The square and the strip
NightlifeThe centre around the monastery and the club streets. Loud until dawn in season.
Ayia Napa city guide
Things To Do In Ayia Napa
A fishing village that became a club resort, with the best sand in Cyprus, sea caves along the cape, and an underwater sculpture forest offshore.
3
Hostels in the city
8.7
Average, from 242 reviews
93
Sculptures in the underwater museum
€1.50
Bus to Cape Greco
Jun–Sep
The season, and it is everything
A resort with better bones than its reputation
Ayia Napa was a fishing village until the 1970s and is now a club resort with a reputation built in the garage music years, which it has spent the last decade trying to broaden.
The beaches are the reason it grew: Nissi Beach and Makronissos are the best sand in Cyprus, pale and shallow with water that genuinely is that colour.
Around the cape, the Ayia Napa Sculpture Park and the underwater Museum of Underwater Sculpture — 93 works sunk in a bay at 8 to 10 metres, planted as an artificial reef — are both unexpected and worth the trip.
Cape Greco national forest park, ten minutes east, has sea caves, cliffs, walking trails and none of the noise.
The season is June to September and the town closes almost entirely outside it. Three or four days.
Where to stay
The square and the strip, the beaches west, or the quieter harbour side.
Nissi and Makronissos
BeachesWest of the centre: the best sand on the island, beach clubs and a bus or twenty-minute walk in.
Harbour and Kryou Nerou
QuieterEast towards Cape Greco, with the fishing harbour, calmer beaches and sleep.
Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 3 top-rated hostels. Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Ayia Napa
Nissi Beach is the famous one — pale sand, shallow turquoise water and a sandbar to a small island — and it is packed from ten in the morning in season. Makronissos, a little further west, has the same water with more space.
The Museum of Underwater Sculpture is 93 works by Jason deCaires Taylor sunk at 8 to 10 metres in a bay east of town, forming an artificial reef of trees and figures. Snorkelling trips and dives both run out to it.
Cape Greco national forest park, ten minutes east, has sea caves you can swim into, cliff jumping spots, a natural rock bridge and coastal trails with no development.
The sixteenth-century monastery in the middle of the town square is a genuinely peaceful survivor, and it is free.
Free things
Free things to do in Ayia Napa
Every beach is free, including Nissi and Makronissos — only the loungers cost.
Cape Greco national forest park is free, with the sea caves, the rock bridge, the cliffs and the walking and cycling trails.
The Sculpture Park on the coast road east has around 200 works in an open-air setting and costs nothing.
The monastery in the town square is free and is a genuine curiosity in the middle of the nightlife.
The coastal path from the harbour east towards Cape Greco is free and takes about an hour.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Ayia Napa
The strip has the full-English and pizza economy, and it is exactly what it looks like.
The harbour has the fish tavernas, at €18 to €30 for a whole fish, and they are the better option in town.
Meze is available everywhere at €20 to €30 a head, and the versions in the village tavernas at Liopetri and Sotira inland are considerably better than the versions on the strip.
A beer is €4 to €6 on the strip and less at the harbour, and cocktails run €9 to €14 with the usual happy hours.
Self-catering is common here and the supermarkets are cheap.
Nightlife
Going out in Ayia Napa
This is why most people come. The square and the streets off it are wall-to-wall clubs and bars, running from about eleven until six in the morning through the season, with international DJs in July and August.
The crowd is overwhelmingly young, British, Scandinavian and Israeli, and the promoters on the street are relentless.
Beach clubs at Nissi run daytime parties, and the two scenes join up in the afternoon.
Cocktails are €9 to €14 with heavy happy hours, and drink prices on the strip vary wildly — check before ordering a round.
Outside June to September almost all of it is closed, and the town is a quiet, pleasant seaside village.
Getting around
Getting around Ayia Napa
Buses from Larnaca airport take 45 minutes for about €5, and Paphos airport is two and a half hours away — book flights into Larnaca if you can.
The town is walkable, and buses run west to Nissi and Makronissos and east to Cape Greco and Protaras for about €1.50, with a day pass around €5.
In season a road train and open-top buses do the same routes at tourist prices.
Quad bikes and scooters are rented everywhere and are the single most common source of injury here.
Driving is on the left.
Costs
What Ayia Napa costs
Expensive in July and August and cheap either side. Dorms are €18 to €45 with a sharp summer peak, a meal €12 to €25, and cocktails €9 to €14.
A day is €50 to €90 in season, considerably less in May or October.
Club entry runs €10 to €30 for bigger nights, and beach loungers €8 to €15 a pair.
The beaches, Cape Greco and the sculpture parks are free, which is most of what makes the place good in daylight.
Safety
Staying safe in Ayia Napa
The town is safe, and almost all the harm here is self-inflicted or vehicle-related.
Quad bike and scooter accidents are the main cause of injury, usually involving inexperienced riders, alcohol and the left-hand side of the road. Many travel insurance policies exclude quad bikes entirely — check before you rent.
Drink spiking and inflated bar bills both occur on the strip. Watch your drink, agree prices before ordering rounds, and be wary of promoters offering free entry plus drinks.
Cliff jumping at Cape Greco causes serious injuries every summer; depths vary and the rocks are not forgiving.
The sun here is strong and days start on a beach. Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Ayia Napa
Caves, a ghost town and the quieter resort next door.
Famagusta and Varosha
A walled Venetian city in the north, with the sealed resort suburb of Varosha, abandoned since 1974 and partly reopened.
What's on
What is on while you are there
A summer club season, and a flood festival in June.
June to September
Club season
The square
International DJs and daily beach parties, running from about eleven until six.
June
Kataklysmos
Harbour
The Cypriot festival of the flood, with water throwing, boat races and stalls.
September
Ayia Napa Festival
Monastery square
A local festival of music and dance around the old monastery, at the end of the season.
October
Medieval Festival
Monastery square
Jousting and street performance in the old square, after the clubs close.
Summer
Turtle nesting
Nearby beaches
Loggerheads nest on some quieter beaches east of the resort.
Hostels
Where to stay in Ayia Napa
A seasonal scene concentrated near the square and the beaches, largely closed outside summer. Live from Hostelworld.
When to go
June to September for the resort, May and October for the beaches without the noise.
Jan
Closed. Mild and empty
Feb
Still closed
Mar
Quiet. Cape Greco is beautiful and empty
Apr
Reopening. Warm days, sea still cool
May
Excellent. Beaches without the crowds
Jun
The season opens properly. Hot and busy
Jul
Peak. Clubs at full volume and prices to match
Aug
Busiest and priciest weeks of the year
Sep
Superb. Warmest sea and the crowds easing
Oct
Excellent value, still swimming, half shut by the end
Nov
Closing down
Dec
Closed. Mild and quiet
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs. The season here is genuinely short and the town closes almost entirely from November to March, which is worth knowing before booking a spring trip.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros, in season.
July and August run well above these figures. May and October are roughly half for the same beaches.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Ayia Napa travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
Is Ayia Napa only about clubbing?
In July and August the square largely is. But the beaches are the best in Cyprus, Cape Greco next door has sea caves and cliff trails with no development at all, and there is an underwater sculpture museum offshore. In May and October you get all of that without the noise.
What is the underwater museum?
93 sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor sunk at 8 to 10 metres in a bay east of town, forming an artificial reef of trees and human figures. Reachable by snorkel trip or dive.
When is the season?
June to September, and it is genuinely short — much of the town closes from November to March. May and October are open enough to be worth it and considerably cheaper.
Should I rent a quad bike?
They are the main cause of injury here, usually involving inexperienced riders, alcohol and driving on the left. Many travel insurance policies exclude quad bikes entirely, so check your cover before renting.
Which airport should I fly into?
Larnaca, 45 minutes away by bus for about €5. Paphos is two and a half hours and a much worse option.
Is it expensive?
In July and August yes — dorms to €45, cocktails €9 to €14, club entry €10 to €30. In May or October it is roughly half that for the same beaches.
Where should I stay if I want to sleep?
The harbour side east of the centre, or Protaras twenty minutes away. The square and the strip run until six in the morning through the season.
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