Where to stay in Cyprus

The only capital in the walled city with no sea at all — Venetian bastions, a live crossing point, and the island's best food.

The island's luxury sea address: a 4 km promenade, a superyacht marina, five-star beachfront on Amathus Avenue and bars until 3am.

Ten minutes from the main airport, a palm promenade on the sand, a flamingo salt lake and Europe's best wreck dive offshore.

UNESCO mosaics, a harbour castle, rock tombs cut into the cliff, and the island's densest run of five-star seafront hotels.

The whitest sand and clearest water on the island, a superyacht marina, a sixteenth-century monastery — and clubs that run until 5am.

Fig Tree Bay's shallow turquoise water, a chapel on a rock with 153 steps, and evenings that end at midnight rather than five.

A horseshoe Venetian harbour with a castle at one end, a Gothic abbey in the hills above, and mountains straight into the sea.

Colossal Venetian walls, a Gothic cathedral turned mosque, Roman Salamis up the road and the fenced ghost quarter of Varosha.

Working Cypriot town at the top of Chrysochou Bay, 35 km north of Paphos, with the Akamas on its doorstep

Fishing harbour west of Polis with the island's most serious five-star, boat trips to the Blue Lagoon and grilled fish by the quay

Hillside village and its cliff-backed bay midway between Limassol and Paphos, with the island's best sunset swim

Sheltered white-sand crescent 12 km north of Paphos with a bar-lined avenue behind and the Akamas sea caves beyond

The island's high point at 1,700 m — pine forest, four ski runs in winter, and cool air when the coast hits 38C

Faded 1930s hill station at 1,200 m below Mount Olympus — waterfalls, trout, cool nights and stone hotels with history

Cobbled Krassochoria wine village at 800 m, built around a monastery courtyard, dead quiet once the coaches leave

Hill village of lacemakers and silversmiths at 650 m, forty minutes from both Larnaca and Limassol, with hard-sell shopping

The only village where Greek and Turkish Cypriots have always lived side by side, with a wide quiet beach below it.

Cool river village in the Troodos foothills with a preserved stone old quarter, trout tavernas and painted Byzantine churches.

String of dark-sand coves under white chalk cliffs halfway between Limassol and Larnaca, with fish tavernas on the clifftop.

National forest park headland of sea caves, arches and cliff paths between Ayia Napa and Protaras, with the island's clearest water.

Village above a long shingle bay west of Limassol, with Kourion's clifftop theatre and the island's whitest sea cliffs next door.

Quiet village south-west of Larnaca with a sixth-century mosaic church, a lighthouse cape and long open beaches nearby.