Larnaca

Larnaca is the easy one. Cyprus's main airport is here, the beach is right next to the city, and the pace is gentler than Limassol. A pretty palm-lined seafront, a Byzantine church with a saint inside, salt lakes that turn pink with flamingos in winter, and the diving capital of the Med just up the coast.

Larnaca is usually the first piece of Cyprus you see, and too many people treat it as nothing but the airport. Stay a while and you find a proper, easy-going seaside town: palms along the Finikoudes promenade, old men over backgammon in the cafes, the church of Saint Lazarus glowing in the evening light, a castle holding down the end of the seafront. Ancient Kition lies under and around the modern streets, so history here is not fenced off behind a ticket booth, it is simply part of town.

The rhythm changes with the seasons. In summer the beaches and the Mackenzie strip do the heavy lifting: swimming, water sports and long lazy dinners by the sand, and our island beach guide covers the coastline either side of town. In winter the salt lake fills and the flamingos arrive, turning the flat land beside Hala Sultan Tekke into one of the island's strangest and loveliest sights. Divers come all year for the Zenobia wreck, one of the most celebrated dives in the Mediterranean, lying just offshore.

Larnaca suits people who like their holidays gentle: families, older travellers, and food people working through the fish tavernas and old-town meze houses, our eat and drink guide will point you in the right direction. It is also a well-placed base, with the rest of the island in comfortable day-trip reach and the sea only minutes from the runway when you land or leave. The town takes its saints and its summer seriously, so check the events calendar below, and see the things to do guide for how Larnaca fits a longer trip.