Towns and villages in Cyprus, and which to stay in

Cyprus isn’t a country of big cities. It has a capital split in two, three coastal towns that share almost all the tourism and hundreds of villages, 410 localities in CYSTAT’s 2021 census. Here I rank the main ones with their population and what each is good for, because choosing the right base changes a trip to the island more than anything else. Why nearly all of them have two names is explained in the name of Cyprus. How they split by district is in the districts of Cyprus.

What is the biggest city in Cyprus?

It depends how you count, and it’s a trick question. Counted as one urban area, Nicosia wins, with 269,900 people at the end of 2024 once CYSTAT adds up all the capital’s municipalities. Municipality by municipality in 2021, though, Limassol led with 107,970, since Nicosia is carved up between Lefkosia (56,479) and neighbours such as Strovolos, Lakatameia and Aglantzia. Larnaca had 52,046 and Paphos 37,991.

All those figures cover only the area the government controls. CYSTAT publishes nothing for Kyrenia, Famagusta and Morphou, which are in the north. The breakdown by age, district and community is in the population of Cyprus.

The Republic’s four towns

Nicosia has been the Republic’s capital since December 1959 and is the only big town inland, on the Mesaoria plain. The UN buffer zone runs through it, and inside its Venetian walls you’ll find the museums, Ledra Street and one of the crossings to the north. For me it deserves at least a full day, beach or no beach. The rest, with the mountain villages, is in Nicosia district.

Limassol is the second city and main port, with a long seafront promenade and a castle in the old town. Larnaca, which its municipality presents as 4,000 years old, has the busiest airport about 6 km away in a straight line. Paphos is the smallest of the four and the richest in history, because its lower town, Kato Paphos, holds the ruins of Nea Paphos, World Heritage since 1980. Each town’s highlights are ranked among the places to visit in Cyprus. And if you’re arriving by sea at Limassol, what a port call allows is in Cyprus cruises.

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

The east coast, with names the census doesn’t use

In the south-east, the part of Famagusta district the government controls has two resorts. Ayia Napa is a municipality of just 4,716 residents in 2021, and Protaras belongs to Paralimni, with 19,037, according to OpenStreetMap and the census. The same goes for other names British visitors search for, such as Coral Bay, which is in Pegeia in Paphos district, or Latchi, beside Polis. None has a line of its own in the census, and I take the municipality each belongs to from OpenStreetMap.

The towns in the north

In the northern part of the island, beyond the Republic’s control since 1974, lie three historic towns and the northern half of the capital. They are Kyrenia (Keryneia, Girne) on the north coast, with Lapithos 14 km away, Famagusta (Ammochostos, Gazimağusa) on the east coast, Morphou (Güzelyurt) to the west, and north Nicosia (Lefkoşa). The Republic has no official statistics for them, and the Spanish foreign ministry estimates that around 350,000 people live in the north as a whole, some 80,000 of them in north Nicosia. What to know before you go, starting with the crossing points, is in northern Cyprus.

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

Municipalities and villages

Since 1 July 2024, according to the Union of Cyprus Municipalities, the government-controlled area has had 20 municipalities, several of them the product of mergers, and the Republic keeps another 9 for the towns in the north, with temporary offices in the south. Below them are the communities, the villages, many with fewer than a thousand people.

Of those villages, the ones I like best are almost all in the Troodos Mountains, from Prodromos, the island’s highest, to Foini or Treis Elies, and in the wine country. The most remote, with its own beach, is Kato Pyrgos, in the Tilliria area. The census also lists 14 localities with no residents at all, abandoned villages or places inside the buffer zone. My favourites, with scores, are in the prettiest villages in Cyprus.

Which one I’d choose

For a week, two bases. Paphos for the west coast and Limassol for Kourion, wine and the mountains. I’d keep Larnaca for the first or last night because of the airport, and Ayia Napa or Protaras only if the trip is about the beach. With a spare day, sleep in Nicosia so you have the old town on foot. To see where they all are, open the map of Cyprus. Next to the towns there are municipalities with their own guide, such as Germasogeia, right by Limassol, or Geroskipou, next to Paphos, and areas such as the Krasochoria, the wine villages, or the Kokkinochoria, the red-earth villages of the south-east.

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

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