Things to Do in Larnaca: The Cyprus Locals Live In

The seafront and the beaches

Finikoudes is the promenade that defines the city — a row of palms along the sand, cafés the length of it, and a marina at one end. It is the evening ritual here: everyone walks it, from about an hour before sunset onward. The beach itself is fine rather than spectacular, but the setting is the point.

For actual beach days, Mackenzie is better. It runs south of the town toward the airport, the sand is broader, and the bars sitting directly on it are where Larnaca goes at the weekend. Planes come in low over the water on approach, which is more entertaining than it sounds.

The salt lake and the flamingos

Larnaca Salt Lake sits just inland from the airport and changes character completely with the season. From roughly November to March it fills with water and with flamingos — thousands of them, wintering here — and it is one of the genuinely remarkable sights on the island. By high summer it has dried to a white salt crust, which is its own kind of strange.

On its shore stands Hala Sultan Tekke, one of the most significant Islamic sites in the region, set among palms at the water’s edge. The walking path around the lake links the two and takes about an hour.

The old town and the aqueduct

The Kamares aqueduct on the western edge of town is the city’s best-looking piece of history — a long run of Ottoman-era arches, floodlit at night and free to walk around. It is a five-minute stop that most visitors miss entirely.

In the centre, the church of Saint Lazarus is the thing to see: a substantial stone church built over what tradition holds to be the tomb of Lazarus, with a crypt beneath. The streets around it are the oldest part of the city and the best of the small-scale shopping.

Where to eat

Larnaca is the best-value eating on the island’s south coast, and the strength is fish. The fishing harbours along this coast — Zygi to the west, and further east toward Ayia Napa, Potamos Liopetriou — do fish meze at prices the resort towns cannot match, and they are worth the drive.

In town, the tavernas away from the Finikoudes strip are consistently better than the ones on it. Our ranked Larnaca list is ordered on public reputation rather than on who is closest to the sea.

Day trips from Larnaca

The position is the best thing about Larnaca. Lefkara — the lace-making mountain village — is under forty minutes inland and is the easiest introduction to village Cyprus. Nicosia is about an hour up the motorway. Cape Greco and the east-coast beaches are around forty-five minutes.

Cape Kiti and the coast immediately south of the city are quieter than anything you will find further east, and almost entirely undeveloped.

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