Time in Cyprus and the difference with the UK

The time difference with Cyprus is an easy one. Two hours ahead of the UK, always. Here’s where it comes from, when the clocks change and how it affects your flights. To place the island first, look at where is Cyprus.

Europe/Nicosia, GMT+2

On OpenStreetMap, Cyprus is tagged with the Europe/Nicosia zone, two hours ahead of GMT in winter. In summer, like the rest of the EU, it moves forward an hour to GMT+3. The UK runs on GMT in winter and BST, GMT+1, in summer, so the gap between the two clocks is always the same, two hours.

Ireland is in the same position as the UK, two hours behind Cyprus, while mainland Spain is one hour behind.

When the clocks change

Across the EU, Directive 2000/84/EC runs summer time between the final Sundays of March and October, switching at 01:00 GMT. Gov.uk gives the same Sundays for the UK. In Cyprus that means that in March, at 03:00, clocks go forward to 04:00, and in October, at 04:00, they go back to 03:00.

With that rule the dates follow on their own. The next change is on Sunday 25 October 2026, when you’ll get an extra hour in bed. Next year it’s forward on 28 March 2027 and back on 31 October 2027, both Sundays. Because they’re the same Sundays as at home, the gap never changes.

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

How it affects your trip

Not much in practice, but there are two things I’d watch. First, tickets always show local time, so a flight that leaves Gatwick at 12:00 and lands in Larnaca at 19:00 takes five hours, not seven. Second, the flight home, because an early departure means getting up on Cyprus time, which is ahead of your body clock.

If your trip covers the last weekend in October, double-check the time of Sunday’s excursions and transfers too. How to get there and which airport to choose is in how to get to Cyprus, and flights in flights to Cyprus.

The other timetable change, for the sights

Cyprus has a second calendar that doesn’t match the clock change and is worth knowing about. State-run archaeological sites and museums work to a winter timetable from 16 September to 15 April and a summer one for the rest of the year, as the Larnaca tourism board publishes for those in its district. The Paphos Archaeological Park, for example, opens at 8:30 and closes at 17:00 in winter and 19:30 in summer. So in the second half of September and the first half of April, even though the clocks haven’t moved, sites close earlier or later than you might expect.

Gov.uk lists the UK change dates as 29 March and 25 October in 2026, and 28 March and 31 October in 2027, the same Sundays as in Cyprus, which is why the two-hour gap never changes.

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

What about the north?

On the time in the north I’ve no citable official source, so I won’t state one. If you’re crossing over for something at a fixed time, confirm it there. The crossing rules themselves are in crossing to northern Cyprus.

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

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