CY Cyprus: how to get around

Bus schedule only specifies departure from the initial stop, there are no estimations on when a bus may arrive to your stop, except real-time tracking in the Cyprus By Bus or Pame application (not on the website). Busses tend to cease operation in the early evening for the vast majority of routes.

• Buses by city: Lefkosia, Limassol, Pafos, Larnaka, Ammochostos, Intercity Buses

• Larnaca Airport Shuttle services: Larnaca airport to Nicosia, Larnaca airport to Limassol
• Paphos Airport Shuttle services: Paphos airport to Nicosia, Paphos airport to Limassol

On the Turkish side, buses are more frequent (and smaller). In Nicosia, they depart from stops at the street north of the northern gate. Prices are similar to prices on the Greek side of Cyprus. Beware that return tickets may not be valid on all buses on the Turkish side.

Buses between major cities go daily at different times, typically hourly/bihourly between 06:00 and 21:00. All buses are sit-only, typically green, and have air conditioning and a luggage compartment below. You're allowed to store a bike there only as long as it fits together with the remaining luggage.

Although Cyprus By Bus may have schedule for InterCity buses, it's better to double-check with printed schedules on stops and the Intercity Buses website. Prices start at 5 EUR.

Services run every half-hour or so from 06:00 or 07:00, but terminate at 17:00 or 18:00 on the dot. You can book a taxi to pick you up anywhere and ask to be dropped off anywhere in city limits; the flip side is that it will often take you longer to get in or out of the city than the journey itself! Figure on £4-6 for a taxi ride on any of these, with an increased price on Sundays and holidays. Also known as a service taxi.

Car hire is the easiest (but the most expensive) way to get around the island. Companies will typically not rent cars for fewer than three days, although some international vendors (Budget) will offer one or two day service for a high fee. Renting in advance can be beneficial as walk-in options are obviously limited to available cars. An alternative to traditional car hire is RideNow, an app-based rental service available to European license holders and a good option for travel within cities. As a former British colony, Cyprus drives on the left side of the road. However, driving standards are poor. Drivers attack their art with an equal mix of aggressiveness and incompetence and view road rules as mere guidelines. Some main roads do not even have road markings and people often sound their horn, especially in Nicosia. Take care when crossing the roads, and even greater care when driving on them. If you are involved in an accident, do not move any of the involved cars, call your rental company and wait for an insurance adjuster to arrive at the scene. Unregistered and uninsured cars on the road are not unusual, and if you are involved in an accident with one of these vehicles the driver may try give you a phone number before fleeing the scene. Instruct them to leave their car where it is and threaten to call the police if they still insist on leaving, otherwise you may be liable for an accident that was not your fault. Highways are generally of excellent condition and quite traversable, but other roads vary greatly in quality. Be sure to keep left unless overtaking on highways, and expect to be aggressively tail-gated in the right lane unless moving 20 or 30 km/h over the 100 km/h signed limit. Fixed speed and red light cameras can be found in the middle of multiple major cities, particularly Nicosia and Limassol. Mobile speed cameras in white vans are sometimes parked along highways, and their locations usually reported by users on the Waze navigation app. Take care to avoid traffic enforcement cameras as authorities are pursuing tourists who accrue fines in rental vehicles more aggressively in recent times. As with surrounding countries, rental cars frequently use diesel fuel and manual transmission rentals are cheaper than automatic transmission, although typically only by a few euro.

It is illegal to eat or drink (even water) while driving. Drivers must keep both hands on the wheel at all times.