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Cyprus Passion Good to Know

Good to Know

15 things you'll probably want to know before visiting Cyprus. 🇨🇾

These are the small questions people actually ask us — the ones that rarely make it onto a destination page, but that you find yourself wondering about somewhere between booking the flight and standing in the arrivals hall.

No tourist-board language, no hedging. Where something genuinely varies — the sea in April, the taste of the tap water — we say so rather than pretending there is one answer.

Money

4 questions

Do most places in Cyprus accept cards?

Yes — cards and contactless are accepted almost everywhere in the cities, towns and resort areas. Hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and petrol stations will all take them without a second thought.

Carry a little cash anyway. Village kafeneia, roadside fruit stalls, small kiosks and the occasional family taverna still work in notes, and the machine being 'down today' is not unheard of.

Are ATMs easy to find?

Very. Every town centre, resort strip and shopping area has them, and most are attached to banks.

Prefer a bank-operated machine where you can. And when the screen offers to convert the amount into your home currency, decline it — taking the transaction in euro almost always gives you the better rate.

Is Cyprus expensive? How do I visit on a budget?

Cyprus stretches to fit most budgets. The expensive version of the island is real — beachfront restaurants in peak August will find your limit — but it is entirely optional, and avoiding it is mostly a matter of walking two streets inland.

  • Eat where the tables are full of locals — tavernas a street or two back from the seafront cost a fraction of the ones facing it.
  • Bakeries are the great underrated breakfast and lunch: spinach pies, halloumi pies, olive bread, a couple of euro.
  • Souvlaki is the reliable cheap dinner across the whole island.
  • Buy water, drinks and snacks from supermarkets rather than beach kiosks.
  • Buses cover the main routes between and within cities cheaply.
  • Beaches are free. Every single one — the public stretches cost nothing, and you only pay if you want a sunbed.
  • Villages, trails and viewpoints cost nothing at all, and they are the best part of the island.
  • Travel in spring or autumn: the weather still works, the prices drop.

Explore things to do Find a village

Do I need cash?

Not much of it. Cards cover the great majority of what you will spend money on.

Something like €20–€50 in your pocket is the sensible amount — enough for a village coffee, a market stall, a small taverna or a rural stop where the card machine is theoretical.

The village kafeneio: exactly the sort of place worth having a note or two on you.

Getting around

2 questions

Which side of the road do you drive on?

The left — a legacy of the British period, and one of the things that surprises European visitors most.

Cars are right-hand drive to match. Give yourself the first roundabout or two to recalibrate, and be particularly deliberate when pulling out of a quiet village junction, which is where habit tends to reassert itself.

Do I need a car?

If you are staying put in one city or resort, no. You can walk, take taxis and use buses perfectly well.

If you want the island rather than the resort, a car changes everything. Villages, the Troodos mountains, the remote beaches, the trailheads, the hidden gems — nearly all of it sits where the bus does not go, or goes twice a day.

Worth knowing: Cyprus has no passenger railway at all, so it is roads or nothing. Intercity buses do connect the main cities and run to the larger resorts, which covers a decent trip on its own.

Discover the villages Explore Troodos

Practical

4 questions

Can I flush the toilet paper?

Nope. 😅 Welcome to one of the little surprises of Cyprus.

In a great many properties you will be asked to put paper in the small bin beside the toilet rather than down the pan. The plumbing on much of the island runs to narrow pipes that block easily, and the bin is genuinely the lesser evil.

You will usually find a sign telling you which applies. Follow whatever your accommodation or the restaurant asks — newer buildings sometimes handle it fine, and they will say so.

What plugs does Cyprus use?

Type G — the chunky three-pin plug, same as the UK, at 230V.

If you are coming from continental Europe, the US or almost anywhere else, pack an adapter. Hotels will sometimes lend you one, but not reliably in August.

Is the tap water safe to drink?

Mains tap water in the Republic of Cyprus is monitored under EU drinking-water standards and is generally considered safe — for drinking, for cooking, for brushing your teeth, and the ice in your drink is fine too.

That said, plenty of residents and visitors still drink bottled or filtered water, and it is a question of taste rather than safety: the island relies heavily on desalination, the water is hard, and many buildings store it in rooftop tanks that sit in the sun all day.

Try it. If you do not like how it tastes, a refillable bottle and a filter jug will save you a small mountain of plastic.

Is Cyprus safe for visitors?

Cyprus is generally regarded as a safe place to travel, and most visits pass without incident. The ordinary precautions you would take anywhere still apply — keep an eye on your belongings on a busy beach, lock the hire car, and use licensed taxis.

The things most likely to actually catch you out here are environmental rather than criminal. The summer sun is stronger than it feels with a sea breeze on you; midday in July and August is genuinely punishing. Drink more water than you think you need, find shade in the middle of the day, and take sunscreen seriously.

On the road, mountain routes are narrow and winding, and summer traffic in the resorts can be busy. Neither is difficult — both reward not being in a hurry.

The Akamas. No shop, no shade, no phone signal worth the name — fill the bottle before you go.

Weather & sea

4 questions

When is the best time to visit?

That depends entirely on what you came for — which is rather the point of the place.

Spring
Green countryside, wildflowers, the villages at their best, and hiking in temperatures that make it a pleasure rather than an endurance test.
Summer
Beaches, warm sea, boat trips and long evenings. Hot, busy and expensive in August — and the classic Cyprus most people picture.
Autumn
Arguably the sweet spot: still warm, sea still swimmable, wine villages in harvest, and noticeably fewer people.
Winter
Troodos, waterfalls running properly, mountain villages, fireplaces and occasionally snow. A completely different island.

Cyprus all year round

Can you swim all year round?

People do. Whether you will is a question of what you consider cold — there are locals in the water in January, and they are not doing it to prove anything.

For most visitors the comfortable window runs from late spring through autumn, with the sea at its warmest through summer and staying pleasant well into October. Exact conditions shift year to year, so treat that as a guide rather than a timetable.

Find a beach

Can you ski in Cyprus?

Yes, you can! Surprising, isn't it? 😄 But yes — there is a ski centre on Mount Olympus, in the Troodos mountains, and when winter delivers enough snow you can genuinely ski there.

It is small: four lifts, eight runs, run by a club rather than a commercial resort. And it is entirely snow-dependent, so it is a wonderful thing to do if conditions land while you are here rather than something to plan a trip around.

The part that makes it worth doing is the contrast. You can be on the slopes in the morning and back down at sea level the same afternoon.

Yes, skiing in the Mediterranean is a thing — read the full guide

Is Cyprus just a summer destination?

Definitely not — and this is the thing we would most like to change about how the island is seen.

Spring turns the countryside green and fills it with wildflowers. Summer is the Mediterranean at full volume. Autumn belongs to the villages, the vineyards and the food. Winter sends you up into Troodos for hiking, waterfalls running hard, mountain villages, and sometimes snow.

Come in February and you will have a completely different holiday from the one you would have in August. Both are Cyprus.

Hiking and trails Mountain villages Explore Troodos

The other Cyprus — the one that has nothing to do with a sunbed.

Food & culture

2 questions

Do people speak English?

Widely, and well. Hotels, restaurants, shops, car hire, museums — you can travel the whole island comfortably without a word of Greek.

A kalimera on the way in and an efcharisto on the way out are always appreciated, though. 😉

Is tipping expected?

Appreciated, not compulsory. Nobody will chase you down the street.

Rounding up is common for a coffee or a taxi. In a restaurant, somewhere around 5–10% for good service is a fair benchmark — check the bill first, since a service charge is sometimes already included.

Now go and see it

The practical part is done. This is the island the questions were about.