As we have said before, Larnaca is a strange mixture of ancient and
modern. It really depends on what your tastes are. And ancient is no
exaggeration. Larnaca is supposed to have been around since just after the
days of the flood. Yes, Noah's flood. In fact his grandson is said to have
founded the first city of Larnaca and his name was Kitim.
The friendly name for Larnaca amongst the locals is Skalla, which means
ladder or steps. Now if you drive out to Tekke, (pronounced tek-eh ) which
is a must visit as not only is it a lovely place it is also the 7th most
holy shrine of the Muslim world as it is the place where Mohamed's Aunt fell
off a donkey and broke her pellucid neck. Until this day a large stone
hovers over the spot. A low wall has been built under it just in case it
should fall, which is unlikely as there is a wall under it. Anyway, now that
you have driven out there, carry on the dirt track which goes along beside
the salt lake and after about 500m on the right you will see a wide set of
steps from nowhere leading to, nowhere. We think that these steps (not
necessarily the same ones) are the old steps down to the water in what once
would have been the port in ancient times.
On this side of Larnaca you will find the villages of Kiti, Pervolia and Mazotos, which have over recent years grown inexorably and have plenty of
private self catering accommodation to choose from. These are coastal,
whilst further inland is the rural village of Ayia
Anna with its land coloured stone buildings and
Agrotourism flavour.
If you want something racier, then on the other side of Larnaca along
what we call 'the strip ' the road running from Larnaca to Dhekelia, there
are many hotels and apartments which cater especially for tourists, and it
is only a short taxi ride from the town centre. This is where you will find
an abundance of bars and restaurants and other touristenalia. On that side
you will find the 5 *
Golden Bay hotel
and the self proclaimed 'Jewel of Cyprus' aka The
Palm Beach hotel
which is a beach side 4* with decent facilities and a modern crap attitude.
For something cheaper air b'n b has taken off here, so much so that '
'something is imminently going to be done about them!. 'There are too many hotels in the
Larnaca area to mention here, but here is the full selection of
hotels in Larnaka
whilst the self catering options of both apartments and villas can be seen
at Cyprus villas
The
Agrotourism options are not many for the coastal areas and Larnaca is no
exception. Apart from the fact that they have knocked down most of the lovely
old colonial houses in Larnaca now (Oh so short sighted) there never was much
in the way of stone built cottages by the sea. No one had the leisure time
in those days to live in a place that was not primarily agricultural,
although a few very small deserted one room hovels can still be seen along
the coast..
We personally think that Larnaca is an interesting town, not only for its
sights, but we like the pace and the people. It has grown incredibly in the
last 30 years, with what were once outlying villages becoming suburbs. Most
of the accommodation options are on the seafront and in the main town
itself, but there are a couple of central, reasonably priced Hotels and Apartment in Larnaca
town , the one below is especially good on
stop overs from Larnaca Airport (they pick you up from the Airport), they
also have good long term deals for 1 month or more.
The Larnaca Youth Hostel was a good bet, they did
family rooms and are no longer restricted to the young only. We have been
told they are closed, but will check.
