Taxi Travel

Private taxis operate 24 hours throughout the island. They are generally very cheap within towns but far more expensive than service taxis between towns. Telephone from your hotel or hail one in the street. Urban taxis have an initial charge of €3.42 (€4.36 at night) and then €0.73 per km in the daytime, €0.85 at night. The waiting time day-rate is €13.66 per hour. Urban taxi drivers are bound by law to run their meter; rural taxis are not, but if you engage a taxi in town it will be classed as an urban taxi.

Shared taxis, run by various travel companies operating under the name Travel & Express accommodate four to eight passengers and are an inexpensive way to travel between the main towns: Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, and Paphos. Shared taxis also run from the towns to the Paphos and Larnaca airports, though you must take a private taxi when being picked up at the airport. Tariffs are €8.20 to €26.90. Seats must be booked by phone, and passengers may embark/disembark anywhere within the town. The taxis run roughly every half hour (weekdays 6 am to 6 pm, until 7 pm in summer; Saturdays 6 am to 5 pm; Sundays 7 am to 5 pm). There is no service on public holidays. Something to keep in mind: while some service taxis are air-conditioned, clean, comfortable, and fast, others lack air-conditioning, are in worse condition, can be overcrowded, and make multiple stops, in some cases tripling the regular travel time. You never know which you’ll get until the taxi arrives to pick you up—but for many, the inexpensive price is worth the potential discomfort and possibly longer travel time.

Contacts

Travel & Express. Travel & Express 7777/7474; 2273/0888; 2466/1010; 2587/7666; 2692/3800; 2632/1101; 2382/6061; www.travelexpress.com.cy.