Cyprus Driving Advice and Car Hire Info
Cyprus Road Rules
Cyprus drives on the left and EU licence can be used here until their expiry date. Drivers from the following countries can use their own licence for up to 6 months -Australia, Canada,Georgia, Iceland,Japan, Liechtenstein,New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, USA, Zimbabwe. Drivers from other countries should bring their own licence and an International Driving permit. In Northern Cyprus all foreign visitors can use their own licence for up to 90 days, though if it isn’t written in Roman alphabet, an IDP is recommended. Speed limits across Cyprus are 100kmh on highways, 65-80km on rural roads and 50kmh in urban areas.
Roads in Southern Cyprus
70% of Cyprus’s 12,000km of roads are paved and the country has a reasonably well maintained network of multi-lane motorway class roads. Main routes are-
A1 Nicosia to Limassol
A2 Link between A1 near Pera Chorio and A3 Larnaca
A3 Larnaca Airport to Agia Napa, also ring road for Larnaca.
A5 Link between A1 near Kofinou with A3 Larnaca
A6 Pafos to Limassol
A7 Pafos to Polis
A9 Nicosia to Astromeritis (under construction)
Most roads are generally in good condition, though expect some pot holes on minor rural roads and unpaved roads.
Roads in Northern Cyprus/ Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus has 7000 km of roads, without around 70% of the roads being paved. A new road, the North Coast Highway runs East from Kyrenia to the Karpas Peninsula. Most other main routes are in good condition and a number are dual carriageways .
Driving in Cyprus
Cyprus may be technically in the Middle East geographically but the standard and style of driving has little in common with neighbouring countries. Both North and South Cyprus drive right hand cars on the left hand side of the road, like UK. Whilst not quite up to Western Europe/USA standards, driving style is quite similar to most parts of Southern Europe. The standard of most roads is good and you shouldn’t have problems driving in urban areas- even Nicosia is pretty straight forward. If you visit in Winter, whatever the weather at the coast , you should expect snow and cold weather in the mountains.
Crossing between South and North Cyprus
Many tourists visiting Cyprus want to experience both the Greek (South) and Turkish (North) of the island, and while you can usually take a rental car from the South into the North, its generally not possible to take a vehicle rented in the North to the South. (Even if travelling South to North you should make the rental company aware that you intend to travel to the North). If you’ve rented a car in Northern Cyprus, you will need to park it at the border and walk across into the South.
If taking your rental car from South to North, you can enter Northern Cyprus at four border crossing points. However, you will need to purchase Turkish Cypriot car insurance for the north at the border (€20 for three days €35 for one month). The Metehan crossing point in Nicosia generally has the longest opening hours to buy insurance and is open 7 days a week. Other crossing points for vehicles are – Black Knight, (also known as Azios Nikolaos/ Strovilia/ Akyar crossing, and Dhekelia which are within the British Eastern Sovereign Base Area; Guzelyurt,( also known as Astromeritis/Morpho). A valid passport is required to cross the border in either direction.
Although I try and keep the information in the site updated as much as possible, in a rapidly moving world, situations can change daily. Therefore please use the site as an approximate guide, and in conjunction with other resources in order to form your view on driving conditions, roads, safety etc.
Cyprus Car Rental –
Sixt , Hertz, Europcar , National, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Dollar, have outlets here.
We currently have no local car rental partners in Cyprus. If you are a local car rental company who would like to feature on DriverAbroad.com please check details on our Partnering page or contact us on ADriverAbroad@Outlook.com
Cyprus Self Driving Rules-
As stated above, You can’t take a rental car from North Cyrpus to the South. It should be possible to take a vehicle from South to North but some companies don’t allow this. In North Cyprus the minimum age to rent a car is 25. In the South its generally 21.
