Car Hire Ayia Napa

Mini guide to Ayia Napa

Located on a peninsula in the far east of the Cyprus is Ayia Napa. Formerly a sleepy fishing village, this popular destination has seen massive development in the past 25 years, and is now a busy centre.

Once a small and undistinguished settlement clustered around a beautiful 16th century Venetian monastery, its character has now been forever changed by the ever-sprawling conglomeration of holiday cottages, tourist shops, pubs, restaurants and discotheques. If however you’ve come seeking sunshine, sand and plenty of fun, this place is ideal and enjoys a lovely location. Ayia Napa has some of the most beautiful beaches found on the island, with fine white flour-like sand and turquoise blue waters.

This location also benefited to a large extent from the disastrous Turkish invasion of the island’s north in 1974, leading to massive development of this sleepy neighbour. However. it forever cut off the ancient and historically important neighbouring town of Famagusta (Gazimagusa). Once the richest city in the world,it is now a decaying old town surrounded by a Venetian city wall. Other attractions include the Cathedral of St Nicholas and Othello's Tower.

North of Famagusta, Salamis was Cyprus' most important pre-Christian city, and it's still the country's best archaeological site with a restored Roman amphitheatre.

This isolation resulted in Ayia Napa receiving the key development but depriving its visitor’s of easy access to other attractions in the region. Border crossings are permitted for day trips, but formalities are cumbersome and often not permitted at the eastern crossing.