , which can berth around 400 yachts. If you are a sailor yourself you may bareboat charter a yacht or just take a day trip on a motor boat or catamaran. See Cyprusyachts for full details. Sightseeing on one of the many coach trips are a popular way to get in a lot of places of interest in an afternoon or to travel to another town for the day. Diving is a popular sport here as well, and although there is not as much underwater wildlife to see as there once was, Larnaca bay boasts one of the top 10 diving wrecks of the world, the Zenobia.

Sports Facilities

On the airport road, at the roundabout nearest the American Academy is the New sports ground. It was built on the grounds of the old Larnaca Football Stadium.

The old Larnaca Stadium offers to the public the following:

Cafeteria

Children's playground built to European Safety standards

Special area for children's parties

Fully equipped Gym with professional trainers

4 Futsal courts

Basket ball court

Tennis court

2 beach volley courts

A special running or walking track.

There is now a new football stadium on the edge of town on the Nicosia road which is not the only football stadium in town, but it houses football matches on Saturdays throughout the season.

If you are on a limited budget in Cyprus there are some good places to stay and food is relatively cheap and delicious, certainly wines and cigarettes are not as expensive as most other European countries yet, so enjoy.

Culture is rampant in Larnaca, and the Municipal Cultural Centre do a wonderful job and bring a lot of interesting events to Larnaca's various venues. There is an indoor theatre in the grounds of the Municipal gardens, which also boasts a children's playground which is well equipped with activity toys for toddlers to twelve year olds and a small animal and bird zoo. There is also the open amphitheatre on the right hand side of the airport road which hosts a lot of events throughout the summer.

Larnaca has the best of both worlds, it is on the coast, with all that implies , is an interesting and charming destination both modern and old world. The whole town sits on ancient ruins and here and there you will see empty plots where digs are either in progress or have been left for future excavation. For a good example see opposite the church at Chyrysopolitissa. Behind the museum, next to the Larnaca tennis club there is a knoll of trees, another small children's playground, which behind in the field is an important ongoing dig which supplies the museum with finds.

There are many museums and places of interest to visit,
(see below) as well as a rich menu of cultural activities

Stavrovouni

In Larnaca district is Stavrovouni Monastery , it is perched atop a solitary mountain, The mountain of the Cross. It is the oldest monastery in Cyprus (see the history pages) which I am sure is very interesting but I am unlikely to find out as ladies are not allowed in the monastery itself,  so be warned. I was not, and have now seen the view. Which is rather splendid admittedly.

Lefkara

Lefkara on the other hand will be only too happy to receive women visitors as the lace which is hand woven there generally appeals to the fairer sex. Leonardo da Vinci is supposed to have visited in 1481 and bought an alter cloth for the cathedral in Milan.( The experts at Sotheby's say that his writings about visiting this part of the world were all a figment of his fertile imagination, but that does not explain the 4 lost years, or his graphic descriptions to my satisfaction)
The festival of the Holy Cross is held here in September every year on the 13th and 14th, the Holy Cross itself is contained in the local church, Tou Timiou Stavrou and is from the 13th century. You will also find 12th century frescoes in the Archangel Michael church in Kato Lefkara.

Kiti

The village of Kiti is just outside Larnaca, there you will find the "Church built by Angels," Panayia Angeloktistos. This church still contains 6th century mosaic decorations from an earlier church.

Larnaca Beaches

There are many beautiful beaches around the island, check out our travel section to find ways to get to them. In Larnaca try Mackenzie Beach which is by the end of the runway at Larnaca airport. Sounds dreadful but is actually interesting and a pleasant place for an afternoons swimming, completely off the road, with a palm tree lined promenade of restaurants on the beach itself. Water sports, sun beds and umbrellas are available for hire. There is also the CTO (Cyprus Tourism Organisation) beach in the middle of Larnaca Bay on the Dhekelia road. There is a restaurant, showers and changing rooms, children's playground, volleyball, umbrellas and all the paraphernalia one would expect from a professional beach. There is a bus, usually hourly until about 5pm which runs along the Dhekelia road. A nice beach for kids with a couple of interesting rock pools.

To view the pics in this section, click on them and they will load as original sizes.

To see a collection of old photo's of Larnaca,
click old Larnaca here

To see new Larnaca Photo's Click here for the Cyprus picture gallery

Famous son of Larnaca

Zenon of Kitium The philosopher from Larnaca