Cyprus – traveling in the country
Car: when traveling by car there are excellent opportunities to get to know the island and its diverse landscape. Having your own vehicle is essential where there is limited or no bus traffic, for example in the Troodos massif or in the Tyllirian wilderness.
There are petrol stations almost everywhere – even in remote areas such as the Troodos massif or the Karpas peninsula – and the sanitary facilities and rest areas for cyclists and motorists are very good. Many picnic areas in Troodos can only be reached with your own vehicle.
The traffic in the north of Cyprus is less dense than in the south, and the roads are less good State.
Rental car
Rental cars are available almost everywhere. Motorcycles can also be rented in some cities. The rental vehicles are usually in good condition. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to inspect the vehicle more closely before setting off.
Rental vehicles are marked with a red or black “Z” throughout Cyprus.
Bus: in the south of Cyprus there are numerous and mostly regular bus connections. Most of the buses are quite old, but traveling with them is convenient and inexpensive. Buses run from Monday to Saturday. There are no services on Sunday. Bicycles can be transported on some buses, mostly those that run on the main intercity routes.
City and long-distance buses in the Republic of Cyprus are operated by private companies. The six largest are:
Alepa Ltd (with bus connections in Lefkosia, as well as to Lemesos and Pafos),
Clarios Bus Co (bus connections between Lefkosia and Troodos and Kakopetria),
Eman Buses (Lefkosia-Aigia Napa),
Intercity Buses (Lefkosia-Larnaka and Lefkosia-Lemesos),
Nea Amoroza Transport Co Ltd (Lefkosia-Pafos) and PEAL Bus Copany (Lefkosia-Paralimni and Lefkosia-Deryneia).
Buses operating in the Turkish part of Cyprus are a mix of private newer and older vehicles.
Local transport: There are urban buses in Lefkosia, Lemesos, Larnaka and Famagusta. These buses are extremely useful in Larnaka, where travelers can comfortably travel by bus to and from the airport, and in Lemesos, where buses bring passengers to the cruise ships in the port. There are also tourist buses from the ancient city of Kourion to the ancient fortress of Lemesos. In most cities and towns, however, the distances are so short that there is no need for city bus connections.
Bicycle: Cycling is an inexpensive and, above all, an interesting way of traveling around Cyprus. Bicycles can be taken to Cyprus by plane.
However, extensive long-distance tours should only be undertaken in spring, autumn or winter due to the high temperatures during the summer months. Country roads are ideal for cycling. Nevertheless, due to the car traffic, care is always required. Cycling is prohibited on the motorways. On the long stretches around the Troodos massif and the Kyrenia mountains, bikes with good gear shifts are essential.
Cities and municipalities are usually very cyclist-friendly. In some tourist centers, such as Protaras and Agia Napa, there are inner-city bike paths.
The Tourism Organization of the Republic of Cyprus (CTO) has published a brochure listing 19 mountain bike routes in the south of the island. These range from a length of 2.5 to 19 kilometers and from the Akamas peninsula in the west to Cape Greco in the east.
Bicycles can be rented in most areas of Cyprus. Rental bikes are particularly popular in the local recreation area of Agia Napa.
If you want to buy your own bike in Cyprus, you can do so in Lefkosia, among other places. There are specialty shops, such as Zanetos Bicycles, with good mountain bikes. The north offers fewer opportunities to buy bicycles.
Cyprus – how to get there
Airplane: most visitors travel to Cyprus by air, many by charter flights. Tickets for Scheduled flights to Cyprus are usually expensive, but there are always cheap charter flight offers. However, this applies primarily to flights to the Republic of Cyprus and not to flights to the north of the island.
The ticket prices are highly dependent on the season; trips to Cyprus are the most expensive in August. There are regular direct flights , for example, between Cyprus and Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Istanbul, Heraklion, Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Munich.
Airlines that offer flights to and from Cyprus in addition to the respective national companies Cyprus Airways (CYP) and Cyprus Turkish Airlines (KTHY) are, for example, Aegean Air (A3), Air Malta (ACM), Alitalia (AZA), Austrian Airlines (AUA), British Airways (BA), First Choice Airways (FCA), GB Airways (BA), Helios Airways (ZU), Lufthansa (LH), Malev Hungarian Airlines (MAH) and Turkish Airlines (TK).
Airports: Larnaka and Pafos are the airports for traveling to the Republic of Cyprus. Most European airlines fly to Larnaca.
Flights to the northern part of the island land at Ercan Airport, 14 kilometers east of the northern part of Nicosia / Lefko? A. Since the airport is not internationally recognized, flights land in Turkey on the way there. Ercan is relatively small and not particularly well equipped. Rental cars must be booked in advance. That being said, taxis are the only way to get to and from the airport.
Ship: there are ferry connections between the northern part of Cyprus and Turkey. The Republic of Cyprus has ferry connections to Greece. Ferries go from Lemesos (Limassol) to Piraeus, with intermediate stops in Patmos and Rhodes as well as Crete.
Best time to travel to Cyprus
The best time to travel to Cyprus naturally depends on the planned holiday activities. With its Mediterranean climate, the island’s weather is relatively easy to predict. The summer months from June to September are hot. In August you can see the peak of the tourist season in Cyprus, when the locals spend their holidays on the beach in addition to numerous foreign tourists. At this time it is school holidays in Cyprus and the tourist regions are often overcrowded. Accommodation prices are quite high in summer. Visit sunglassestracker.com for Cyprus travel destination.
October to May are the quiet months of autumn, winter and spring with its flower-covered landscapes. In autumn and spring you can go hiking or cycling in the Troodos massif, on the Akamas peninsula or on the Karpas peninsula. Autumn in October and spring in April and May are short and the transition between winter and summer is quick. Rain falls mainly in autumn and winter, outside of this period precipitation is rare. Water shortages can be a real problem in Cyprus.
Winter is changeable, with cold and warm weather occurring one after the other. The weather conditions also depend on the altitude. In the Troodos massif, some snow usually falls in winter, and you can ski on Mount Olympus from the beginning of January to mid-March.
The average daily maximum temperatures in Nicosia in summer are between 22 and 37 ° C, but more than 40 ° C can also be reached. From December to March, night temperatures in the Troodos massif often drop below freezing point.
