Best time to visit Cyprus

The best time to visit is spring, but whilst summers in Cyprus can reach scorchio levels, holidays can head to higher ground or shaded forest footpaths to escape the midday heat. If you're looking for the best time to visit Cyprus this page presents a handy weather chart as well as answers to your questions, and the best time to go to the island for festivals and events.

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Best time to visit Cyprus

The exceptionally mild winters, the warmest in the Mediterranean, attract visitors from far and wide but the majority fail to venture north.

The best time to visit Cyprus is the late spring. The weather is favourable in March and April with wildflowers, including over 40 species of orchid, popping up across the ridge of the Besparmak Mountains and the hillsides towards the Akamas headland. The heat starts to kick in in May and the sun usually lasts all the way through to October. Summer is the best time for sea turtles and you can find conservation projects on Lara Bay and Alagadi Beach. Prices start to fall in autumn, so consider a getaway before the cold and rain of December to January.

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Cyprus travel advice

January in Cyprus

Small group walking

Pleasant temperatures

Cold in the mountains

It can be rainy in Cyprus in January but in Europe’s most southerly ski resort there’s probably snow –the island’s short ski season starts this month. It’s warmer than most of Europe here, with an average daily high of 15°C and an average low of 6°C. By the end of January our small group walking tours have begun but you’re very much visiting outside the main tourist season and towns and cities are relaxed and quiet.

February in Cyprus

Spring arrives

Blossom trees

Highs of 16°C

Spring comes early to Cyprus. By February there is blossom on the almond trees and by late February more wildflowers are blooming. There’s still some rain about in Cyprus in February, but an average of six hours of sunshine a day and temperatures in the high teens make this a perfectly fine month to visit if you want to escape the winter chill in the rest of Europe.

March in Cyprus

Good walking weather

Spring flowers

Migrating birds

Many flowers are in bloom in Cyprus in March – including orchids, making it an amazing time of year for a botany holiday. Look out for endemic blooms (the island has 140) like its dark red tulip, tulipa cypria and be sure to include a visit to the very wild Akamas Peninsula. March marks the month migrating birds arrive in Cyprus en route to the rest of Europe. The average daily high is 18°C – great for walking.

March is a great month for a Cyprus painting holiday

April in Cyprus

Archaeology and history tours

Beautiful flora

Tourist season starts

The official tourist season starts in Cyprus in April, meaning more hotels and restaurants open. It’s great walking weather and the island is gloriously green. Spring and autumn are good for Biblical history and archaeology tours – so you can see astounding places like the Roman ruins at Paphos before it gets too hot out in the sun. April is often the month when Holy Week falls – Greek Orthodox Easter can be as early as 4 April and as late as 8 May.

May in Cyprus

Summer starts

Dry and hot

Walking and cycling

Summer starts in Cyprus in May. It’s dry, there’s typically less than 20mm of rain, and even less will come in the coming months. Delicious fruits have been appearing in the markets since the start of spring; by summer they are reaching a crescendo – there are lovely melons at this time of year. With an average daily high of 28°C this is the last month for more active walking and cycling trips, as it gets too hot by next month.

June in Cyprus

Hot temperatures

No rain

Walking tours end

It’s getting hot. The average high temperature in Cyprus in June is now 32°C, with lows of 19°C and there’s lots of sunshine and very little rainfall. Our small group walking tours stop in summer as the temperature rises and most won’t recommence until September. Look out for apricots, nectarines and peaches in markets, and cool down with an ice-cold shot of zivania, the local spirit.

Come for a spring holiday see amazing flora – we’re a floral kingdom as early as February.

– Tim Price from our partner Fire Gallery

July in Cyprus

Hottest month

Beach and villa holidays

Peak season

If you’re looking for a place for your family holiday, this is it. Come to Cyprus in July for outdoor pools, picnics, dinner under the stars. This is the hottest month of the year, alongside August with average maximum day temperature around 34°C. People head to the Troodos Mountains to escape the heat. With no mountains on hand a cool shower beckons, but watch your water consumption: Cyprus suffers from water insecurity, especially in summer as the reservoirs become low.

August in Cyprus

Hatching turtles

Hottest month

Cooler in the mountains

Swap your coffee for a freddo espresso – it’s extremely hot in Cyprus in August. The central plain is hottest of all, the coast cooler, and the north benefitting from some cooling breezes from the Kyrenia mountains. Nicosia is the sunniest capital in Europe, receiving around 3,400 hours of sunshine a year. Look out for hatching turtles on the beaches in Northern Cyprus, and for birds starting to arrive on their winter migration route back to Africa.

September in Cyprus

Still very hot and dry

Warm sea

Quieter outside summer holidays

The grape harvest is underway in Cyprus in September to make wine and zivania, olive picking starts, and Paphos is harvesting papayas and mangoes. It’s still very hot, but it may be quieter on the beaches as the school holidays are over, and the sea is 26°C.

October in Cyprus

Walking holidays

Lovely weather

Warm sea

It’s another great month for walking in Cyprus in October: the sea is still 25°C, and the average daily high on land is 27°C. There are wine and grape festivals around the country, citrus fruits start ripening on the trees, appearing in markets through the winter months, and it starts to get quieter. This is the last month of the official tourist season and you might find hotels with lower rates.

October is a good month for our North Cyprus walking holiday

November in Cyprus

Temperatures still in the 20s°C

A bit wetter

Official tourism season over

Tourist season is over in Cyprus in November so there are fewer flights and more hotels and restaurant closed until next April except in larger towns. That being said, many of our holidays run year-round. One sure arrival is the flamingos, who come to Larnaca’s salt lake for the winter with the arrival of the first rains, and Cyprus’s national flower, the Cyprus cyclamen, starts to bloom in the forests.

December in Cyprus

Christmas festivities

Temperature in high teens

Rainiest month

Winter starts in Cyprus in December. This is the rainiest month of the year, replenishing the island’s reservoirs and temperatures are mild – an average high of 17°C and it’s often still very sunny. Winter doesn’t mean the end of holidays – you can visit Cyprus year-round and this is a lovely time of year to see the island at its most relaxed, go for foraging holidays and painting trips.

Cyprus Weather Chart

MIN °C

MAX °C

RAIN (mm)

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

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Best times to visit Cyprus for festivals & events

Limassol Carnival (50 days before Easter)

Celebrations to mark the start of Lent are common across Europe and Cyprus is no exception. The best known carnival on the island is at Limassol and takes place over several days. Among the most famous parades are the Children’s Carnival Parade and the Grand Carnival parade, which takes place on the final day, featuring 150 floats and 50,000 participants, all under the watchful eye of the presiding carnival king or queen.

Greek Orthodox Easter (April or May)

Cyprus celebrates Holy Week and Easter after a long few weeks of fasting, and that means lots of good food, including flaounes – cheese pies – and magiritsa, a lamb stew. On Easter Saturday you might see bonfires and there are late night church services. A Greek tradition alive and well here is competitive egg cracking – players take turns to try and crack their opponent’s shell, using eggs dyed red by being boiled with onion skins. Traditionally, these red eggs were the first thing families ate to break the Lenten fast.

Anthestiria (May)

Some 1,800 species of plant are found on the Cyprus so there’s no better place to celebrate flowers than here, especially during May, when many blooms are at their best. In Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos there are parades of bloom-smothered floats to celebrate Anthestiria, a flower festival that has its roots in Ancient Greek festivals honouring Dionysus and which is also practised in parts of Greece.

Guzelyurt Orange Festival (June)

Fancy some free orange juice? Guzelyurt Orange Festival in Northern Cyprus features parades and dancers, food stalls, a funfair, music and local produce – all celebrating one of the island’s most important fruits. All performers are dressed in varying vivid shades of – you’ve guessed it – orange.

Wine festivals (August and September)

Wine has been produced on the island for thousands of years and Cyprus produces a whole lot of bottles per capita. To celebrate the harvest, there are a few wine festivals around the country and yes, you can see a bit of competitive grape treading. Expect a bit of Cypriot dancing – and join in as the night goes on, or sit out with a plate of mezedes (mezze dishes).

Our travellers also ask…

When is the best month to go to Cyprus?

We think the best month to go to Cyprus is April. The average daily high is 23°C so it’s a great temperature for walkers, and you can enjoy the best of the spring flowers. Migrating birds have arrived and this month or next you might catch the celebrations for Greek Orthodox Easter, the island’s most important festival.

What is the hottest month in Cyprus?

Like many places in the Mediterranean, Cyprus’s hottest month is August. The average daily high on the island is 35°C and the sea reaches its warmest temperature, too (around 28°C). It’s cooler in the mountains, and many people head into the Troodos Mountains at this time of year to escape the summer heat. It can also be cooler at the coasts on the north, thanks to a cooling breeze.

Is it worth going to Cyprus in winter?

We say yes, absolutely. It’s not as warm and pretty as the spring, and the sea isn’t as warm as in autumn, but it’s perfect for winter sun if you’re coming from a colder part of Europe. Whilst the winter is the rainiest season, there’s plenty of sunshine to be had, and it’s a relaxed time of year – though don’t expect every restaurant and hotel to be open.

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Written by Eloise Barker

Best time to visit Cyprus

Best time to visit Cyprus