A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa crosses Cyprus in one day, from the east-coast resorts to the south coast, the lace village in the foothills and the capital inland. More trips around the region wait on the home page of tours in Greece.
This page covers what the tour is, how long it lasts, where it starts, what Larnaka, Lefkara and Nicosia show, the lace, the weather, the food and the questions travellers ask.
What is a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa takes a whole day to cross Cyprus on a sightseeing route. It leaves the resorts in the east. It visits Larnaka by the sea, the capital Nicosia inland, and Lefkara, a village in the mountain foothills.
One operator lists a day trip for travellers staying in Protaras and Ayia Napa, with hotel pickup in both resorts. The same listing describes a tour with a leader. It counts the transport between the sights as part of the day. Its route joins three different settings: a seaside city, a capital and a mountain village.
Wikipedia describes Larnaka as a seaside city in the southeast. It names Nicosia as the capital of Cyprus. Wikivoyage places Lefkara in the southern foothills of the Troodos mountains. A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa joins a coastal city, a capital and a village.
Wikipedia describes Cyprus as an island nation in the east of the Mediterranean Sea. The island ranks third in size among the islands of that sea, with an area of 9,251 square kilometres. The same article says Greek and Turkish elements in its cultural heritage make it a major tourist destination.
Wikipedia says two mountain ranges dominate the island: the Troodos Mountains and the smaller Kyrenia Range. The Mesaoria plain lies between them. It adds that the first settlers of Nicosia made their home in that fertile plain. Lefkara sits in the foothills of the Troodos instead. A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa crosses two different landscapes.
How long is a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
One operator lists a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa as an eight-hour day. Another operator lists a Nicosia-only coach tour at six to seven hours, with pickup and drop-off included. Three stops spread across the island explain the longer day.
The title of this tour lists Nicosia first, but the eight-hour listing gives a different order. It says the tour begins in Larnaka and ends in Lefkara, passing through Nicosia. That order makes four drives: out to Larnaka, on to Nicosia, then to Lefkara, and back to the resorts.
Sources give the distances between the stops. One travel blog says Nicosia lies 45 minutes from Larnaka, and Pano Lefkara lies about 35 minutes from Larnaka. Wikivoyage puts the southern highway from Larnaka to Nicosia at 43 kilometres, and Lefkara at 30 kilometres from Larnaka.
A taxi ride between Larnaka airport and Ayia Napa takes 45 minutes, says Wikivoyage. Wikipedia places that airport in the village next to Larnaka. On this tour the first drive of the day runs from the east coast to Larnaka.
Wikipedia gives the length of Cyprus as 240 kilometres and its greatest width as 100 kilometres. It places Ayia Napa where the southern coast of the island ends in the east. Wikivoyage places Lefkara in the heart of the island. A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa leaves the far east and works its way into the middle.
Wikivoyage calls the highways of Cyprus generally excellent and says other roads vary greatly in quality. It places Lefkara ten kilometres off the highway between Nicosia and Limassol. A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa alternates highway drives with time at the stops. The last leg to Lefkara leaves the highway.
Where does a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa start?
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa sets out from the south-eastern corner of Cyprus. One listing title names three starting points: Ayia Napa, Protaras and Larnaka. Wikipedia describes Ayia Napa as the biggest holiday resort on the island.
Wikipedia places Ayia Napa close to Cape Greco, south of Famagusta, in the Famagusta District. The area around the town is called Kokkinochoria, meaning Red Villages, because the soil is red. The town itself is named after a monastery from the time of Venetian rule. That monastery now holds a museum.
Protaras is the second named starting point. Paralimni is the municipality that governs it, and its sandy beaches include Fig Tree Bay. Wikipedia calls the resort calmer, with a smaller club scene than its neighbour.
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa can start in either resort. Wikipedia gives the gap between them as about 12 kilometres in one article and about 10 kilometres in the other.
Larnaka lies west of Ayia Napa on the same southern coast. Nicosia is an inland town, and Wikipedia calls the Mesaoria plain its hinterland. Wikivoyage’s page on Cyprus adds that traffic keeps to the left and that highways are generally in excellent condition.
One travel blog puts Cape Greco, which sits between the two resorts, about 50 minutes southeast of Larnaka. The same blog gives about 40 minutes from Larnaka to Nissi Beach. Wikivoyage says the taxi ride from Larnaka airport to Ayia Napa takes 45 minutes. So a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa starts under an hour from Larnaka.
What does a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa show in Larnaka?
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa names Larnaka as one of its three places. Wikipedia counts Hala Sultan Tekke, Larnaka Castle and the Church of Saint Lazarus among the landmarks of this coastal town.
Wikipedia ranks Larnaka third among the cities of Cyprus, behind Nicosia and Limassol, and names it capital of its district. The Greek word larnax, a coffer or sarcophagus, gave the town its name. A palm-lined promenade, Finikoudes, follows the seafront.
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa reaches a town built on ancient Kition. Wikipedia says remains from the thirteenth century BC have been found there. It adds that Phoenicians rebuilt the city around one thousand BC. The ruins lie within the modern town, and the massive city walls can still be traced.
Wikipedia gives the late ninth century for the Church of Saint Lazarus. In Orthodox tradition, Lazarus of Bethany fled to Cyprus and was named its first Bishop of Kition. The building stands over the place held to be his second tomb.
A group of four salt lakes lies west of the town, known together as the Larnaka Salt Lake. Flamingoes spend the cold months there, from November to March, says Wikipedia. By summer the water has evaporated and a crust of salt remains.
Beside the lake stands Hala Sultan Tekke, which Wikipedia lists as an Ancient Monument. Larnaka Castle was expanded in the late fourteenth century and later became a museum. Each place gives a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa another period to show.
What does a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa show in Lefkara?
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa shows Lefkara, a hill village under the Troodos Mountains. One operator lists it as a village with stone-paved lanes and traditional architecture, known for its lace and silver crafts.
The Cyprus tourism website places Lefkara 650 metres above sea level and 43 kilometres from Larnaka. Wikipedia lists the village at 500 metres, so the two sources differ on the height. Wikipedia puts it in the Larnaka District, on the south-facing side of the Troodos range.
Walking is how visitors see the village on a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa. A travel wiki says Lefkara has no traffic lights, so visitors park and walk to the museums, shops and restaurants. Wikipedia describes cobbled limestone streets, and the same wiki lists narrow stone-built alleys.
Lefkara is two villages under one name. Pano Lefkara sits higher and Kato Lefkara lower. The travel wiki puts Pano Lefkara at about 1,000 residents and Kato Lefkara at about 100, within walking distance. Wikipedia puts the two about 1.2 kilometres apart.
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa arrives in a village of old churches and museums. The tourism website names the Church of the Holy Cross. It also names the Chapel of Archangelos Michail in Kato Lefkara, with frescoes from the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. The travel wiki lists a Handicraft Museum and a Wax Museum.
What is Lefkara lace on a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
Lefkara lace, called Lefkaritika, is hand-stitched in the two Lefkara villages. A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa visits Lefkara, and one operator calls its lace UNESCO-listed. UNESCO added the craft to its heritage list in two thousand nine.
UNESCO says makers build the lace from four basic elements: hemstitch, cut work, satin stitch fillings and needlepoint edgings. Cotton thread is applied to linen to make tablecloths, napkins and show pieces. Wikipedia adds that the first pieces used local white cotton cloth, and that the colours are white, brown and ecru.
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa stops in the village where these patterns are stitched. Wikipedia calls potamoi, meaning rivers, the characteristic pattern. It is built from triangular zigzags named kamares, meaning arcs. Wikipedia also names large embroidered sections called tagiades and traces the word to the Italian Punto Tagliato.
Wikipedia and UNESCO both date the lace to at least the fourteenth century. Wikipedia says it grew from an older style called asproploumia. Lace was part of a dowry, so competition among women raised its quality. UNESCO says women still work the lace together, chatting outdoors in the village lanes or on covered patios.
By tradition, Leonardo da Vinci visited Cyprus in the fifteenth century and took a piece of Lefkara lace to Italy. The story says it now decorates Milan Cathedral. Wikipedia gives this as a tradition, and the tourism website calls it a legend.
Silver sits beside the lace where a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa stops. Skilled silversmiths there make fine filigree, according to Wikipedia. The tourism website says lace and filigree silver have been made there since Venetian times. It lists a Handicraft Centre and workshops where visitors see both crafts made.
What does a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa show in Nicosia?
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa reaches the capital of Cyprus. Its old town sits inside Venetian walls. Wikipedia says the walls form a star with eleven bastions. Wikivoyage says travellers can get around the old town on foot.
Wikipedia calls Nicosia the capital of Cyprus and says it has held that role since the tenth century. The Venetians built the walls in fifteen sixty-seven. The ring is about 5 km round, with eleven bastions and three gates. Wikipedia says the walls are still largely intact.
Wikivoyage says the sights stand in and around the old city. That gives a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa a compact area to cover. Wikipedia names the Famagusta Gate as the chief gate of the city. The municipality restored it in nineteen eighty-one as a cultural centre.
Laiki Geitonia is a pedestrian area of narrow winding streets inside the walls, says Wikipedia. The buildings go back to the late eighteenth century. Homes stand beside craft shops, gift shops and tavernas. Ledra Street, about 1 km long, is a main shopping road in the middle of Nicosia.
Anyone on a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa can read the island’s past in the Cyprus Museum. Wikipedia says it is both the oldest archaeological museum in Cyprus and the largest. It shows only objects found on the island, laid out by time, from the Neolithic down to the Roman era.
Why is Nicosia a divided capital on a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa reaches a divided capital. A United Nations buffer zone, called the Green Line, cuts through the centre of Nicosia. Wikipedia says Nicosia remains Europe’s last divided capital.
Wikipedia traces the division to intercommunal violence that broke out in Nicosia on 21 December nineteen sixty-three. The Green Line then split the city into a Greek Cypriot part and a Turkish Cypriot part. The line took its name from the green pencil used to draw it on a map.
Wikipedia dates the second turning point to July nineteen seventy-four. A coup led by the Greek military junta took place on 15 July. The Turkish army moved onto the island on 20 July. The island then split in two, and the dividing line runs through Nicosia.
Travellers on a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa can set the line against numbers from Wikipedia. The buffer zone is 180 kilometres long. It starts at Paralimni on the east side and ends at Kato Pyrgos on the west side. At its narrowest it is under 20 metres wide, and at its widest over 7 kilometres.
Wikipedia says the Ledra Street barricade stood across the buffer zone as a sign of the division. The roadblock reopened as a crossing on 3 April two thousand eight, after 34 years. Wikivoyage calls it a crossing for people on foot.
Papers matter if a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa goes across the line. The Republic of Cyprus has no immigration checkpoint at Ledra Street, says Wikipedia. It does check the identification of people entering the south from the north.
Wikipedia says the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus keeps an immigration checkpoint on its side of the crossing. Wikivoyage says passports are not stamped but are still required to cross.
What is the weather like for a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
A Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa runs through dry summer heat and gentle winters. Wikipedia counts Cyprus among the warmest places, winters included, in the Mediterranean region of the European Union.
Larnaka lies on the south coast. Wikipedia labels its climate hot semi-arid because little rain falls each year and the summers run hot. Its climate article gives the Larnaka airport station 351.5 millimetres of rain and 3,356.5 hours of sunshine a year.
The capital is the inland stop on a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa. Wikipedia says the city lies in the lee of the Troodos Mountains. Its summers are long, dry and hot to sweltering, and its winters are mild. The climate article lists 37.2 degrees Celsius as the average July daily high.
Lefkara stands higher. Wikipedia gives Pano Lefkara a height of 500 metres, on the south-facing Troodos slopes. Nicosia stands at 162 metres. A Troodos station at 1,380 metres shows 28.1 degrees as the July average daily high, against 37.2 in Nicosia.
Visitcyprus.com puts the peak of the heat in July and August. It gives 11.5 hours of bright sunshine a day across the six summer months. A hat and sun cream suit a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa in that season.
Wikipedia says Pano Lefkara has cobbled limestone streets, so shoes with a firm sole help. Wikivoyage calls tap water in Cyprus safe to drink, though the taste can be unpleasant. A bottle of water is a simple choice. In winter, Wikipedia gives coastal days of 16 to 18 degrees Celsius.
What food comes with a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
The towns on a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa serve halloumi, meze and grilled meat. Wikipedia says Cypriot cuisine is heavily influenced by Turkey and Greece, with Mediterranean influences too.
Wikipedia explains meze as a big set of small portions, served one after another as tastes and textures change. It begins with olives, tahini, humus, tzatziki and taramosalata, with fresh bread and a mixed salad. Fish, grilled halloumi, meatballs and sausages follow. Dessert is fresh fruit or sugar-preserved fruits and nuts.
Anyone on a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa is in the home of halloumi. Wikipedia calls it the national cheese, a semi-hard white-brined cheese of goat and sheep milk, eaten fresh, grilled or fried. Fresh halloumi is milder, and mature halloumi is harder and saltier.
Souvla, or souvlaki, is meat grilled over charcoal on skewers. Wikipedia says the meat goes into a pita or a thin flatbread, served with cabbage, parsley, onion, tomato and cucumber. Olive oil dresses the salads, vegetables and pulses but is not used to cook meat dishes. The beaches of Larnaka are lined with seafood restaurants, Wikipedia adds.
Pano Lefkara adds its own tastes to a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa. Wikipedia names it, with Yeroskipou near Paphos, as a main centre for Cyprus delights, sweets of starch and sugar. Wikivoyage says restaurants there serve mpourekia, a pastry filled with anari, a cheese like ricotta.
One travel blog on day trips from Larnaka describes a village cafe stop in Pano Lefkara for coffee or lunch. Wikipedia says Laiki Geitonia in Nicosia mixes craft shops, souvenir shops and tavernas. It adds that Ledra Street links to three arcades with shops and cafes.
What else do travellers ask about a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
Can travellers reach these three places without a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
Wikivoyage says buses between major cities go daily, and regular buses link Ayia Napa with the main cities. One Cyprus travel page adds that bus services to mountain villages can be infrequent and can need multiple connections.
Without a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa, Wikivoyage lists Lefkara access only by private car or taxi.
Is the day suitable for slow walkers?
The streets decide how easy a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa is for slow walkers. Wikivoyage says the Old City of Nicosia is small enough to walk.
It adds that the footpaths are very narrow and traffic must always be observed. In Lefkara, Wikivoyage describes narrow alleys and tells visitors to park and walk to museums, shops and restaurants.
Which languages do travellers meet on a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
Wikipedia says the culture of Cyprus features both Greek and Turkish elements. Wikivoyage says Greek is spoken in Southern Cyprus and by 80 to 85 percent of the population.
It says Turkish, spoken by 15 to 20 percent of the population, is spoken in Northern Cyprus. It names English as the leading foreign language taught, a remnant of British colonial rule. It adds that as much as 70 to 80 percent of Cypriots can speak English, less so in Northern Cyprus.
Do opening days matter for a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
Wikivoyage lists the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia as closed on Mondays and the Byzantine Museum as closed on Sundays. Wikipedia adds that a number of walking tours of Nicosia start from Laiki Geitonia on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
A number of Old City sights close early, so Wikivoyage advises an early start. The list shows that opening days differ from museum to museum, so the day of the week matters.
What can travellers do on the coast the day after a Nicosia Larnaka and Lefkara tour from Ayia Napa?
Wikipedia counts 27 beaches at Ayia Napa, 14 of them awarded the Blue Flag. Wikivoyage says travellers need to reach Nissi Beach early in the height of summer to reserve a spot.
Wikipedia says Cape Greco is 10 minutes by car from the middle of Protaras. One Cyprus travel page names limestone cliffs and sea caves there, plus a walk across the Bridge of Love. Wikivoyage adds that the caves lie under a cliff, with a view down from above.