Cyprus
Cyprus is a beautiful, tiny country perfect for visiting on a week getaway with your BFFs, bae, or family. Check out all the posts for suggestions to plan your own trip.
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1-week Cyprus Itinerary
Start here by checking out the 1-week Cyprus itinerary from my own adventures with my sister with optional day trips we didn’t get a chance to do.
What to do in Cyprus
For even more places to visit in Cyprus, check out this overview of the island’s best cities.
Getting around Cyprus
We rented a car and it was very affordable. We spent USD 160 on a rental car for 5 days (and only used one tank of gas for this entire trip!) The final 3 days of this 8-day trip, we spent in Larnaca and didn’t need a car.
I used booking.com to find a good deal on an automatic rental car. I picked the cheapest and smallest car option, a Kia Picanto. We got randomly upgraded so our car was bigger. They had great service and it was an easy experience. I booked using Discover Cars, which is what I suggest for finding the best car rentals.
To get to your hotel or Airbnb back and forth from the airport without a rental car, I suggest you use Welcome Pickups because there is no Uber in Cyprus, and booking a taxi in advance has to be done over the phone, rather than online.
Driving tips
Driving is on the left-hand side of the road.
Speeding: We were told not to go over the speed limit, even by 10km, because the police like to target rental cars for speeding. The rental cars in the country all have different color license plates so they are easy to spot. I drove about 5km over the speed limit occasionally. Some of the roads are very small and have sharp curves. Don’t pass or get frustrated if you’re on a curve! A truck going 30 over the limit tried to pass us on a blind curve and it would have been a horrific head-on collision if we didn’t slow down so the car could get back over in the correct lane.
License requirements for car rentals: you need to have a license that has been active for the past 3 years to drive in Cyprus. I had recently changed my home address in the US and therefore had a license that only had 1-year validity. Luckily, I had a scan of my old license on my phone. Keep this in mind.
Note for driving across the border: You won’t find a car rental agency in the Greek part of Cyprus that will let you drive the car over the Green Line. The car will get confiscated and you will be held responsible for the cost of the vehicle.
Cyprus Safety
Cyprus is a safe country to visit. It’s fine to walk around at night and by yourself. We were even told by locals that you could leave your phone on a restaurant table outside, return 10 minutes later and it would still be there! I don’t trust anyone enough to try this, but it’s a good sign. My sister and I felt safe walking around by ourselves. Occasionally, someone would stop to ask if we were lost (because we were roaming neighborhood streets) and tourist men sometimes said “Hi girls.”
Food in Cyprus
There isn’t a big restaurant culture in Cyprus. Occasionally, Cypriots eat out at “taverns,” but this is usually just once a week or a couple of times a month at most. We mostly encountered restaurants directed at tourists when we were in town like Protaras and Latchi. Larnaca had the most authentic style restaurants. Meals typically ranged from €10-15. It is not common to tip in Cyprus.
All our lodging had kitchens. Often, we went to the closest grocery store and just picked what we wanted for the next couple of days, especially for breakfast. We also bought lunch, fruit, and snack items. This cut down a lot on our costs during the trip.
A must-eat in Cyprus is an olive pie!
Greek Cyprus vs Turkish Cyprus
There is ongoing conflict between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots. The country is technically divided by a “Green Line” that splits the capital, Nicosia, in two: a Greek side and a Turkish side. It is not possible to visit both sides of the island over land. You’d have to fly out of one side, transfers somewhere and then take another flight into the other. Unless you plan to visit Nicosia, this isn’t going to interfere with your vacay. Read the BBC’s country profile here for more information on the history of the dispute.