Situated on the eastern side of Cyprus, Ayia Napa has a reputation of and young holiday-makers that makes the town fit for a certain type of holiday taste. While the surrounding landscape, especially Cape Greco, are absolutely jaw-dropping, as a town, Ayia Napa probably isn’t the best representation of an authentic and beautiful town in Cyprus. If you were like me and were dismayed by what you encountered when you visited Ayia Napa, read on to discover 7 non-tacky things to do in Ayia Napa (note to self: stay away from the themed restaurants and boats).
Suggested read: How to get to Ayia Napa from Larnaca Airport by bus
1. Sea Caves, Cape Greco
Ayia Napa is situated right beside Cape Greco and therefore one of the best non-tacky things to do in Ayia Napa is explore Cape Greco – particularly the Sea Caves. Found about 7.5km away from Ayia Napa (Suggested read: How to get to the Ayia Napa sea caves (and sea window!)), the Sea Caves are natural formations surrounding and overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. This is a popular spot for visitors though so you may get lucky like I did and visit with less people around or you may be unlucky and visit when a tour group arrives where it will be quite busy. However, it is worth a visit to admire the beautiful landscape and one of the best non-tacky things to do in Ayia Napa.
2. Bridge of Lovers or Love Bridge
The Bridge of Lovers (or Love Bridge depending who you ask) is found just on the outskirts of Ayia Napa in the direction of Cape Greco (Google Maps directions here). Another popular thing to do in Ayia Napa, this non-tacky Ayia Napa spot really shows off the beauty of the Cyprus coastline. If you visit earlier in the morning you are more likely to have the place to yourself, but if you visit in the middle of the day the water will truly sparkle in the midday sun. I visited this spot with crowds, but managed to remove a lot of people using a few Lightroom editing skills.
3. Sculpture Park
An unexpected delight in Ayia Napa is the Sculpture Park. This is one of my favourite non-tacky things to see in Ayia Napa that isn’t about the natural environment. Found just a 6 minute walk from the Bridge of Lovers (Google Maps directions here – not that you’ll need them, you can see the sculptures from the Bridge of Lovers), you can spend some time wandering through this free park and admiring the impressive works of art.
4. Day trip to Northern Cyprus
Ayia Napa is found near the border to the Turkish occupied section of Cyprus – otherwise known as Northern Cyprus. There are many companies that offer tours to Northern Cyprus – often to the Famagusta Walled City (first two photos below) and Varosha ghost town (second two photos below) as these are the closest points across the border check point. You will need to bring your passport to go on these tours (although it isn’t stamped – it is scanned but they don’t even compare it to your face, our tour guide collected all our passports and sorted it out for us). On these trips you can learn about the history of Cyprus and the Turkish invasion, which is really eye-opening, especially as it only happened in the 1970s. The ghost town of Varosha was very interesting to walk through and you can read about my day here: A day in Northern Cyprus.
5. Non-tacky Ayia Napa boat tour
I will preface this with the fact that a a non-tacky Ayia Napa boat tour will highly depend on what boat tour you choose as there is a large number of tacky boat tours in Ayia Napa (depending on personal opinion, of course). I opted for the Ocean Queen boat tour. This was on a beautiful boat and the four-hour excursion included lunch and two swim stops. You can find out more about what is on offer here.
6. Eat at En-Yevo Tavernaki restaurant
As a lot of restaurants and dining options wouldn’t fall into the ‘non-tacky Ayia Napa’ category, I was over the moon when I ate at En-Yevo Tavernaki. Situated a few blocks back from the centre of Ayia Napa (Google Maps location here) this Greek Cypriot restaurant was everything you could want and more. The menu overflowed with delicious, authentic and homemade choices from halloumi (did you know Cyprus is the birthplace of halloumi?) to dolmades and seafood pasta. I also found it very reasonably priced, with the seafood pasta considerably cheaper than London and Australian prices at about €12. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at En-Yevo Tavernaki restaurant and would recommend this place to all, especially those looking for non-tacky Ayia Napa experiences.
7. Admire the coastline
There is no doubt about it that Ayia Napa has some of the most incredible beaches and stunning coastline in Europe, if not, the world. One of the best non-tacky things to do in Ayia Napa, is, well, admire it! You can find this gorgeous blue water below by walking along the coastal paths from Bridge of Lovers back towards Ayia Napa. Enjoy!
If you are interested in 7 non-tacky things to do in Ayia Napa, you may also be interested in
