Cyprus drives on the left, charges no motorway tolls and keeps its best sights spread across the island, which makes a car the way to see it. Collect at Paphos Airport for the west – Kato Paphos and its Roman mosaics, Aphrodite's Rock and the wild Akamas peninsula – or at Larnaca Airport for the east, with the Finikoudes seafront, Ayia Napa, Cape Greco and Nicosia all within the hour.
Cyprus drives on the left, charges no motorway tolls and keeps its best sights spread across the island, which makes a car the way to see it. Collect at Paphos Airport for the west – Kato Paphos and its Roman mosaics, Aphrodite's Rock and the wild Akamas peninsula – or at Larnaca Airport for the east, with the Finikoudes seafront, Ayia Napa, Cape Greco and Nicosia all within the hour.
Debit card, not credit card
You do not need a credit card to rent in Cyprus. The refundable security deposit is taken on your debit card and released after you return the car; its amount is shown on each car before you book.
Deposit and excess shown up front
Each car lists its insurance options, its excess and the refundable debit-card deposit before you book, so nothing about the cover is a surprise at the desk.
Local rates, not airport markups
Direct prices from Cypriot partners. What you book is what you pay at the desk in arrivals, with no counter fee added at the terminal.
Unlimited mileage
The island is small on the map and slow in the hills. Nothing we rent charges by the kilometre, so the Troodos monasteries and the Akamas coast fit in the same week.
Built for a late landing
A delayed flight is the usual way to miss a pick-up. Add your flight number at booking and the desk follows the arrival rather than the clock.
Two counters, each in the arrivals hall of an airport: Paphos on the south-west coast and Larnaca in the south-east. Open either page for the road out of the terminal, drive times and what is worth the detour nearby.
Our counter in the west of Cyprus, in the single terminal at Paphos Airport on the south-west coast. Kato Paphos is twenty minutes up the road, Aphrodite's Rock about the same the other way, and the A6 motorway to Limassol starts minutes from the car park.
Our counter in the east of Cyprus, at the island's main airport on the edge of Larnaca. The palm-lined seafront is ten minutes away, the flamingo lake is next to the runway, and the motorways to Ayia Napa, Nicosia and Limassol all start within a few minutes of the car park.
Each region is measured from the nearer of the two airports: Paphos Airport in the south-west or Larnaca Airport in the south-east, about 140 km apart by motorway.
A UNESCO-listed town of Roman villas, rock-cut tombs and a harbour fort 20–25 min from Paphos Airport, with Coral Bay north of it and Latchi, the gateway to the wild Akamas peninsula, about an hour away.
The east, from Larnaca Airport: the palm-lined Finikoudes seafront 10–15 min away, Ayia Napa and Cape Greco 45–55 min along the A3, and the walled capital, Nicosia, about 45 min north on the A2.
Pine-covered mountains in the middle of the island: Omodos and the wine villages about an hour from Paphos Airport, the lace village of Lefkara 25–40 min from Larnaca, and Kykkos monastery deep in the forest about two hours out.
Midway along the south coast and about 45–60 min from either airport by motorway: a marina and old port, Kolossi castle on the way in, and the ancient theatre at Kourion on its cliff above the sea.
A British legacy on the road, a free motorway network and one line on the map that your rental cover does not cross.
Drive on the left
Cyprus keeps left and the cars are right-hand drive, with the gear lever on your left. Roundabouts run clockwise, and you give way to traffic already on them, coming from your right.
100 on the motorway
Limits are 50 in towns, 80 on other roads and 100 on motorways, where there is also a 65 minimum. Fixed and mobile speed cameras are in use across the island.
No tolls anywhere
Cyprus charges no motorway tolls, so the A6 from Paphos to Limassol costs nothing but fuel. There are no vignettes or toll tags to arrange either.
The north is a different matter
Rental cover from the Republic normally does not apply north of the Green Line, and many partners do not allow the crossing at all. Do not drive across without the partner's written permission.
Alcohol 0.05%, lower for new drivers
The general limit is 0.5 g/l. Drivers in their first three years of holding a licence face a much lower limit, so for them the only safe amount is none.
Minimum age 21
With at least one year of driving experience. Some vehicle categories set a higher minimum, and it is shown on the car while you are still choosing.
Yes. You pay with a debit card. A refundable security deposit is taken on that debit card at pick-up, on every insurance tier, and released after you return the car. The amount is shown on each car before you book, so you know what will be held before you travel.
It depends on the car and the cover you choose, and it is shown on each car before you book. It is held on your debit card at pick-up and released after you return the car; your bank may take a few working days to show it.
At either of two airports, in the arrivals hall of each single terminal: Paphos (PFO), 15 km south-east of Paphos town, for the west of the island, or Larnaca (LCA), about 5 km from Larnaca town, for the east, Ayia Napa and Nicosia.
Most visitors settle in within the first hour. The cars are right-hand drive, so you sit next to the centre line. Take the first roundabouts slowly – they run clockwise – and remember that a turn across traffic is now a right turn.
Only with the partner's written permission, and many do not give it. Rental cover from the Republic normally does not apply in the north, and the insurance sold at the checkpoints is third-party only, so any damage there would be yours to pay.
There are no tolls anywhere in Cyprus. There are speed cameras, fixed and mobile, and the motorway limit is 100 km/h rather than the 120 or 130 many visitors expect, so keep an eye on the speedometer on the A6.
For a week in Kato Paphos, perhaps not. For Cyprus, yes: the Troodos villages, the Akamas coast, Aphrodite's Rock and Kourion are spread out, and the buses between them are slow and infrequent outside the main towns.
April to June and October to November. July and August regularly pass 35°C on the coast, and in January and February the high Troodos roads can see snow – the rest of the island stays mild and green.
Book in minutes, see the deposit on each car before you choose, and collect in the arrivals hall at Paphos or Larnaca Airport.
