Guides ·Essentials

The road network and driving on the left

Cyprus drives on the left, a British legacy, and the motorways are excellent, free and lightly trafficked. The A6 links Paphos to Limassol in about 55 minutes, the A1 runs Limassol to Nicosia in around 50, the A5 connects Limassol to Larnaca in 35, and the A3 continues from Larnaca to Ayia Napa in 30. Motorway limit is 100 km/h, open roads 80, towns 50, and cameras are common on the A1 approaches to Nicosia. Distances are small: nowhere in the south is more than two hours from anywhere else.

Hire cars cost roughly €30 to €50 a day in July and August and €20 to €30 in winter, with the cheapest deals from local firms in Paphos and Larnaca rather than airport desks. Fuel runs around €1.45 to €1.60 a litre and stations often go card-only self-service after 7pm. The gotchas are the Troodos mountain roads, which are narrow with sharp hairpins and slow going, and Akamas dirt tracks, where standard rental agreements explicitly void your insurance. Parking in Limassol and Larnaca is metered at roughly €1 an hour along the seafront.

Intercity buses

Intercity Buses connect Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos, Ayia Napa and Paralimni. Fares are cheap, typically €4 to €7 for a single with returns only a couple of euros more, and buses are modern and air-conditioned. Limassol to Nicosia takes about an hour and runs roughly hourly on weekdays; Limassol to Paphos takes an hour and a quarter. The catch is the timetable: services thin dramatically after 6pm, Saturdays are reduced, and Sundays can be near-nonexistent on some routes. Check the current schedule before you rely on an evening return.

Terminals are not always central. In Limassol the intercity stop is at the New Port and at St Nicholas, both a bus or short taxi ride from the Amathus hotel strip. In Nicosia, buses arrive at Solomos Square, right by the Venetian walls and a five-minute walk to Ledra Street, which is the most convenient terminal on the island. If you are hotel-hopping with luggage between coastal towns, add a €10 to €15 taxi at each end and the bus still costs a fraction of a car for the day.

Town buses in Limassol, Paphos and Larnaca

Each district has its own urban operator, but fares are standardised: about €1.50 for a single bought on board, roughly €5 for a day card and around €2.50 for late-night services. In Limassol, buses run the length of the coast road from the Old Port through Molos, Dasoudi and the Amathus hotel strip out to Amathus and Agios Tychonas, which covers essentially every seafront hotel and the marina. Frequencies are every 15 to 30 minutes in daylight, less often on Sundays.

Paphos is the best-served town for visitors: routes 610 and 615 shuttle between the Kato Paphos harbour hotels, upper Ktima and Coral Bay all day, and route 631 climbs to Peyia and Agios Georgios. Larnaca's buses link the airport, the Finikoudes seafront and Oroklini for the same €1.50. Nicosia's network is aimed at commuters rather than sightseers, but you rarely need it since the walled old city is compact and flat. Have coins ready; drivers are not always keen on notes.

Airport transfers

Larnaca is the main airport and Paphos the second. Limassol Airport Express runs shuttles from both to Limassol, roughly 45 minutes from Larnaca and 50 from Paphos, for about €15 one way, dropping at several points along the coast road. Kapnos Airport Shuttle links Nicosia with Larnaca in around 45 minutes for about €8 and with Paphos for roughly €17. Both need booking online, and both run through the night to match flight banks, which is useful given how many charters land at 3am.

Taxis are the alternative: expect around €70 to €80 from Larnaca airport to a Limassol hotel, €50 to Nicosia, and €35 to €40 from Paphos airport to Kato Paphos. Bolt operates in Limassol, Nicosia, Larnaca and Paphos and is usually cheaper than a hailed taxi for in-town hops, though airport pickups are sometimes restricted. Metered urban taxis start around €3.50 to €4 with about €0.80 a kilometre after that, and rates rise at night and on public holidays.

Crossing to Kyrenia and the north

Crossings are routine and take minutes. On foot, use the Ledra Street checkpoint in the middle of Nicosia's old town, with the Ayios Dometios checkpoint a couple of kilometres west for cars. Others include Astromeritis in the west and Pergamos and Strovilia in the east, which are the practical ones for Famagusta from Ayia Napa. Bring your passport, expect a short document check, and do not photograph the buffer zone or any military installation on either side.

The car rule catches people out. Vehicles hired in the south can cross once you buy third-party insurance at the checkpoint, roughly €20 for three days, paid at a small kiosk before the barrier. Vehicles hired in the north generally cannot be brought south. Kyrenia is about an hour from the Ayios Dometios crossing over the mountain pass, Famagusta about 45 minutes from Pergamos. If you would rather not drive, taxis wait on the northern side of Ledra Street and organised day tours run from Larnaca and Limassol hotels.

Boats, bikes and walking

There are no scheduled domestic ferries, so boats here are excursions rather than transport. From Latchi harbour, day trips to the Blue Lagoon on the Akamas coast run roughly €30 to €50 per person from April to October, and Paphos harbour has similar cruises up to Coral Bay and the sea caves. In Ayia Napa, boats leave the harbour for Cape Greco and the blue lagoon caves. All are wind-dependent and cancel readily, so build in a spare day.

For short distances, walking beats everything. Limassol's Molos promenade runs about 3 km along the seafront and continues east on a shared path toward Dasoudi, and the Protaras coastal path links Fig Tree Bay with Konnos Bay. Bike hire runs €10 to €15 a day in the coastal towns and there is a decent seafront cycle lane in Limassol and Larnaca. Do not attempt cycling in Nicosia traffic or on the Troodos roads unless you know exactly what you are doing.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask before they set off on this one.

Rooms worth pairing with this guide.

Kyrenia Dome Hotel

4.1/5 €227/ night

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4.7/5 €529/ night

Limassol Amathus Beach Hotel Limassol

4.8/5 €417/ night

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