Limassol
The island's luxury sea address: a 4 km promenade, a superyacht marina, five-star beachfront on Amathus Avenue and bars until 3am.
Molos seafront promenade in Limassol with palm trees and the marina beyond
Why people stay in Limassol
Limassol is where the money is, and it shows. The Molos promenade runs about four kilometres of landscaped seafront with a sculpture park, lawns, cycle lane and a swimming pier; at its western end sits Limassol Marina with superyachts, waterfront restaurants and apartments that cost more than most of the island. This is the natural base for anyone whose brief is "hotel, sea, city" in one package — you can be in a five-star room with a balcony over the water and still walk to a proper old town in twenty minutes.
The hotel geography splits in two. The old town and Molos end gives you the castle where Richard the Lionheart married Berengaria in 1191, the Carob Mill complex beside it, pedestrianised Agiou Andreou Street, and boutique rooms in restored townhouses. Four kilometres east along Amathus Avenue is the classic beach-hotel strip — Four Seasons, Amathus, Mediterranean, Parklane at Pyrgos — where you pay €200-450 a night in summer for a private beach, three pools and a spa. Between them lies Potamos Germasogeias, the busier and cheaper tourist middle.
At nine in the evening Saripolou Square is the loudest place in the city: a tight pedestrian square of bars packed until 2 or 3am at weekends, mostly Cypriot twenty-somethings rather than tourists. Heroes Square nearby does the same job with a rougher edge. On the marina and along the Old Port boardwalk, dinner is €30-45 a head with wine and the crowd is older and better dressed. Then there is City of Dreams Mediterranean out at Zakaki, the big integrated casino resort that opened in 2023 — worth knowing about, easy to skip.
Come here if you want a city and a sea view without choosing. Skip it if you want turquoise water and white sand: Limassol's town beaches are dark grey sand and shingle, and the pretty ones — Dasoudi's eucalyptus grove, Ladies Mile at Akrotiri, Governor's Beach with its white chalk cliffs — need a short drive. Skip it too if you want quiet, because the seafront road carries traffic all night and Carnival in February shuts half of Makarios Avenue.
Three bands. Amathus Avenue east of the city, roughly from the Four Seasons to Parklane, is the five-star beachfront strip: €180-260 a night in shoulder season, €300-450 in August, private beach and a shuttle or 12-minute bus into town. Potamos Germasogeias, the strip either side of Georgiou A' Street, is the value zone — solid four-stars at €110-170 with the sea across the road and every restaurant type within walking distance. The old town, around Agiou Andreou, Eirinis and the Carob Mill, has small design hotels from €130 and puts the castle, marina and Saripolou bars on your doorstep. Avoid rooms directly on the Franklin Roosevelt or Omonoia industrial approach in the west — they look close on a map but the walk is unpleasant and the port traffic is constant. If you are here in August, insist on a sea-facing room with proper glazing.
Things to do in Limassol
The seafront strip from the Old Port to the Enaerios area, roughly 4 km round trip. Sculpture park, reed beds, a dedicated cycle lane and a swimming platform. Rent a bike at one of the stands near the Old Port for about €5 an hour and do it end to end before dinner.
Richard the Lionheart Street, behind the Old Port. Entry around €4.50 for the medieval museum and the roof terrace over the old town roofs. The restored Carob Mill warehouses next door hold the best cluster of restaurants in the centre; book a table facing the castle wall.
Nineteen kilometres west on the B6 past Episkopi, about 25 minutes. A 3,500-seat theatre cut into the cliff above the sea, plus the House of Eustolios mosaics under cover. Around €4.50 entry; go before 10am or after 4pm because there is no shade at all.
Two kilometres east of Molos, off Amathus Avenue. A eucalyptus plantation runs right down to the sand, so there is real shade, a boardwalk through the trees, sunbeds at about €5 a pair and a beach bar. Far better than the grey strip in front of the city centre.
A small pedestrian square off Agiou Andreou in the old town, five minutes from the castle. A dozen bars share the tables outside; beers €4-5, cocktails €9-11, and it runs to 2-3am Thursday to Saturday. Mostly local, mostly under 35, no dress code.
The wine villages sit 30-45 minutes north on the road to Omodos — Vouni Panagia, Koilani, Vasa. Most estates open 10am-5pm and charge €8-12 for a tasting of five wines. Xynisteri whites and Maratheftiko reds; the local Commandaria dessert wine is the historic one.
What to see
Hotels in Limassol
No hotels are listed in Limassol yet. The nearest ones are on the region page.
Every hotel we cover in Limassol
- Amathus Beach Hotel Limassol 5★ · 4.8/5
- Four Seasons Hotel 5★ · 4.8/5
- Alinea Primo Historic Center 4★ · 4.8/5
- Old Port Hotel 3★ · 4.7/5
- Estella Hotel and Apartments 2★ · 4.7/5
- Londa Hotel 5★ · 4.6/5
- Alinea Urban Saripolou Square 4★ · 4.6/5
- S Paul Hotel 3★ · 4.6/5
- Atlantica Bay Hotel Adults Only 4★ · 4.5/5
- Atlantica Oasis 4★ · 4.4/5
- Atlantica Miramare Beach 4★ · 4.3/5
- Atlantica Balmyra Beach 3★ · 4.3/5
- Polyxeni Hotel Apartments 3★ · 4.3/5
- Tsanotel 3★ · 4.2/5
- Aquarius Beach Hotel 2★ · 4.2/5
- Tycoon Hotel Apartments 3★ · 4.1/5
- Moniatis Hotel 3★ · 3.9/5
- Marianna Hotel Apartments 3★ · 3.8/5
- Only Boutique and Suites 4★ · 3.6/5
- Golden Arches 3★ · 3.6/5
- Metropole Hotel 3★ · 3.4/5
- The Palms Hotel Apartments 3★ · 3.4/5
- Tasiana Star 3★ · 3.3/5
- Tasiana Hotel Apartments Complex 2★ · 3.3/5
Getting around Limassol
Larnaca airport is 45-55 minutes on the A1 and A5 motorways; the Limassol Airport Express coach costs around €9 one way and stops at the Old Port, Ayios Nikolaos and the Amathus hotels, running roughly hourly from early morning to late evening. Paphos airport is a similar 45 minutes west. In town, EMEL urban buses cost €1.50 a single and €5 for a day pass, with the seafront route linking the Old Port to Potamos Germasogeias and Amathus every 15-20 minutes in season. A taxi from Molos to the marina is €7-9. Parking along the seafront is metered at about €1 an hour and full by 10am in summer.
Questions about Limassol
Honest answer: the town beaches are dark grey coarse sand with some shingle, clean but not postcard material. Dasoudi, two kilometres east, is much better thanks to its eucalyptus shade. For genuinely nice sand, drive 25 minutes to Governor's Beach or Ladies Mile at Akrotiri.
Amathus if you want a private beach, big pools and a spa, and you do not mind a 12-minute bus into the centre. Old town if you want to walk to bars, the castle and the marina and treat the sea as a view rather than a base. Potamos Germasogeias splits the difference at a lower price.
Larnaca airport is about 65 km, or 45-55 minutes by motorway. The Airport Express coach is roughly €9 and drops at several seafront stops; a taxi runs €70-85. Paphos airport is 65 km the other way and served by the same operator at a similar price.
Carnival falls fifty days before Orthodox Easter, so late February or March, and the grand parade closes Archbishop Makarios III Avenue for an afternoon. Hotel rates jump for that weekend and the seafront is gridlocked. It is genuinely fun, but book two months ahead if you want to be in the centre.
