Hosting Guests in Cyprus at Christmas: How to Surprise Visiting Family and Friends (2026)

Having family or friends to stay for Christmas in Cyprus is easy if you sort three things early: transfers from the airport (services are reduced on Christmas Day), a plan for the days when almost everything is closed (25 December and 1 January), and two or three outings they would never find on their own. Here is how to do all three, with the surprises that work best in a Cypriot December.

Last checked: 19 October 2026. Holiday timetables and most 2026 Christmas events are announced from mid-November; we note what is confirmed and what is not.

What do your guests need to enter Cyprus?

• UK visitors can stay up to 90 days without a visa for holidays or visiting family. Their passport must have been issued less than 10 years before arrival and be valid for at least 3 months after the day they leave, with a blank page. Border officers may ask for a return ticket and proof of funds.
• The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) does not apply in Cyprus. It has been fully running at Schengen borders since 10 April 2026, but GOV.UK confirms Cyprus is not affected, so guests will not register fingerprints on arrival, and days in Cyprus do not count towards the Schengen 90 days.
• ETIAS, the EU travel authorisation, is planned for 2027 with no start date announced yet, so it is not needed this Christmas.
• If you travel on to Schengen with them: holders of Cyprus residence permits are not exempt from EES.

How do guests get from the airport to your home?

Book transfers as soon as flights are confirmed. Services thin out on public holidays: on Christmas Day 2025 Kapnos ran no Paphos airport services and paused some Larnaca–Nicosia departures, and on New Year's Eve 2025 the last airport-to-Nicosia shuttle left at 22:45. The 2026 holiday timetables are not out yet.

Kapnos can be booked online up to 60 minutes before departure, and its scheduled Larnaca shuttles run until about 23:45. If you are collecting guests yourself, Larnaca's P2 short-stay car park costs €20 for 24 hours. More options are in our public transport guide.

Will your guests hire a car?

A UK photocard licence is valid in Cyprus; an old paper licence may need an International Driving Permit. Remind them that Cyprus drives on the left, the drink-drive limit is 50 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood and hand-held phones are banned. GOV.UK warns that a hire company asking for a passport as a deposit is illegal, and that hire cars are often not insured in the north. Hire desks usually want a credit card in the main driver's name.

What is open and closed over Christmas?

Resort shops often stay open on holidays. Restaurants and hotels serve Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year menus, and the popular ones fill up early, so reserve in November. Do the big food shop by 23 December; our Christmas shopping guide has the details.

How can you surprise your guests?

Where can extra guests stay?

If your home is full, a village house can be part of the treat. The Cyprus Agrotourism Company, set up by the tourism authorities in 1996, has more than 150 members, from traditional houses to boutique hotels; see also our agrotourism guide. For holiday lets, check that the listing shows a Deputy Ministry of Tourism registration number: in a Cyprus Mail sample in September 2026, only 6 of 20 listings had a valid one.

What should guests pack?

December on the coast averages about 18–19°C by day and 7–10°C at night, with around six hours of sunshine and some heavy showers (about 105 mm of rain across the month). Evenings and stone-floored homes feel chilly, so tell guests to bring warm layers, and read our tips on winter in Cyprus.

What to do next

• Book airport transfers and Christmas restaurant tables in November.
• Choose one Christmas Village and one surprise for each guest's interests.
• More ideas: Christmas in Cyprus, Christmas with kids and our events page.