Cyprus cruise port: Limassol in a day

Facts checked October 2026 against operator sources. Prices and times change, the booking page wins.

Cyprus is a Limassol call on the eastern Mediterranean itineraries, the long Southampton sailings that go on to Greece, Turkey and Israel, and on the Athens-based loops of Celestyal, whose Journey calls at Limassol in December 2027 on the Egypt and Turkey and the Three Continents routes. For British passengers Cyprus is also a fly-cruise destination in its own right: Celestyal's UK operator sells fly, sail and stay packages, and the flight lands at Larnaca, not Limassol. This page covers the port day in Limassol and the airport end, which is where the planning gaps are.

The port and the way into town

Cruise ships use the passenger terminal at Limassol's new port, west of the city, about five kilometres from the old town and the castle. There is no useful walk: ships run a shuttle to the centre, usually dropping near the old harbour and the Limassol Marina, and taxis wait at the terminal with fixed rates to the centre posted. The seafront promenade, the Molos, runs from the marina east along the city, and the old town with the castle, the covered market and the cafés around Saripolou square is a few minutes inland from the old harbour.

The classic half-day excursions are west of the city: the Kourion archaeological site with its Greco-Roman theatre on the cliff above the sea (about 20 kilometres), Kolossi castle on the way, and the wine villages of the Troodos foothills such as Omodos. East of the city there is little for a port day. Aphrodite's Rock on the Paphos road makes a photo stop on the Kourion run.

A port day in Limassol

Time from the ship	What	Notes
0-20 min	Shuttle or taxi to the old harbour	Marina cafés; the castle is five minutes on foot
20 min-2 h	Castle, old town, Saripolou square, covered market	Flat and compact; lunch at the market tavernas
2-5 h	Kourion and Kolossi by taxi or ship tour	Theatre, mosaics, castle; sun hat and water
Alternative	Omodos and the wine villages	About an hour each way; tastings at the village wineries
Last hour	The Molos promenade and back to the shuttle	Allow the shuttle queue at busy times

Larnaca: the airport end of a Cyprus fly-cruise

Larnaca is the island's main airport and the one the UK charter and scheduled flights use, with easyJet, Jet2, TUI, British Airways and Wizz Air from most British airports through the year. From the terminal to Limassol port is about 65 kilometres on the A1 and A5 motorways, 45 to 55 minutes by road, which is the transfer a fly-cruise package includes on the embarkation day. Paphos airport, on the west of the island, is a similar distance from Limassol in the other direction and is used by some of the same airlines in summer.

The gap to plan for is any night before or after the cruise. Cyprus is a driving island: the Troodos mountains, the Akamas peninsula and the Famagusta beaches are each an hour or more from Limassol and have thin bus links, and a car collected at the airport covers the airport transfer as well. The English guide to car hire at Larnaca airport explains the terminal desks, the deposit and credit-card rules that differ from the UK, and what a week costs by season; driving is on the left, which makes Cyprus the easiest Mediterranean island for a British driver.

Combining a cruise and a Cyprus stay

Plan	How it works	Watch out for
Fly-cruise package	Flight to Larnaca, coach to Limassol, cruise, coach back, flight home	Transfers are included on the cruise days only; add-on nights need their own transfer or a car
Cruise then stay	Disembark in Limassol, collect a car, week in Paphos or the Troodos, fly home from Larnaca or Paphos	Pick-up at the port is rare; a taxi to Larnaca and the car from the airport is the usual sequence
Limassol call only	Port day as above, no car needed	Kourion by taxi is cheaper than the ship tour for three or four people

Practical notes

Euros, cards everywhere, English widely spoken and driving on the left. Summer calls are hot, with Kourion offering no shade; spring and autumn are the comfortable months and the winter calls are mild. Limassol port is a working container port and the terminal area is not somewhere to wander: use the shuttle. Keep the ship's port agent card and the all-aboard time written down, and if you take a hire car for the day, the A1 back from Larnaca direction is fast but the city traffic near the port is slow at the end of the afternoon.