Where's Our Favourite Place To Rent A Villa In Cyprus?

We've seen most of Cyprus, and definitely prefer the enchanting and beautiful Protaras if you're going to rent a villa.

(We actually like Protaras so much we've bought a villa there!)   

Looked over by green rolling hills and the breathtaking church of Profitis Ellias that stands over 100meters high, the small town of Protaras has a magic all of it's own. Protaras has built up a reputation for its windmills and glorious sandy beaches. The area has a contrasting landscape, from the rugged coves of Cape Greko to the the lovely sandy beach of Fig Tree Bay.

Protaras is smaller and less lively than the nearby Ayia Napa (it is in fact Ayia Napa’s main satellite resorts) and boasts some of the most beautiful beaches in the whole of Cyprus… with golden sand and clear blue waters. With many tavernas, great fish restaurants and international cuisine. Protaras is truly a place to relax in, and an ideal location for the family holiday.

You can see a couple of great online photo galleries of Protaras here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/protaras/
http://www.protaras.org/gallery/index.html

Here's a little information about Protaras from Wikipedia…

Protaras, is a predominantly tourist resort. It comes under the administrative jurisdiction of Paralimni Municipality. In ancient times, where now Protaras seems to be located stood the old city-state of Leukolla. The city possessed a small safe harbour where the Athenian Demetrius Poliorketes in the year 306 B.C. sought refuge, lying in wait for Ptolemeos, one of the successors of Alexander the Great. In the ensuing battle Ptolemeos was defeated and fled to Egypt, leaving Cyprus for a while in the hands of Demetrius.

Protaras has lovely, sandy beaches with clear sky-blue waters and the most well known beach in the area is Fig Tree Bay. Protaras is also referred to as "the land of windmills" maintaining the nostalgic quality of the past.

On the back of the success of Ayia Napa (which is only a few km away), it has exploded into a resort of considerable size with tens of high capacity hotels, hotel apartments, villas, restaurants, pubs and all sorts of facilities a modern holiday resort ought to have. Being quieter than Ayia Napa and having less of a club scene, it has a reputation of catering more for family and Cypriot tourism.

Cape Greco is a 10 minute drive from the centre of Protaras, and is considered one of the most beautiful places on the island.

In Cape Greco lives the reputed Ayia Napa Sea Monster which is meant to resemble a cross between a porpoise and dragon. It has only been spotted and photographed a dozen or so times and is thought to be a direct descendent from pre-historic times.

Here's a few more links to learn more about Protaras:

A very information personal website:
http://www.heureka.clara.net/cyprus/protaras.htm

WordTravel's Protaras Guide
http://www.wordtravels.com/Resorts/Cyprus/Larnaca/Protaras

Discover Protaras Website:
http://www.discoverprotaras.com/