Cyprus advice needed!
 

late 30's couple, in Cyprus for 4 days in August. We arrive and depart from Larnaca and will be renting a car. We like cute old town/streets, great outdoor cafes/restaurants, nice beaches and hate hordes of package tourists and drunk 20 year olds in loud pub/bar scenes. We would also like to be under 1hr from the airport so we don't waste too much time on arrival/departure. Given all that, where would you recommend we stay? We are looking at either Larnaca, Limassol or Protaras/Aiya Napa...although the latter might be exactly what we don't want. Please help.

It's a tall order to find somewhere in August that won't be busy. Cyprus is a holiday island. Ayia Napa will be rammed It does have a gorgeous beach though. Protaras also has a wonderful beach and will be busy but more family orientated. I can't think of anywhere by the sea that will not be busy at that time of the year, it is also very hot. The east of the island has the best beaches but the towns/villages are not particularly cute. Larnaca has a lovely seafront, so does Limassol. Just over an hour from LCA is Pissouri, midway between Limassol & Paphos. You should find it a bit quieter here, the beach is beautiful, pebbly and a really nice hotel called Columbia Beach. It's worth the time to get there, the road is good, they call it a motorway. Mountain resorts will be less crowded.
From Pissouri you can visit other nice villages in the Limassol region eg Lania, Lofou etc

Thanks Odin!
Don't get me wrong...the crowds we don't mind. We have done Croatia & Greek Isls over the past 2 summers and loved it. I am more concerned about the type of tourists that some places cater to. We would like places with mixed crowds, maybe more skewed to our age-group and bit less "family". I looked into Pissouri..it does seem a bit sleepy town.
Seems like Limassol or Larnaca have more of a mixed crowd and some locals+nice setting/town?

Pissouri is not sleepy but understand it might not be for you. Limassol could work, Parekklisia area has nice hotels and is away from the main tourist strip. Beach is not as nice as Ayia Napa though.

Cyprus will be very hot and humid in August. You'll be dripping wet all day out in the open.

Fwif, I lived just out Paphos in a village called Peyia for a few years, and while people were going to Cyprus on holiday, savvy expats used to go back to UK or somewhere less hot and humid.

Don't bother visiting Nicosia, it'll be like a furnace.

If you don't want Party Central. you could have a look at Polis.

And wherever you go you won't be far away from big-bellied Brits on the pi**. The National dish is arguably a Full English Breakfast, washed down by a couple of pints of KEO.

IMO the beach of Pissouri is just too small for all the people staying in the hinterland in high season.
Aya Napa is very touristy, but has some decent (not cheap!) hotels with own beaches. The more you go towards the East (Capo Greco), the quieter things get.
The beaches around Polis and Latchi are pebbly, but nice and usually less crowded. The Akamas Peninsula is a famous hiking area. You will find there more individual tourism and almost no package tourist things.
But the Paphos/Polis area is more than 1 hr from LCA. So are the best sandy beaches and the best medieval and archeological places which are almost all in the TRNC (Turkish Republic of North Cyprus).
Larnaca has some nice city hotels with own sandy beaches, like the Palm Beach. We often stay there just the night before the flight home. But for real Cyprus holidays, we usually go to the Karpaz Peninsula.

For people who like city beaches, Lacarna may be a solution for a night or two.
But Cyprus has really better beaches to offer.