Cyprus in May, almost summer

May is the last month of spring and already has a whiff of summer. Temperatures rise, rain all but vanishes from the coast and the island is lively without August’s crush. Here are the weather, the festivals and the holidays, from WMO, CYSTAT, Central Bank and Larnaca Municipality data. For spring overall, see Cyprus in spring.

May weather

In Larnaca the average high is 26.9 °C and the low 16.1 °C, and in Paphos 24.8 and 15.5 °C. Nicosia rises to 29.6 °C and, oddly enough, gets 38 mm of rain, more than the coast, where Larnaca records 10.6 mm and Paphos 6.2 mm. In the Troodos, Prodromos reaches a 20.8 °C high.

May holidays

1 May is a public holiday, according to the Central Bank of Cyprus; it fell on a Friday in 2026 and falls on a Saturday in 2027. In 2027 Orthodox Easter arrives in May, with Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 as holidays. Check every date in public holidays in Cyprus.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Larnaca before prices climb.

Larnaca’s Kataklysmos

It’s the Festival of the Flood, tied to Pentecost. In 2026, according to Larnaca Municipality, it ran for six days, from Friday 29 May to Wednesday 3 June, opening on the 29th at 20:00 at the stand on Finikoudes beach. There were contests in Cypriot poetry, tsiattista, song and flute, dancing and a shadow theatre festival at the medieval castle. I cover it in Kataklysmos. The promenade it fills is Finikoudes, the town beach.

How busy it is

According to CYSTAT, 479,160 visitors arrived in May 2025 and 455,680 in May 2026, already close to June. From the UK, 179,150 came in May 2025 and 165,600 in May 2026.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Larnaca and choose by the reviews.

Getting there

May sits well inside Hermes’s summer 2026 schedule, with UK routes to both Larnaca and Paphos. If you fancy arriving by sea, the Cypriot shipping press reported that the 2026 Limassol-Piraeus ferry made its first sailing on 29 May; I explain it in ferry to Cyprus.

Compared with the year before

According to CYSTAT, May 2025 brought 13.7 % more visitors than May 2024, and May 2026 settled at 455,680. UK arrivals in May 2025 were only a little below the summer peak, at 179,150.

A car frees you from timetables: search car hire in Larnaca on DiscoverCars and compare companies.

What to pack

Summer clothes, swimwear, a hat and high-factor sun cream, plus a light jacket for mountain evenings, where the low at Prodromos is around 11 °C. In Nicosia, sightsee in the morning, as the high is close to 30 °C.

My May plan

Beach in the morning and sightseeing in the afternoon, based in Larnaca or Paphos. If you’re going at the end of the month, check whether it coincides with Kataklysmos, as in 2026 Larnaca gave it six days of events.

If your trip moves earlier, see Cyprus in April, and if it slips later, Cyprus in summer, when the real heat arrives.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Larnaca before prices climb.