Getting around Cyprus without a car: buses, shuttles and taxis
Intercity bus on the coastal motorway between Limassol and Paphos
There are no trains and no metro — here is the real network, from €1.50 city singles to a €65 airport taxi, and where it fails.
What exists and what does not
Cyprus has no railway, no tram and no metro. Public transport is entirely buses, split into three tiers: urban networks in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos and the Famagusta district; intercity coaches linking those cities; and rural services to villages, which are infrequent and built around school and market schedules rather than tourists. There are also privately run airport shuttles, which are the practical way in and out. Everything else is taxi, and taxis are metered, honest and not cheap.
This means a car-free trip in Cyprus is entirely feasible if you stay in a coastal town and accept that certain places are simply out of reach. Paphos, Larnaca, Limassol, Nicosia, Ayia Napa and Protaras all work without a car. The Akamas peninsula, Lara Bay, most of the Troodos painted churches, the Krasochoria wine villages and Cape Greco's trailheads effectively do not. Plan those as day tours or a one- or two-day hire rather than trying to force the bus network to do something it was never designed for.
Urban buses: the €5 day pass
City buses charge €1.50 for a daytime single, around €2.50 at night, and €5 for a day pass, bought from the driver in cash or via the operator's app. Frequencies are decent on the main corridors in season — every 10 to 20 minutes on Paphos's 615 to Coral Bay and 618 to Ktima, on Limassol's coast road routes, and on Larnaca's seafront services. Off the trunk routes it drops to hourly. Sundays and public holidays run a heavily reduced timetable, and evening services thin out sharply after 8pm.
The most useful urban routes for visitors: Paphos 615 (Kato Paphos to Coral Bay, roughly 30 minutes) and 618 (harbour up to Ktima and the market); Limassol's coastal services linking the Amathus strip, the Molos and the old town, which are slow in traffic but cheap; Larnaca's seafront route between Finikoudes, Mackenzie and the airport turn-off; and Ayia Napa to Protaras and Cape Greco, which runs frequently from April to October and barely at all in winter.
Intercity coaches between the cities
The intercity network links Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos and Ayia Napa with modern air-conditioned coaches, at fares generally in the €4 to €9 range one way. Nicosia to Limassol takes about an hour on the A1, Limassol to Paphos an hour on the A6, Larnaca to Nicosia around 50 minutes. Services run roughly hourly on weekdays, less frequently at weekends, and the last departures are early by European standards — often mid-evening — so check the return before you commit to dinner.
The bus stations are not always central: in Limassol and Paphos they sit slightly out from the main hotel areas, so factor a €8 to €12 taxi at each end or a connecting city bus. For a Nicosia day trip from Limassol or Larnaca this is a genuinely good option — you avoid parking inside the walls, which is difficult, and the old city is entirely walkable once you arrive. For Paphos to Ayia Napa, which is a three-hour-plus journey with a change, take a tour or a hire car instead.
Airports: shuttles, buses and the taxi reality
Larnaca airport handles most arrivals and sits 10 minutes from Larnaca town, 45 from Limassol, 50 from Nicosia and about 70 from Ayia Napa. Scheduled shuttle services run from Larnaca to Nicosia, Limassol and Ayia Napa for roughly €8 to €15 one way, meeting most flights including late ones; book online in advance in summer. A city bus into Larnaca town costs €1.50. Paphos airport is 15 minutes from Kato Paphos on the 612 and 613 for €1.50, and about 50 minutes from Limassol by shuttle at around €9.
Taxis are metered and reliable but expensive over distance: Larnaca airport to Ayia Napa is typically €55 to €70, to Limassol €65 to €80, to Paphos well over €100. Airport transfers pre-booked as private cars usually undercut the meter for the long runs. If you land after midnight, confirm your shuttle actually operates at that hour — several services stop in the early hours and a 2am arrival with no plan means paying the full taxi fare.
Crossing to the north: Nicosia and the other checkpoints
The easiest crossing is on foot at Ledra Street in the middle of Nicosia's old city: show your passport at both booths, walk 50 metres, and you are in the northern half with Büyük Han and the Selimiye Mosque a few minutes away. It takes five minutes when quiet and 20 in high summer. Agios Dometios and Metehan, on the western edge of Nicosia, are the main vehicle crossings; Deryneia near Famagusta and Astromeritis serve the east and west.
For Kyrenia, Famagusta or the Karpaz, the practical route is a bus or taxi to Nicosia, cross on foot at Ledra Street, then take a shared taxi or bus from the northern side — Kyrenia is about 30 minutes over the mountain pass. Two rules: most southern hire-car agreements exclude cover across the Green Line, so check before driving over, and card acceptance in the north is patchier, so carry cash. Day trips from Ayia Napa or Larnaca to Famagusta via the Deryneia crossing are also straightforward.
Taxis, transfers and organised tours
Urban taxis are metered with a fixed starting charge and cost €8 to €16 for most trips within Paphos, Limassol or Larnaca; there is a higher night tariff after 8.30pm and on Sundays. Rural or intercity taxi runs are priced by distance and add up fast, but two couples splitting a €60 fare across the island is often no worse than a hire car for a single day. Ride-hailing apps operate in the larger cities with mixed coverage; hotel front desks will call a licensed taxi in a couple of minutes.
Organised day tours are the sensible workaround for the places buses cannot reach. Typical prices: an Akamas four-wheel-drive safari from Paphos including the Blue Lagoon and Lara at €50 to €80; a Troodos day trip taking in Kykkos monastery, Omodos and a painted church at €45 to €70; a Blue Lagoon boat from Latchi at €25 to €40; a cruise from Ayia Napa harbour around Cape Greco at €25 to €45. Book the Akamas one — it reaches the single best landscape in Cyprus and no hire car should attempt that track.
When to just hire the car
Hire a car for two or three days rather than the whole trip. Rates run €25 to €45 a day in shoulder season and €55 to €80 in July and August, plus fuel at roughly €1.40 to €1.60 a litre. Driving is on the left, motorways are free, well signed and fast, and the A1, A6 and A3 connect everything at 100 km/h. Parking is easy in the resorts and difficult inside Nicosia's walls. Bring your licence and a credit card for the deposit.
The itineraries that justify the hire: the Troodos loop from Limassol via Omodos, Platres, Mount Olympus and Kakopetria; the Laona plateau above Paphos through Kathikas to Latchi and Polis; the Akrotiri peninsula with the salt lake, Kourion and Kolossi; and the run east from Larnaca to Cape Greco with stops at Konnos and the sea caves. Everything else — beach days, city sightseeing, seafront dinners — is better done on €5 day passes and the occasional €12 taxi.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Limassol, answered with this month’s numbers.
No. The colonial-era railway closed in 1951 and nothing replaced it. Buses are the only public transport: urban networks at €1.50 a single or €5 a day pass, and intercity coaches between the main cities at €4 to €9. There is no metro or tram anywhere on the island.
Yes. Scheduled shuttle services run the route for roughly €8 to €15 one way and meet most flights; book online in summer. A taxi costs €55 to €70. Check operating hours before a late arrival, as some shuttles stop running in the early hours.
Usually not on a standard southern rental contract, which typically excludes cover in the north. Most visitors cross on foot at Ledra Street in Nicosia and continue by bus or taxi — Kyrenia is about 30 minutes over the pass. Carry your passport and cash, as card acceptance is less reliable.
