Five Waves Holiday Villas
Looking for a straightforward base in Cyprus? Five Waves Holiday Villas in Paphos covers the essentials and sits near Paphos Archaeological Park.
From here, Cyprus's main attractions — including Paphos Archaeological Park — are an easy walk or short ride away, so you spend less time in transit and more time exploring.
Key facts
What’s included
Around Paphos
Getting around Cyprus: car, buses and the run from the airport
There is no railway anywhere in Cyprus, so it is a car or the intercity buses, and for archaeological sites a car is genuinely needed. Driving is on the left, and the motorway network is short and fast: the A1 links Nicosia to Limassol in about an hour, the A6 runs Limassol to Paphos in 50 minutes over 70 km, the A3 reaches Ayia Napa from Larnaca in 40 minutes, and the A5 ties Larnaca to Limassol in about 45 minutes over 65 km. Hire cars run roughly €25–45 a day in July and August and €18–28 in winter, and most of the sites that matter — Choirokoitia off the A1, Palaipaphos at Kouklia, Asinou above Nikitari — have no useful bus at all. Larnaca airport to Limassol by taxi is around €70–80, to Ayia Napa €55–70, and to Nicosia €50–60; Paphos airport to Kato Paphos is about €25–30 and to Coral Bay €35–40.
If you would rather not drive, intercity coaches connect Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos and Ayia Napa for roughly €4–9 one way, and airport shuttle services from Larnaca and Paphos serve the main towns for about €8–15 a seat. Urban buses in Paphos and Limassol are cheap at around €1.50 a ride and do reach Coral Bay and, in summer, Kourion, but services thin out after 18:00 and barely run on Sundays. Crossing the Green Line to Kyrenia or Famagusta needs a passport; Ledra Street and the Ledra Palace crossing are pedestrian-only, while Agios Dometios/Metehan near Nicosia and Pergamos and Strovilia in the east take cars. Hire cars from the south are usually not covered by their insurance in the north, so you buy separate third-party cover at the crossing booth for roughly €20–30 for a few days, and most northern rental companies will not let their cars cross the other way. Nicosia to Kyrenia is only about 30 km through the Kyrenia range, so the north works as a two-night add-on rather than a separate holiday.
How many nights in Cyprus, and a first-timer's route
Seven nights is the working minimum if you want the main archaeological sites and some beach time; 10 to 14 covers both coasts, the Troodos churches and the north without rushing. A clean seven-night shape: three nights in Paphos for the Nea Paphos park, the Tombs of the Kings, Agios Neophytos and a day out to Latchi and the Akamas; two nights in Limassol for Kourion, the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates at Episkopi, Kolossi Castle and Amathus; then two nights in Larnaca for Kition, Hala Sultan Tekke, Choirokoitia and Angeloktisti at Kiti before flying out of LCA. That route is about 300 km of driving in total and never asks for more than 90 minutes behind the wheel in one go.
With 10 nights, insert one or two nights at Platres or Kakopetria to reach the UNESCO-listed painted churches — Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis, Asinou, Panagia tou Araka — and Kykkos Monastery, then two nights in Nicosia for the Cyprus Museum and the walled city. With 12 to 14, add Kyrenia for Salamis, St Hilarion and Bellapais, or trade the mountains for Protaras and Cape Greco if the group wants swimming. Do not try to base yourself in one town for a fortnight and day-trip everything: Paphos to Ayia Napa is 190 km and close to two and a half hours each way. Two or three bases beats one, and hotels in Cyprus rarely penalise short stays outside August, when some resorts in Ayia Napa impose a five- or seven-night minimum.
What hotels actually cost in Cyprus
Budget rooms — guesthouses, 2- and 3-star places in Larnaca, Paphos town or the Troodos villages — run about €45–80 a night, usually without a sea view and often without air conditioning included in the mountains. Mid-range 4-star hotels are the bulk of the market: €90–150 in Larnaca, Paphos and Nicosia outside high season, rising to €160–260 in July and August, typically with a pool, breakfast and a balcony facing either the sea or the car park, and the difference between those two is often €25. Top-end 5-star property on the Limassol seafront and at Coral Bay sits at €200–450, and the largest Limassol resorts pass €500 in August and over New Year. Village hotels and restored stone houses in Omodos, Kakopetria and Lefkara are €70–130 and represent the best value on the island in spring and autumn.
Rates spike in five predictable windows: Orthodox Easter (12 April in 2026), the first three weeks of August, Christmas and New Year, Limassol's Carnival weekend, and the Limassol Wine Festival at the turn of August into September. Half board typically adds €20–30 per person per night and is worth it in Protaras or Pissouri where dinner options are limited, less so in Limassol or Paphos harbour. Nicosia is the one place where weekends are cheaper than weekdays, since the hotels there fill with business travellers Monday to Thursday. Budget separately for the sites themselves: entry is modest at roughly €2.50–4.50 each for Kourion, Nea Paphos, Choirokoitia and the Cyprus Museum, and the Department of Antiquities multi-site card at around €25 for seven days pays for itself in three visits.
