Cyprus tours run from the turquoise Blue Lagoon on the Akamas coast to the painted churches of the Troodos Mountains, the mosaics of ancient Paphos and the Zenobia wreck off Larnaca. Plan the Greek side of your trip with Greece Tours.
Here you can compare the top-selling Cyprus tours region by region, from Paphos, Ayia Napa and Protaras to Limassol, Larnaca and Nicosia, with the right months, the airports and the planning tips.
What are Cyprus tours?
Cyprus tours are guided trips, boat cruises and day excursions across Cyprus, the third largest island in the Mediterranean. They start from Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca, Ayia Napa and Protaras and reach the Akamas coast, the Troodos Mountains, the capital Nicosia and the reefs offshore.
Cyprus is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of the Levant. It ranks third among the islands of that sea for both size and population.
The island is divided along the United Nations Buffer Zone. The Republic of Cyprus holds the south, and the Turkish Cypriot north is recognised only by Turkey. The British bases of Akrotiri and Dhekelia sit on the south coast. Nicosia is the capital and the largest city.
History fills every route. Hunter-gatherers settled Cyprus around 13,000 years ago, Mycenaean Greeks arrived at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, and Alexander the Great took the island in 333 BC. Romans, Byzantines, Lusignans, Venetians, Ottomans and the British followed. Cyprus tours visit sites from each of those eras.
Tourism drives the economy. Cyprus welcomes around 4 million visitors a year and has been a full member of the World Tourism Organization since 1975. The coast receives about 3,200 hours of sunshine a year, so Cyprus tours run in every season.
Cyprus tours fall into five groups: boat trips to lagoons and sea caves, cultural tours to ancient sites and painted churches, food and wine tours in the mountains, jeep and quad safaris, and dives. The sections below cover each group, region by region.
Which Cyprus tours are the top sellers?
Lagoon and turtle cruises from Ayia Napa, Troodos village day trips from Paphos and Blue Lagoon trips to the Akamas peninsula lead the Cyprus tours sold on GetYourGuide and Viator. Protaras cruises, jeep safaris, wine tours, dives and evening cruises complete the list.
We ranked 504 Cyprus tours on GetYourGuide and Viator by review count and starting price. The Ayia Napa Lazy Day Cruise to Turtle Cove and the Blue Lagoon sits at the top. A Troodos Mountains and villages day trip from Paphos comes next, followed by the Blue Lagoon, Akamas and Aphrodite’s Baths trip from Paphos.
Protaras adds a Blue Lagoon cruise past the sea caves to Turtle Cove. Paphos adds a coastal jeep safari to the Blue Lagoon in a Land Rover. Ayia Napa adds a Blue Lagoon and turtle cruise with optional lunch. These Cyprus tours share one theme: the clear water of the island’s lagoons and coves.
Viator lists further top sellers. The Wave Dancer Half Day BBQ Cruise sails from Paphos. A quad and buggy tour runs to Lara Bay and the Adonis Falls. In Larnaca, divers book private dives on the Zenobia wreck, and Paphos runs a half-day Discover Scuba Diving tour.
Water parks and night cruises sell well too. Viator lists entrance tickets for the Paphos Aphrodite Waterpark and the WaterWorld themed water park in Ayia Napa. Night cruises with dinner, shows and fireworks sail from Paphos harbour.
What does a Blue Lagoon tour from Paphos include?
A Blue Lagoon tour from Paphos crosses to the Akamas peninsula in the north-west of Cyprus. It visits the Baths of Aphrodite near Polis and sails from Latchi harbour to the Blue Lagoon. Bus and boat trips, jeep safaris and self-drive boats all reach it.
Akamas is a cape at the north-west tip of Cyprus, with an area of 230 square kilometres. It takes its name from Akamas, a son of Theseus. The peninsula is mountainous and no roads cross its heartland, so Cyprus tours reach this coast by boat, by jeep or on foot.
Latchi is the gateway. This small fishing village belongs to Polis and has a marina, seafood tavernas and quick access to the Akamas Peninsula National Park and the Blue Lagoon. Polis itself sits at the centre of Chrysochous Bay, on the edge of the Akamas nature reserve. Our Paphos Blue Lagoon tour page compares every boat, jeep and private format.
The Baths of Aphrodite lie near Polis, where legend says the goddess bathed. Myth also places her meeting with Adonis in Akamas. Fontana Amorosa, the spring of love near Polis, promises youthful desire to anyone who drinks from it.
Nature fills the rest of the day. Akamas holds a sanctuary for loggerhead turtles, and Lara Bay has a hatchery that protects their eggs. On the south-west side, the Avakas Gorge narrows between sheer cliffs until they meet, leaving a tunnel where a stream runs.
GetYourGuide sells four formats of these Cyprus tours from Paphos. There is a Blue Lagoon, Akamas and Aphrodite’s Baths trip, and a bus and boat trip with a water slide. A third adds the sea caves to the Blue Lagoon and Aphrodite’s Baths, and a fourth is a boat adventure with a bus transfer. Viator adds self-drive boat hire to the Blue Lagoon.
Which Paphos tours and boat trips can you book?
Paphos tours cover the UNESCO ruins of Nea Paphos, the Tombs of the Kings, the castle at the harbour and Aphrodite’s Rock near Kouklia. From the harbour, boat trips run turtle-watching, snorkelling, barbecue and night cruises along the south-west coast of Cyprus.
Paphos is a coastal city in south-west Cyprus and the fourth largest in the country, with an urban population of 55,000. It lies about 50 km west of Limassol, linked by the A6 highway, and has the mildest temperatures on the island. Our Paphos boat trip page compares every cruise that leaves the harbour.
UNESCO listed ancient Paphos as a World Heritage Site in 1980. The site joins Nea Paphos, the Tombs of the Kings and Palaepaphos at Kouklia. Nea Paphos was the island’s capital during long stretches of Ptolemaic and Roman rule. Its villas hold polychrome floor mosaics with scenes from Greek myth.
The Tombs of the Kings lie about 2 km north of Paphos harbour. Builders cut the underground tombs from solid rock from the 4th century BC onwards. They held Paphian aristocrats and officials, not kings, and certain tombs feature Doric columns and frescoed walls.
Paphos Castle stands at the western end of the harbour and dates to the mid-13th century. About 16 km east of the city, Kouklia holds the ruins of the Sanctuary of Aphrodite Paphia.
Petra tou Romiou, the sea stack known as Aphrodite’s Rock, rises off the shore on the road to Limassol. Myth names it as the birthplace of the goddess, and its scenery and legend make it a popular stop for Cyprus tours along the south coast.
The harbour is the base for Paphos boat trips. GetYourGuide sells a turtle-watching snorkelling trip with sea scooters, a turtle-watching sunset cruise and an all-inclusive night cruise with a show. Viator lists the Wave Dancer cruises, including a full-day cruise and a fireworks night cruise.
Which Ayia Napa and Protaras boat trips run?
Ayia Napa and Protaras boat trips sail along the Cape Greco coast to the sea caves, Turtle Cove and the Blue Lagoon of the east coast. Lazy day cruises with lunch, turtle cruises, catamarans and yachts with water slides all leave from the two resorts.
Ayia Napa is a resort at the far eastern end of the south coast of Cyprus. It takes its name from a Venetian-era monastery in the centre of town. Legend says a hunter found an icon of the Virgin Mary in a cave there, and the monastery grew around that cave.
Protaras lies about 10 km north-east of Ayia Napa, in the municipality of Paralimni. It is quieter than Ayia Napa and has a reputation for families. Fig Tree Bay is its signature beach. Our Protaras boat trip page covers the cruises that leave the resort.
Boat trips form the core of Cyprus tours on the east coast. The Ayia Napa Lazy Day Cruise visits Turtle Cove and the Blue Lagoon with lunch on board. The Protaras Blue Lagoon cruise passes the sea caves on its way to Turtle Cove, and a catamaran cruise sails from Protaras to the Blue Lagoon. Our Ayia Napa boat trip page compares every cruise from the two resorts.
Larger boats add extras to Cyprus tours. The Turtle Dream yacht from Protaras carries a big slide and an optional barbecue, and the Aphrodite II lazy day cruise sails out of Ayia Napa. These Cyprus tours stop for swims in the coves along the way.
Beaches frame these Cyprus tours. Nissi Beach in Ayia Napa stretches for 500 metres and holds a Blue Flag. Its small islet can be reached on foot through the shallow water. Fig Tree Bay in Protaras is also 500 metres long, with Blue Flag water and an islet a short swim away.
What can you see at Cape Greco on Cyprus tours?
Cape Greco is the headland between Ayia Napa and Protaras, inside the Cape Greco National Forest Park. Cyprus tours visit its sea caves in the limestone cliffs, the open coast below the cape and the Bridge of Love, by boat, by jeep or on foot.
Cape Greco is a headland in south-east Cyprus, at the southern end of Famagusta Bay. It is the easternmost point of the government-controlled areas of the Republic of Cyprus. In antiquity it was Cape Pedalion, and Strabo wrote that the hill above it was sacred to Aphrodite.
The sea caves line the coast of the forest park. Nature carved them into the limestone cliffs, and locals call them the fairy caves or the palaces. Blue Lagoon cruises from Protaras pass the caves on their way to Turtle Cove.
Legend adds a monster. Local stories say the Ayia Napa sea monster lives in the waters off the cape. Cape Greco lies a 10-minute drive from the centre of Protaras, so Cyprus tours from both resorts reach it fast.
On land, jeep-based Cyprus tours cover the cape. The East Coast National Park half-day caves jeep safari runs from Famagusta district. From Larnaca, a small-group tour sized for 5 people visits Cape Greco, the sea caves and the Bridge of Love in one trip.
History sits close by for Cyprus tours that stop in Ayia Napa. Near the town, the Makronissos Tombs form an ancient site of rock-cut tombs with an adjacent sanctuary, a quarry and traces of funeral pyres.
What do Troodos Mountains tours cover?
Troodos Mountains tours climb into the range at the centre of Cyprus, below Mount Olympus at 1,952 metres. They visit painted Byzantine churches on the UNESCO list, Kykkos Monastery, mountain villages such as Omodos, Kakopetria and Platres, and wineries on the slopes.
Troodos is the largest mountain range in Cyprus and covers a third of the island. Its highest peak, Mount Olympus, also called Chionistra, reaches 1,952 metres. Snow on Cyprus falls only in these mountains. For centuries their mines supplied copper to the entire Mediterranean.
The painted churches are the cultural core of these Cyprus tours. UNESCO lists ten Byzantine churches and monasteries with rich murals, nine of them since 1985 and the tenth, at Palaichori, since 2001.
Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis near Kakopetria, an 11th-century monastery church, is the oldest surviving katholikon in Cyprus. The 12th-century church of Panagia Phorviotissa at Asinou and the 13th-century chapel at Moutoullas join it on the list.
Kykkos Monastery stands at 1,318 metres on the north-west face of the range. Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos founded it around the end of the 11th century. Archbishop Makarios III, the first president of Cyprus, began his church career there as a monk in 1926.
Villages fill the rest of these Cyprus tours. Kakopetria, at 667 metres, is the highest village of the Solea Valley. Platres is the largest Troodos resort and one of the wine villages, and Omodos lies 80 km from Nicosia. The Cyprus mouflon, the national animal, lives only in the mountains of Paphos district. Our Troodos Mountains tour page covers the peaks, monasteries and villages in full.
Among Cyprus tours to the range, GetYourGuide sells a Troodos Mountains and villages day trip from Paphos, a jeep tour with wine tasting, a tour to the highest peaks and a day trip to Chrysoroyiatissa, Kykkos and Omodos. Viator lists all-inclusive food and wine days in the villages.
Which Cyprus wine tours can you book?
Wine tours visit the wineries and wine villages on the slopes of the Troodos Mountains. They taste local grapes such as Xynisteri and Mavro and the sweet Commandaria, the oldest named wine in the world still in production, along with halloumi and village food.
Commandaria is an amber dessert wine from 14 villages in the Troodos foothills. Winemakers dry Xynisteri and Mavro grapes in the sun, and the wine reaches around 15% alcohol before fortification. Records trace this style back to 800 BC, and the name dates from the Crusades in the 12th century.
UNESCO has added Commandaria and its production traditions in the 14 villages to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Commandaria comes from the same foothills that wine-themed Cyprus tours visit.
The name comes from the knights. Kolossi Castle, 14 km west of Limassol, held their Grand Commandery, and the wine took its name from it. Legend says Richard the Lionheart called it the wine of kings and the king of wines at his wedding feast in Limassol.
Wine is a real industry behind these Cyprus tours. Cyprus ranks 50th in the world for wine production, with 10,302 tonnes a year, and higher still per person. Platres is one of the krasochoria, the wine villages of the Troodos. Our Troodos wine tour page covers the villages, wineries and tastings in full.
Among Cyprus tours with tastings, GetYourGuide sells a Troodos food and wine tasting tour with lunch and a Troodos villages and wineries tour. Viator lists the Troodos Mountains Vino Venture, an all-inclusive full-day wine tour through the mountain villages.
Halloumi joins the tasting tables. Under trademark law, a cheese sold as halloumi in the European Union or the United States must come from Cyprus, and halloumi makes up 13.4% of the exports of the Republic of Cyprus.
Which Limassol tours can you book?
Limassol tours cover Limassol Castle and the Old Port, the ancient city of Kourion on its cliff above Episkopi Bay, Kolossi Castle and the ruins of Amathus. The Troodos wine villages lie to the north, and the city sits between Paphos and Larnaca.
Limassol has the largest municipal population in Cyprus, with 108,105 people, and is the second largest urban area after Nicosia. It grew between two ancient Greek cities, Amathus and Kourion. Its historic centre surrounds the medieval castle and the Old Port.
Limassol Castle stands near the old harbour in the heart of the historic centre. The building seen today was rebuilt around 1590 under Ottoman rule. The city’s suburbs stretch along the coast as far as Amathus.
Kourion is the main ancient site for Cyprus tours west of the city. Greek settlers from Argos arrived there in the 12th century BC, after the fall of the Mycenaean palaces. Its acropolis stands on a limestone cliff nearly 100 metres high above Episkopi Bay, 13 km west of Limassol, inside the British base area.
Five heavy earthquakes struck Kourion in the 4th century, and the city was largely rebuilt. The Cyprus Department of Antiquities manages the site.
Kolossi Castle is a three-storey keep 21 metres high, built in 1454 by the Hospitallers. The estate once produced sugar from local cane, one of the island’s main exports in the Middle Ages.
East of the city, Amathus held a sanctuary of Aphrodite that ranked second on the island after Paphos. Its remains lie near Agios Tychonas, about 9.7 km east of Limassol, and finds from the site fill the Limassol Museum. Cyprus tours from Limassol also head inland, and GetYourGuide lists a Troodos food and wine tour that starts from the city.
Which Larnaca tours can you book?
Larnaca tours visit the Church of Saint Lazarus, the Salt Lake with its winter flamingos, Hala Sultan Tekke, the Kamares Aqueduct and the Finikoudes promenade. Day trips run to Choirokoitia and Lefkara, and boats leave the harbour on sunset cruises.
Larnaca is the third largest city in Cyprus, built on the ruins of ancient Kition, the birthplace of the Stoic philosopher Zeno. Its seafront promenade, Finikoudes, takes its name from the Greek word for palm trees. Larnaca International Airport, the main gateway of Cyprus, lies 4 km south-west of the city.
The Church of Saint Lazarus dates from the late 9th century. Orthodox tradition holds that Lazarus fled Judea, became the first Bishop of Kition and was buried here for the second and last time. The church stands over his reputed tomb.
The Salt Lake lies west of the city, next to the airport road, so Cyprus tours from the airport pass it. Its four lakes cover 2.2 square kilometres and host 85 species of water birds, including 2,000 to 12,000 flamingos in winter. Hala Sultan Tekke, a mosque and shrine to Umm Haram, stands on its west bank.
The Kamares Aqueduct stands outside the city near the old road to Limassol. Built between 1747 and 1750, it carried fresh water to Larnaca for nearly two centuries.
Inland Cyprus tours from Larnaca reach a prehistoric town and a lace village. Choirokoitia is a Neolithic settlement on the UNESCO list since 1998 and one of the key prehistoric sites of the eastern Mediterranean. Pano Lefkara is famous for its lace, lefkaritika, and its silver crafts.
Larnaca has a marina and a seaport, and GetYourGuide sells a one-hour sunset cruise with a glass of wine from the city. Boat safaris also run from Larnaca up the coast to Protaras, and these Cyprus tours link the city with the east-coast resorts.
Do Cyprus tours visit Nicosia?
Yes. Cyprus tours visit Nicosia, the capital and the last divided capital in Europe. Walks cover the Venetian walls, the Cyprus Museum and Ledra Street, where a crossing leads to the north. Day trips from Paphos pair the city with Larnaca and Lefkara.
People have lived in Nicosia for over 5,500 years, and it has been the capital of Cyprus since the 10th century. Since 1974 the dividing line has run through the city, and its northern part is the de facto capital of Northern Cyprus.
The Venetian walls ring the old town. Venice rebuilt them in the mid-16th century during its war with the Ottoman Empire. They are still largely intact and form a major tourist attraction. Like Valletta in Malta, Nicosia was an example of an ideal Renaissance city.
Ledra Street is the main shopping street. A barricade across the United Nations buffer zone stood there until April 2008, when the street became the sixth crossing between south and north. On the far side stands the Selimiye Mosque, the former Cathedral of Saint Sophia and the largest and oldest surviving Gothic church in Cyprus.
The Cyprus Museum on Museum Street is the oldest and largest archaeological museum on the island. It holds the world’s largest collection of Cypriot antiquities, and it shows only artefacts found on the island.
GetYourGuide sells a Larnaca highlights tour from Paphos that adds Lefkara and Nicosia in one day. These Cyprus tours suit visitors based in the west who want the capital without driving.
Which Cyprus jeep safari and quad tours run?
Jeep safaris run in the Akamas peninsula from Paphos, along the Cape Greco coast from Ayia Napa and Protaras, and up into the Troodos Mountains. Quad and buggy tours head for Lara Bay and the Adonis Falls in the west of Cyprus.
Off-road Cyprus tours suit Akamas because no roads cross its heartland and parts of its marked roads are unsealed. Until 2000, the British forces used the peninsula for exercises and as a firing range.
Of the jeep Cyprus tours from Paphos, the coastal safari travels in a Land Rover to the Blue Lagoon. The Troodos jeep tour from Paphos adds wine tasting in the mountains. On the east coast, the half-day caves jeep safari covers the national park around Cape Greco, and Ayia Napa jeep safaris rank high on GetYourGuide.
Quad and buggy Cyprus tours trade comfort for speed. Viator lists a half-day quad and buggy tour to Lara Bay and the Adonis Falls, and GetYourGuide lists quad safaris from Paphos.
Lara Bay holds a hatchery that protects the eggs of nesting turtles. Akamas also shelters bats, monk seals and sea turtles, all of them vulnerable species.
Cars in Cyprus keep to the left, a remnant of British rule. Guided Cyprus tours with their own transport remove the need to drive on unfamiliar roads.
Which Cyprus diving and snorkelling tours run?
Diving in Cyprus centres on the Zenobia wreck off Larnaca, a ferry that sank in June 1980 and now lies in about 42 metres of water. Protaras offers first dives at Green Bay, and Paphos runs Discover Scuba Diving and turtle snorkelling trips.
The Zenobia was a Swedish-built roll-on roll-off ferry launched in 1979. She capsized and sank close to Larnaca in June 1980 and rests on her port side. The Times named her one of the top ten wreck dives in the world.
Viator lists private dives at the Zenobia wreck in Larnaca, so divers book these Cyprus tours with a guide for their own group.
Protaras is a diving centre of its own. Green Bay is its main dive site, with underwater statues where thousands of first-time divers practise their skills. Other sites include the Blue Hole, the Chapel, Decosta Bay and Malama Bay, and Cyclops Bay serves technical divers on the border with Ayia Napa.
GetYourGuide sells a first scuba dive in Protaras with a lesson and skills practice. In Paphos, Viator lists a half-day Discover Scuba Diving tour, and GetYourGuide sells a turtle-watching snorkelling trip with sea scooters and guides.
Snorkelling and diving show the other side of Cyprus tours: the reefs, wrecks and turtles below the coves that the boats visit.
Which months suit Cyprus tours?
Cyprus tours run all year. The island has very mild winters at sea level, hot and dry summers and about 3,200 hours of sunshine a year on the coast. Rain falls mainly in winter, and snow falls only in the Troodos Mountains.
Cyprus has a subtropical climate of the Mediterranean and semi-arid types. Coastal Cyprus averages 5 to 6 hours of sun a day in December and 12 to 13 hours in July. In December the coast receives about 180 hours of sunshine, against about 50 in London.
Summer is dry and hot, the season for boat trips, dives and water parks. Paphos has the mildest temperatures on the island all year.
Winter brings its own Cyprus tours. Between 2,000 and 12,000 flamingos spend the winter months on the Larnaca Salt Lake, feeding on brine shrimp, and birdwatchers gather to see them. The Troodos peaks are the one part of Cyprus where snow falls.
The mountains stay cooler than the coast. Mount Olympus has a highland warm-summer Mediterranean climate, so Troodos Cyprus tours offer a break from the heat of the beaches.
How do you plan Cyprus tours?
Fly into Larnaca or Paphos and base yourself in Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca, Ayia Napa or Protaras. Book Cyprus tours that start from your resort. Cars drive on the left, the currency is the euro, and English appears on road signs.
Two airports serve the south. Larnaca International Airport is the main gateway, 4 km south-west of Larnaca. Paphos International Airport lies 6.5 km south-east of Paphos and serves the western resorts, Coral Bay and Limassol, about 50 km away.
Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004 and adopted the euro on 1 January 2008. It is one of only three EU nations where vehicles drive on the left, a remnant of British rule.
Greek and Turkish are the official languages. English has no official status, but it is widely spoken and features on road signs, public notices and advertisements.
Plan the days by region. Paphos covers Akamas, the Blue Lagoon and the western Troodos. Ayia Napa and Protaras cover Cape Greco and the east coast. Larnaca and Limassol sit between the two, close to Nicosia, Choirokoitia, Lefkara, Kourion and the wine villages.
Cyprus lies east of Greece, and travellers can pair the island with a Greek one. Our pages on Crete and Rhodes cover two of the largest Greek islands and their tours.
What do travellers ask about Cyprus tours?
Which Cyprus tours sell in the largest numbers?
Lagoon and turtle cruises from Ayia Napa, Troodos village day trips from Paphos and Blue Lagoon trips to Akamas lead the GetYourGuide and Viator lists.
Where is the Blue Lagoon in Cyprus?
The Paphos Blue Lagoon lies on the Akamas peninsula, reached by boat from Latchi. Cruises from Ayia Napa and Protaras visit a second Blue Lagoon on the east coast.
How far is Cape Greco from Protaras?
Cape Greco lies a 10-minute drive from the centre of Protaras.
Do you need a car for Cyprus tours?
No. Tours from the main resorts travel by bus, boat or jeep, and a Blue Lagoon boat trip from Paphos includes a bus transfer.
Which UNESCO sites do Cyprus tours visit?
Ancient Paphos, the ten painted churches of the Troodos and the Neolithic settlement of Choirokoitia.