Paphos port is one of the most ancient ports in Cyprus, on the south-west coast of the island. It was King Nikoklis, the last of the kings of Paphos, who had the original port built in 320 BC.
The same place, rebuilt
The modern port sits exactly where the old one did. It was rebuilt to improve the city’s natural anchorage, with two new breakwaters forming an inner basin inside the existing protected area. The port mattered to foreign trade, and was designed with three anchorages — one for foreign trade, one for smaller vessels working locally, and one for visiting warships.
The harbour is around two to four metres deep and you can only move around it on foot. Restaurants, cafés and bars run the length of the strip, with clothing and souvenir shops among them, and Paphos Castle stands at the far end of the quay.
What to do there
The beach beside the port draws most of the daytime crowd, and the nightlife runs hard after dark. Hotels are within walking distance of both. Boat trips and mini cruises leave from here — if you have a day, the run up to the Akamas and the Blue Lagoon is the one to take, with time to swim, walk on shore and do nothing on the boat. Divers can take a boat out to the ancient wrecks offshore.
From early morning, when the fishermen are selling the catch, to late at night, the harbour is one of the most cosmopolitan places on the island — and the easiest place in Paphos to spend an evening without a plan.
More sightseeing around Paphos
Paphos Castle
The fort at the end of the harbour quay — Byzantine, twice rebuilt, once a prison, then a salt warehouse.
Edro III Shipwreck
A cargo ship run aground on the rocks by the sea caves at Peyia in 2011, and left there — now the most photographed sunset in Paphos.
Tombs of the Kings
A Hellenistic necropolis cut into solid rock, with underground peristyle atriums — and, despite the name, no kings.