Cyprus Travel Guide

By plane

Cyprus' main airport in the south is and is on the outskirts of Larnaka. Cyprus' main airport in the north is and is on the outskirts of Nicosia. It may be illegal to use for you, check below.

Costs

Cyprus has always been a relatively expensive destination. Except for some agricultural products, practically everything has to be imported. The cost of living in Cyprus is comparable to Central Europe, especially in the tourist areas. Price examples: National Beer cost €3 to €3.50, a pack of cigarettes €4, a hamburger €5-7, squids about €10, a steak around €20. Away from the tourist hotels and beaches the prices are much more moderate.

Public transportation in Cyprus has been revamped with all new buses in Nicosia. Still, most Cypriots drive. There are no railways in Cyprus. Addresses in Cyprus are not very precise; locals, Google Maps, utility providers, and delivery services may all disagree and what the exact number of a house is. There may be multiple streets with the same name in the city, kilometers apart. Addresses are used for formalities only, navigation is typically done via either exact pins in Google Maps, or house names, or points of interests nearby.

The official languages of the island are Greek and Turkish. Greek is spoken by 80-85% of the population, serves as the mother tongue of Greek Cypriots and is spoken in Southern Cyprus. Cypriot Greek and the Greek spoken in Greece have many similarities, but there are some distinct differences between the two dialects. The Cypriot dialect includes many loanwords from Turkish, Arabic, and English.

Cyprus is a remarkably safe country, with low crime rates. Cars and houses frequently go unlocked. That said however, it is wise to be careful when accepting drinks from strangers, especially in Ayia Napa, since there have been numerous occasions of muggings.

Tap water in Cyprus is potable, but can have an unpleasant taste and may give you an upset stomach at first because of the minerals content.

Cyprus uses the country code +357, although the north uses Turkish numbers (+90 392). There are three mobile providers, Cyta-Vodafone, Epic and Primetel. Cyta-Vodafone is the largest operator and charges the highest rates locally, while other providers are generally cheaper. All of these providers charge a high per-MB rate to roam in Northern Cyprus. If you want one SIM to use across the whole island, look elsewhere. To avoid surprise billing, all providers require you to manually activate roami…

Generally speaking, both Greek and Turkish Cypriots have a reputation for being hospitable to foreign visitors. The various respect tips found in the Greece and Turkey articles may be of help when communicating with Cypriots.