Things to do in Cyprus

Cyprus is 240 kilometres long and 100 wide at most, and the Troodos Mountains cover much of the south and west. Motorways join the main towns. The Green Line, a UN buffer zone about 180 kilometres long, splits the island in two.

Bases, west to east

• Paphos. The west coast and its airport, with the Akamas peninsula and the Blue Lagoon to the north.
• Limassol. The south coast, joined to Paphos by the 66-kilometre A6 motorway and with no airport of its own. Kourion and the wine villages lie inland.
• Troodos. The mountain core: Kykkos monastery, ten painted churches on the UNESCO list and Mount Olympus at 1,952 metres.
• Nicosia. The capital, joined to Limassol by the 73-kilometre A1 motorway and split by the Green Line.
• Larnaca. The main airport, about 50 kilometres from Nicosia and linked to Ayia Napa by the A3 motorway.
• Ayia Napa and Protaras. The sand, diving and sea-cave coast in the east, ten or twelve kilometres apart.

What people book

Things to do in Cyprus fall into three circuits.

• Akamas. Jeep safaris, quad tours and boat trips to the Blue Lagoon and the Baths of Aphrodite, mostly from Paphos.
• Troodos. Mountain villages, wineries and halloumi making, from Limassol, Larnaca or Paphos. The cheese has EU protected-origin status.
• The north. Famagusta, Salamis and Kyrenia, across the Green Line from any base on the south coast.

The cheap way in is a seat on a full-day group tour. It leaves from Larnaca, Paphos or Limassol. A private car with a driver-guide costs several times as much.

Practical

• Weather. In July and August Nicosia averages 37C by day, Larnaca and Limassol 33C and Paphos about 30C. January days run 16C to 18C below the mountains but only 6C at Prodromos, 1,380 metres up, where snow is possible. Rain is scarce: about 350 millimetres a year at Larnaca, nearly all between October and April.
• Sea. The water passes 20C in May and stays above it until November.
• The north. Day trips cross the Green Line at a checkpoint, so carry a passport. Most hire-car insurance and many rental contracts exclude the north.
• Driving. Traffic keeps to the left.
• Dress. Monasteries ask visitors to cover shoulders and knees.
• Money. The euro. Restaurants often add 10 per cent for service, though small tavernas may not.