You are here: home CITIES OF THE WORLD Cyprus: a visit to the southern coast, from Larnaca, through Limassol to Paphos
The journey is primarily an experience of discovering, knowing and understanding the surrounding world.
Located 150 kilometers from the coast of Syria, with 310 days of sunshine of 365, the island of Cyprus is an ideal destination for beach and bath lovers, which is why it has almost exclusively developed a form of tourism that I do not really like - that of luxury resorts with excessively much food and too little individual initiative. But beyond the discontinuous strip up to 50-100 meters from the seashore occupied by quality hotels and touristic facilities, the usual city is undoubtedly comfortable in the interiors of the dwellings, but quite out of place and outdoors (except for modern villas, some architectural jewels, but elevated stingher on arid soil, glowing by the ubiquitous sun).
The white or yellowish rocks, which hardly grow a few blues that are discolored by the heat, do not even urge you to leave the coolness and quiet of the hotels .... And under these circumstances, Cyprus benefits from tourism 20% of GDP, which is remarkable , even though the vast majority of tourists are British (linked to the common history, but also to the Soviet military bases of Dhekelia, Akrotiri and Episkopi) and the Russians (fleeing cold and tax in increasing proportions year on year).
Luxurious beachfront facilities, the "hook" that hooks the tourist to the water and the sun, as well as abundant food and comfort at modest prices.
Another 50 linear meters of pseudo-tropical paradise at 5 stars ...
Beyond the beach and swimming, the tourist wandering around here can still find enough places and monuments to fill one or two holidays. The island has no railways, public transport is slow due to countless stations, many lines have very rare races (especially on weekends), so the best option for exploration is probably a rented car (car rental companies are everywhere, their cars are marked by the number of enormous red engraving - we can understand this alarm color knowing that here the circulation is on the British system, on the left, and the aliens must be quickly located ...).
For single, shower and return, taxi is also an option. Unfortunately, some of the most beautiful monuments remained in the military occupied area in 1974 by Turkey, with particular reference to the wonderful city of Famagusta, but also to Salamina, Kyrenia or the busy half of Nicosia.
Read also: Cyprus in a week: 10 great places to visit
Cyprus also has more green areas, the Troodos Mountains (with the 1,952-meter-long Olympos peak), which comprise 17% of woodland afforested by statistics and where, incredibly, there are rivers with waterfalls and ski slopes in winter. Certainly, the archaic rural areas of the mountains are the most picturesque and interesting of the country, but today we will make a trip to the (too) southern coast of the island, reviewing some of the places, an obviously incomplete list.
Larnaca
The best starting point is probably the city of Larnaca, whether it is the main airport of the island (the second being in Paphos), the capital of Nicosia being abandoned after the Turkish occupation in 1974. From the airport there are only 3 km (which can be done by taxi or partly on foot, during periods of low circulation of buses) to Sultan Tekke Hall, on the shore of the large salt water lake (which at the date of the visit kept its summer look, that of a huge dusty desert, being fed with water only in winter).
The Mosque is considered to be the fourth Muslim cult site of importance (after Mecca, Medina and Al Aksia), dedicated to Umm Haram, the nurse of the Prophet Muhammad who would have died here after an accident in 648. The actual building dates back from 1787, the entire complex being completed in 1816. Inside are two important tombs, the Doamna Umm Haram and, from 1930, the grandfather of King Hussein of Jordan.