When my boyfriend told me we will go in Cyprus, I only knew it’s a sunny place with beautiful beaches. I really wanted to leave winter and to feel the sun on my face. So, here we were on a Friday evening at Larnaca airport from Cyprus. I was very happy to see they have buses to the city center, a 1.5 euro trip. From there, we walked just 10 minutes to our hotel near the Finikoudes Beach.

Larnaca, Cyprus is a beautiful city with a lot of cool places to hang out, delicious food and amazing beaches. I will show you things to do and some tips.

Another gorgeous place perfect for winter is Fuerteventura, check out my guide, https://www.letsenjoyworld.com/fuerteventura/.

We only had two days and we wanted to have some fun and relax. Here are my things to do for a relaxing weekend in Larnaca.

1 Head out to Edem’s yard and grab a healthy breakfast in a very nice and warm place. They are known for their desserts but we chose to order a delicious omelet with ricotta cheese and spinach, poached eggs with salmon and spinach. Delicious!

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Beaches

2 Go to Ayia Napa, a beautiful beach resort – 45 minutes by bus from Larnaca, 8 euro ticket. At each station there is the bus time schedule or you can go to their website. An area packed with restaurants, hotels, resorts and amazing beaches. From March untill October it’s full of tourists and they have the best parties ever.

Tip! Use Google maps to see which beach has the most vivid color. It works everytime 😃.

First stop, Nissi Beach – is beautiful, I just don’t have words to describe it! Maybe some pictures will do the trick. Unfortunately, my rubbish phone can’t catch how turquoise the water is.

The downside is that the beach is not so large, it’s a bit rocky and during the summertime, it’s probably full of people. It was 19 degrees at the end of January, the water was a bit cold but the sun was perfect.

See Elafonisos, for water like in Caribbean, https://www.letsenjoyworld.com/elafonisos-a-piece-of-heaven-simos-beach-is-amazing/.

This is the best part traveling on off season, less crowded and you can enjoy in peace this amazing beach.

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After three hours of beach time, we had to return to Larnaca. Maybe it was a sign, maybe not but it seems we misunderstood the bus timetable and we had two hours until the bus came. Yey, more time for beach😋

2nd stop, Vathia Gonia beach. We love walking so we return to beach and we discovered Vathia Gonia, two kilometres of Aya Napa.

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Try meze, a traditional meal.

In our pursuit for local places, on a narrow street we discovered a place where a gaggle of people was dancing and partying. Based on the music, we assumed it was a Cypriot music. We tried to enter but it looks like it was only for the locals 😰. They were preparing meze for the locals which means ” eat and drink slowly”. We would love to stay there, the atmosphere was fantastic. At least the waiter was kind enough and recommended us a similar place.

Tip! If you’re looking for places with sea food, after the Castle on the promenade you will find a lot of them!

So, here we were at Sieradiko, different than the other but hey, we wanted to try the secret meze. Again, they didn’t have a table but my boyfriend convinced the lady from the bar and she told us to return in 30 minutes. We used this time to walk along the Turkish area and in 30 minutes we were there not knowing if the lady had a table for us. Luckily, she kept her word. What do you think we ordered? Meze, obviously!

We had nine types of dishes (hummus, tzatziki, tahini sauce, fried halloumi with honey, salad, kebab, moussaka, veal). It was our first meze so we didn’t know anything about it. Imagine our face when the lady waitress brought us the salad and the sauces, we were thinking this is it. But, after a while, she brought us kebab, chicken, veal, mushrooms. Then, every 10 minutes, she brought us a small dish. Everything was just delicious.

We paid 28 euros for two people but it worth it. The place was decorated with a lot of local things in a chronological order. The only thing missing was the dance.

Tip: Before meze, walk a lot and wait until you’re very very hungry! In this way, you can really enjoy meze.

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Larnaca – attractions

Larnaca has some interesting buildings. There is the Church of Saint Lazarus, right in the city centre. Then at the end of the Foinikoudes promenade, you can see Larnaca’s Medieval Castle. Nearby, there is Djami Kebir Mosque built in the same style as the castle. You can enjoy all these grabbing a coffee from Coffee Island.

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Tip! The promenade is packed with restaurants. Head out to city centre and you will find a lot of places with delicious food and great atmosphere. And not so expensive.

I was really amazed of Larnaca, superb buildings, cute streets, delicious food and some amazing beaches. I can wait to return to visit the other cities. Oh, on the way to airport, I saw a flurry of flamingos on the Salt Lake. It’s true, in the winter there are flamingos😍.

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