The best places to stay in Cyprus

Paphos

Best for couples and history buffs

Paphos is a real something-for-everyone spot. Close to Cyprus's westernmost point, Paphos scores points for its mix of ancient history, easy-going nightlife and a palm-lined harbourside esplanade lined with sunny café-bars and tavernas. Paphos International Airport is just five miles from the town centre – a boon for those who want to get off the plane and into their hotel without a fuss.

It's really a tale of two cities – Kato ('lower') Paphos, around the old harbour, is where the holiday action is. Expect a town centre full of bars, cafés and restaurants and local tour companies offering boat trips, excursions to vineyards and scuba diving. Inland and uphill is Ktima ('Upper') Paphos, where you’ll find a more authentically Cypriot community, as well as cafés and tavernas where locals outnumber visitors.

For history buffs, the big ticket attraction in Paphos is the Kato Pafos Archaeological Park, a vast complex of mosaic-floored Roman villas and labyrinthine royal tombs dating back more than 2,300 years. Beach-lovers will find a city beach shaded by palm trees, with loungers and umbrellas to rent, right in town.

Where to stay in Paphos

There's a huge range of accommodation options in Paphos, from family apartments to budget-friendly guesthouses with character – try Kiniras Traditional Hotel, which offers 18 simple rooms in peaceful upper Paphos. For family-friendly luxury, the 189-room Almyra with its spa, cinema, kids’ club and four restaurants is a top choice, while Downtown Park Apartments is an upscale pick for self-caterers. Just up the coast at Coral Bay, the Corallia Beach Hotel Apartments is a family-friendly complex of apartments and studios with direct access to a golden, sandy beach.

Ayia Napa

Best for nightlife, beaches and watersports

Ayia Napa, around 40 minutes drive from Larnaca International Airport, is famed as Cyprus's nightlife capital, but there's more to this resort than DJs, killer cocktails and foam parties.

There are white-sand beaches replete with watersports at Nissi, right on the doorstep, and a little further from the centre at Makronissos, which is linked to the resort by a cycleway and walkway.

Radiating out from what was once a sleepy fishing harbour, now surrounded by quayside tavernas, are streets lined with on-trend boutiques, cafés and cocktail bars. If you want to experience the full party package, head towards Ayia Napa Square and Ayias Mavris street.

The huge WaterWorld theme park, with flumes and slides that range from gentle to breathtaking, is just outside town too – ideal for an action-packed morning that all ages will enjoy.

Where to stay in Ayia Napa

Ayia Napa has grown up a bit since the years when it rivalled Ibiza for summer-long hedonism, and its hotel portfolio has matured too. For a luxurious cocoon, romantic couples like So Nice Boutique Suites. Families should take a look at complexes with pools like the Atlantica Panthea Resort. If you’re visiting Cyprus on a budget, check out Liquid Hotel Apartments, with self-catering studios and apartments sleeping up to four, just a short walk from the beach and with its own pool.

Pissouri

Best for families and value for money

If you're looking for somewhere that's not off the beaten track but still a little less busy than Cyprus's bigger resort areas, Pissouri fits the bill perfectly. It's a low-key, low-rise resort, with small-to-medium-sized hotels, family-friendly apartments and spacious villas that come complete with pools.

Pissouri itself stretches out behind a long sand-and-pebble beach, where you'll find watersports that will keep active teens happy, including stand-up paddleboarding, windsurfing, banana and ringo rides and waterskiing.

The white cliffs of Cape Aspro, looming over the beach, add a picturesque touch, and the original hilltop village with its old-school tavernas and cafés is a little more authentic than some rival resort areas.

Look inland to see the summit of Mount Olympus – snow-capped from January to March – rising above the forested slopes of the Troodos hills.

Where to stay in Pissouri

The all-suite Columbia Beach Resort is the five-star flagship here, with a village-style layout around two lagoon pools and direct access to the beach. For a taste of luxury without the price tag, consider Hill View Hotel Apartments – the rooms are neat, the breakfast well reviewed, and the sea views across the vine-filled valley are hard to beat. If you prefer to lock in the cost of your holiday before you go, an all-inclusive stay at Hylatio Tourist Village is a top choice.

Protaras

Best for beach-loving families

It's all about the beaches at Protaras on Cyprus's east coast, where miles of sandy strands stretch either side of the resort – all the way south to Cavo Greco and north to the 'Green Line' that divides the island from the Turkish-occupied north.

You’ll find Fig Tree Bay, one of Cyprus’s best beaches (and one of the best in Europe) on Protaras’s doorstep, as well as the aptly named Sunrise Beach, both of which offer watersports straight from the sand.

This is a purpose-built resort area, with lots of cosmopolitan eateries, bars and cafés along its main street. For those in search of an even livelier partier scene, Ayia Napa with its legendary beach clubs and all-night foam parties is a ten-minute taxi ride away.

Where to stay in Protaras

Midway between Protaras and Ayia Napa, the high-end Grecian Park Hotel is a destination in its own right, with a choice of restaurants including Japanese and Italian-themed options, multiple bars, spa and all the watersports you could wish for. The Louis Agios St. Elias Resort is an excellent high-end pick for couples, families and groups of pals, merging villa-style and studio apartment accommodation with full-service hotel facilities. Lighter on the wallet, Crystal Springs Beach Hotel has great-value rooms and a beachfront position to boot.

Larnaca

Best for culture and city life

More than just a resort, Larnaca is a proper city – the third largest in Cyprus after Nicosia and Limassol. In many ways tourism comes second to the everyday business of commerce – something very close to Cypriot hearts for centuries before tourism came along.

Among other things, that means lots of authentic places to sample Cypriot menus that haven't been blanded-out to cater to multinational visitors along a palm-shaded esplanade.

Larnaca is also home to the Pierides Foundation Museum, an eye-opening collection of Cypriot artefacts spanning every era of the island's history, from the Stone Age until modern times, and the medieval Larnaca Fort, a repository of rusted iron cannon, swords, daggers, armour and musketry dating back to the reign of the Lusignan crusader princes.

Larnaca isn't short of beaches, either. You'll find long (but not uncrowded) spans of golden sand either side of the city centre, lined with big resorts and hotels.

Where to stay in Larnaca

The old Laiki Geitonia quarter, just back from the waterfront, still has a whiff of history. It's here that you'll find the 55-room Livadhiotis City Hotel, a stylish base for an overnight stay close to Cyprus's busiest airport – it's just a 10-15 minute taxi ride from the terminal. Just a stone’s throw from the Church of St Lazarus, Hotel Indigo Larnaca sits right in the heart of the action, blending old and new with its contemporary interior. On the coast just out of the city, the Golden Bay Beach Hotel is a luxury pad to return to after all-day exploring.

Limassol

Best for foodies and history lovers

Limassol locals will tell you that this seaside city – the island's second largest – is the 'real' capital of Cyprus. They have a point.

Limassol's long, partly car-free waterfront, where parakeets screech from tall palm trees, and young locals show off their skateboarding moves, feels just a bit like Miami Beach – as does the glossy marina area, west of the old fishing harbour.

Inland from the waterfront, a grandiose cathedral, the towering Cami Kebir mosque, and the sturdy walls of the medieval Limassol Castle are landmarks over the old market quarter, where you'll find streets lined with produce stalls and a growing number of artsy-craftsy souvenir shops.

Head a little way out of town to discover sights redolent of Cyprus's multi-layered history, such as Kourion, Ancient Amathous and Kolossi, or plunge inland to discover the secret splendours of the centuries-old painted churches of the Troodos.

Where to stay in Limassol

The Limassol area's best places to stay for a holiday with all the activities and luxury frills are a little way outside the city centre. Amathus Beach Limassol is a great option – think fluffy robes and posh toiletries in spacious bedrooms, private beach club, three fabulous pools in immaculate palm-shaded gardens and top-notch restaurants on-site. Looking for more budget-friendly family accommodation on the beach? Take a look at Ermitage on the Beach for one- to four-bedroom apartments with kitchens (shops nearby), pools for adults and kids, and watersports.

Polis and Latchi

Best for scuba divers and peace and quiet

The little hilltop village of Polis, perched just above Chrysochou Bay, still seems a world away from the big resorts of the south coast and its long sweep of yellow sandy beaches.

It's a 15-minute walk from the village to the beach, where you'll find a handful of simple beach bars with sun-loungers and umbrellas. Just west, you'll find Latchi, where local fishers still bring freshly caught seafood to the restaurants that line the harbour: you won't find fresher fish anywhere in Cyprus. The sandy beaches that stretch either side of the village along Chrysochou Bay are winners too and aren't (yet) solidly lined with big hotels.

Back in the day, Latchi was home to a sponge-diving fleet, and these days it's one of the best places to stay in Cyprus for keen scuba divers, with some fantastic dive sites like St. George's Island not far offshore.

Head a little further west to discover the wild and undeveloped beaches of the Akamas peninsula, or rent a 4WD for a day exploring the wild cedar forests of Tillyria.

Where to stay in Polis and Latchi

If you're looking for family-friendly, affordable accommodation in villas and apartments with pools close to the beach, Polis and Latchi are a happy hunting ground. The Bougainvillea Hotel Apartments offers modern, unfussy but well-appointed self catering apartments just 700m from the beach, with a shared pool set in gardens lush with (you guessed it) purple bougainvillea. Or there's the Natura Beach Hotel and Villas right on the beach, which has a mix of accommodation in suites, self-catering apartments and villas with private pools.

Nicosia

Best for culture vultures and authentic local life

More than anywhere else in Cyprus, Nicosia – Cyprus's capital, and its biggest city - is a place to discover real Cypriot life.

Within its medieval walls, Nicosia's old quarter is a bustling neighbourhood of authentic Cypriot tavernas, cafés and artisan boutiques in the traffic-free Laiki Geitonia quarter and along busy Ledra Street.

For history buffs, the big ticket is the world-class Cyprus Museum, where artefacts include an Action Man-sized army of clay soldiers and a towering bronze effigy of Roman emperor Septimius Severus – nude, and larger than life in every way but one.

The United Nations-guarded 'Green Line' has split the city in two since the Turkish invasion of 1974. Cross the line at the Ledra Street checkpoint (eerily reminiscent of Cold War Berlin's 'Checkpoint Charlie') to enter the shabby but atmospheric Turkish half of the city, where the old-fashioned bazaar streets of the Belidiye Pazari surround the main landmark, the Selimiye Camii cathedral-turned-mosque.

Where to stay in Nicosia

Most holidaymakers won't want to spend more than a couple of nights in Nicosia, and the city's hotel portfolio reflects that – there are plenty of mid-range, few-frills hotels aimed at short-stay visitors, not so many with real character. For somewhere with a bit of local colourful, village-feel, try Arsinoe Guesthouse close to the city centre. Despite being built in 2011, ​​Semeli Hotel sports a classic style, creating a cosy atmosphere while located right in the city centre. Alternatively, Hilton Nicosia is your go-to for a modern stay with first-class facilities.

Kyrenia (Girne)

Best for scenery and sightseeing

On the northern side of the Green Line, Turkish-dominated northern Cyprus has so much going for it: fantastic beaches, a portfolio of atmospheric medieval castle and abbey ruins, and the graceful millennia-old columns rising above the remains of ancient Salamis, one of the great cities of the ancient world.

Kyrenia (Girne), around a perfect harbour guarded by a formidable Venetian castle and flanked on either side by long sandy beaches lined with family-friendly, well-priced resort hotels, is your best base for exploring this characterful half of the island.

There's a Levantine ambience here, with palm trees, domed mosques and tall minarets, and a decidedly Turkish menu: Kyrenia's restaurants serve some of the finest kebabs you'll ever taste.

Inland are rugged mountains where the 11th-century royal castle of St Hilarion, Byzantine-era Buffavento, and tranquil Bellapais Abbey gaze out to sea.

Where to stay in Kyrenia

Northern Cyprus became even more popular with Russian tourists after they were barred from visiting the southern half of the island under EU sanctions, so you may find yourself jostling for space at Kyrenia's upscale hotels, like the Liman Hotel and Casino. If you're looking for a more peaceful base for exploring the region, Kemerli Konak Boutique Hotel is a smaller (38-bedroom) spot with boutique hotel pretensions, around 15 minutes from the resort centre.