For the beach, June to September; for touring the island, April, May, October and early November; for skiing in the Troodos, January to March. August is the busiest month, with 602,026 visitors in 2025 according to CYSTAT, and January the quietest, with 112,100.
In 30 seconds
Full read: 3 min
Beach June to September; touring in spring and autumn.
Skiing on Mount Olympus from January to March.
August is busiest; January the quietest.
On paper my favourite month is October. Coastal highs are still around 28 °C, the heat eases off, flights from UK airports are still running and the island is less crowded than in August.
Sergio LeponeMy advice
Before you go
What I would keep in mind
01 Most beautiful
Spring and autumn
In April and October coastal highs are around 23 and 28 °C, good for walking and archaeological sites.
There’s no single best time for Cyprus, only a best time for each kind of trip. To decide, I combine three official sources, WMO weather data, CYSTAT visitor arrivals and the holidays published by the Central Bank, plus the flight schedule from UK airports. The weather detail is in Cyprus weather.
For the beach
June to September. On the coast, average highs run from 28 to 33 °C and it barely rains. It’s also when the island is busiest, as more than 2.2 million visitors arrived between June and September 2025. If you want the sea without the crowds, see Cyprus in summer and think about June or late September. In those months the sea stays above 23 °C all round the coast, according to the figures in Cyprus sea temperature.
For touring
April, May, October and early November. In April Larnaca’s high is 23 °C and in October 28.3 °C, comfortable for walking around Paphos, Kourion or Nicosia. April and October 2025 brought around 420,000 and 540,000 visitors, well below August. More in Cyprus in spring.
January to March. According to the Cyprus Ski Club, there’s skiing on Mount Olympus most years between January and March, with four lifts. Down on the coast, meanwhile, January highs are around 17 °C. I cover it in Cyprus in winter.
For a quieter trip
January and February have the fewest visitors, 112,100 and 133,760 in 2025, according to CYSTAT. November drops sharply too, to 234,580. It’s the time for mountain villages and towns.
In August 2025 almost a third of all visitors came from the UK, 193,091 out of 602,026. CYSTAT counted 151,883 arrivals from the UK in April 2025, rising through the summer and falling to 53,267 in November. Hermes’s summer timetable for 2026 has Larnaca receiving roughly 85 flights a week from the UK in April and 127 in August, from Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham and many regional airports. Details are in flights to Cyprus.
Dates to watch
Orthodox Easter shifts the calendar. For 2027, the Central Bank of Cyprus puts Orthodox Good Friday on 30 April, with Easter Monday three days later. Green Monday, on 15 March 2027, and Independence Day, on 1 October, are also holidays. You’ll find every date in public holidays in Cyprus.
According to CYSTAT, 4,534,073 visitors arrived in Cyprus in 2025, 12.2 % more than in 2024. Almost every month grew, especially the edges of the season, with 25.5 % more in April and 30.4 % more in November. The in-between months are no longer as quiet as they used to be.
My pick
October, if I can. Coastal highs of 27 to 28 °C, less heat and fewer people than in high summer. One warning, gov.uk notes a high wildfire risk from April to October.
It depends on the trip. For the beach, June to September; for touring in good weather, April, May, October and early November; for skiing, January to March.
When is Cyprus quietest?
In January and February. In 2025 Cyprus had 112,100 visitors in January and 133,760 in February, against 602,026 in August, according to CYSTAT.
When do most British visitors go?
From April to October. In 2025 arrivals from the UK ranged from 151,883 in April to 193,091 in August, then fell to 53,267 in November.
When can you ski in Cyprus?
Usually from early January to the end of March, on Mount Olympus, according to the Cyprus Ski Club.
Is there a wildfire risk in summer?
Yes. gov.uk warns that the wildfire danger is high from April until October.
Tourism graduate with a master’s in Tourism Management and Planning from the University of Málaga, who has travelled across Europe. He writes every guide from official sources and his own judgement.
