Car Rental Protaras - Exploring Protaras

Ayia Napa is the perfect neighbour to the more family-orientated Protaras, and together, they create an excellent balance. The village of Ayia Napa is a lively resort with a wide selection of beaches and nightlife.

Ayia Napa has a Venetian-style monastery incorporating a cave where it is said a hunter once found an icon of the Virgin Mary strangely illuminated due to the cave’s design. Outside the church stands a 600-year-old sycamore tree. The monastery is situated on a square that becomes the focal point of the town after dark as throngs of people meet to eat, drink and socialize.

Cape Greco lies to the south of Ayia Napa, and is a wildlife sanctuary blessed with a kaleidoscope of extraordinary coastline, bizarre rock formations and exquisite sunsets.

The magnificent Troodos Mountains are just a short drive away, and boast shady pine glades, captivating scenery and diverse vegetation. The slopes are scattered with pretty villages. At one of these, Pitsilia, you can sample the delicious honey and cheese made by the locals. Nearby Lefkara is famous for its lace-making, and you can still watch as villagers in the streets work on their crafts.

Larnaca’s seafront is guarded by an ancient fort, originally built as a defence against invaders. Lying just outside the town is the shrine of Hala Sultan Tekkesi, one of the holiest of Muslim sites, enhanced by its mesmerising gardens. It graces the edge of a salt pan, where in summer the locals collect their salt. In the winter, the area becomes a pink sea as migratory flamingos claim it as their home.

Along the Lefkosia-Lemesos road, about 32kms away from Larnaca, are archaeological excavations which have uncovered one of the oldest Neolithic sites on Cyprus, dating back to 7000 BC. The site is known as Choirokoitia, and here lie the remains of the settlement’s defensive wall, circular houses and tombs.