Where to base ourselves in Cyprus?
 

We are planning a trip to Cyprus in late Aug/early Sep. and are planning on renting an apartment or small house. We'll be flying into Larnaca. Where would be a good place to look for a holiday apartment? We don't want to be amidst the tourist crowd but want to be not far from nice places and uncrowded beaches.
Names of nice, uncrowded beaches would also be appreciated. We are intending on getting a car. I looked on the Cyprus Tourism website and mostly saw photos of beaches filled to the brim with umbrellas and people. Looked a bit horrifying to me.
Thanks for any help.

Late Aug/early Sept is still high season so beaches will be crowded. Holidaysmakers have been going there for many years esp Brits, Germans and lately Eastern Europeans esp Russians. You will be hard pushed to find a waiter who speaks Greek.

Having said that it is a great place for holiday.

Here are some of the beaches we go to:
Ladies Mile in Limassol-no buildings/development on this beach
Curium, just outside Limassol towards Episkopi, lovely beach with beige sand near the amphitheatre. Again no developments here, just some restaurants but very popular with locals
Coral Bay Paphos-gorgeous beach but crowded and surrounded by hotels and villas
Fig Tree Bay Protaras-lovely clear water and soft sand but in the east of the island and not my fav area.
The beach by the Anassa Hotel in the north west of the island (outside Polis) - don't know what the beach is called but this area is most likely to be the quietest during the peak season.
Petra dou Romiou-pebble beach with clear water by Aphrodites rock.

Where is best to be based? Tough one- Limassol is great because it is central with easy access to the mountains and west to Paphos and beyond but is not the prettiest town. Has beaches near the tourist strip by the hotels such as the Amathus.
Larnaca is a pleasant town with nice seafront but outside of Larnaca the landscape is dry and arid and it is far from LCA to anywhere in the west.

Paphos is very popular but a bit too touristy (english pubs, fish & chips etc) but has great sites like the Tomb of the Kings and the mosaics.

Pissouri is midway between Limassol and Paphos- it is a pretty village with decent beach and some hotels.

Maybe a village with easy access to the coast could be an option?

Many thanks for your help Odin.

It's a few years since I was in Cyprus, but I think the pressure is inexorably greater year on year.

I'd go for the far west, myself. The last time we were there we stayed near where the Anassa now is.

Have a look at this web site
http://www.polis-municipality-cyprus.com/Latchi.htm

there's also stuff between Paphos and Coral Bay that is bearable

The west end. We last stayed up in the North West using rentals. But the dates are very high season, I might try to delay into late Sept.

Nice point when we dumped the car back at the airport they asked us not to lock it and leave the keys under the visor as it "made it easier for people to get in" not a high crime zone then

If you are looking for an apartment / villa, I use www.ownersdirect.co.uk - it's a European equivalent of VRBO, if you're familiar with that.

It's private rented accommodation where you are renting direct from the owner and the website just acts as a link to put you in touch with the apartment owner. The website itself is not responsible for the quality of the accommodation or the honesty of the owner! Having said that, I've had nothing but good experiences so far.

They have a lot of self- catering properties in Cyprus. We usually stay in Paphos which sounds a bit too touristy for what you want, so I can't help you there.

jane

Many thanks for all the replies. This has helped me make up my mind and we will spend more time in Paphos. Yes, I am familiar with Owners Direct and am also satisfied with the apts I've rented. We will also work in the north bit into our itinerary. Unfortunately can't go any later than Aug cos of the flights and prices so we will just jump in with the crowd :). Thanks again!