A base in Cyprus

What to do in Limassol

The one base that is a working city rather than a resort. Kourion and the wine villages are the reason to hire a car here.

Without a car

The Molos seafront, marina and old town are all walkable end to end.

• The old town lanes and the marina

  €8 · Afternoon

  Restored courtyards behind the castle, then the marina for a drink where the money is. Both on foot.

• Molos seafront at sunset

  Free · Evening

  A landscaped kilometre of promenade with sculpture, shade and the sea. This is where Limassol actually walks.

• Limassol Castle and the medieval museum

  €4.50 · Afternoon

  Where Richard the Lionheart married, now a small dense museum. Good for the hottest hour of the day.

• Amathus, on the sea

  €2.50 · Afternoon

  An ancient city half-excavated beside the coast road, with the agora and a giant stone basin. Twenty minutes, cheap, always empty.

• Saripolou square and the old port bars

  €24 · Evening

  The best night out in Cyprus that is not aimed at tourists. Starts at ten, goes long.

What a car adds

Kourion and the Krasochoria wine villages need one. The seafront and marina do not.

• Kourion, early

  €4.50 · Morning

  A Greco-Roman city on a cliff with a theatre still used for performances and house mosaics under cover. Exposed. Go before ten.

• Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates

  €2.50 · Morning

  Ten minutes past Kourion and a fraction of the visitors. Columns, a stadium, and pines.

• Kolossi Castle

  €2.50 · Morning

  A compact Crusader keep in the middle of vineyards, where Commandaria wine was first shipped from.

• The Krasochoria wine villages

  €30 · Morning

  Omodos, Vouni and Koilani: stone squares, small wineries pouring Xynisteri and Maratheftiko, lunch under a vine.

• Governor’s Beach

  €8 · Afternoon

  White chalk cliffs, dark sand and clear water twenty minutes east. Come mid-afternoon when the cliff throws shade.

• Akrotiri salt lake and the flamingos

  Free · Morning · Nov–Mar only

  Thousands of them winter here, with the marsh boardwalks and a British-base fence for company.

• Ladies Mile

  €6 · Afternoon

  Kilometres of shallow flat sand with almost no development. Bring everything; there is nothing there but a couple of beach bars.

• Meze at a village taverna above the city

  €30 · Evening

  Twenty small plates, two hours, and no menu. The correct way to eat here. Book, and go hungry.

Air and sea, by month

Long-run averages for the coast, rounded to the degree.

What things cost

Checked August 2026, away from the resort strips. Cars, taxis and restaurant meals move with the season, so treat them as the middle of a band. Accommodation is not listed: you have already booked yours.

Questions

The other bases

Approximate drive from Limassol, off-peak.