Could anyone advise on the driving environment in Cyprus ?

Nick,

20/03/07

Dusty, hot, lots of looneys.

But at least it's on the correct side of the road.

MPM

A very big don't...

..DON'T try and drive a 4UP Kia Rio Estate down the trails (having first gotten lost) that the Land Rovers use to get to Turtle bay and the bottom of the Avakas gorge (?) I forget the name of the actual trail but its advertised quite alot. It may be fun and it may take 3 and a half hours and it may be hilariously funny asking your mum, dad and girlfriend to get out so that you don't ground the car every 2ft BUT.. its certainly no fun when you meet the organised tour Land Rovers coming up the trail, full of holiday makers, being driven by a burly Cypriot bloke who then takes an enormous amount of pleasure in telling you off whilst the people in the back of the Landy point an laugh at the silly English people trying to drivea 4x4 trail in a family estate...

Of course... it will be the most exciting / scary thing you'll do!!

On a more serious note, the only real difference is if (God forbid) you get into an accident. Don't move the car AT ALL until the police turn up.

I seem to remember some of the roads up to the Troodos mountains were a bit dodgy (dont look over the edge) .. going back a number of years though so things may have improved.

Hmm i know its not untill June that i go but still some good advice

we have been once and are going again in July, its soooooooooo hot, get a car with air con, or you'll die, we stay in Limassol and drove to Nicosia one day, it was nearly 50c:eek:

things to look out for on the road:

nobody obeys the traffic lights, when its on red, they just carry on!

if you hesitate for more than one millisecond, everyone starts honking their horns at you!

nobody indicates, just pull out into the other lane, everyone else does!

Limassol is full of young men in Mitsubishi Lancers with big exhausts blasting up and down the Strip

saying that, the main roads are in better condition than England and signs are in English as well as Greek, if getting a hire car, find out about breakdown cover before you get it

I can't wait to go back now, only a few months to wait: :sun:

breakdown cover is it that bad then or are the cars just not very well maintained?

avoid the buses,they have even less regard for others than british bus drivers

Cheers for that ! Confirms what I've read elsewhere, especially about traffic lights.

Only going for a week for the job. But will be using hire car for daily commute Limmasol to Episkopi. Not fancing getting through central Limmasol, north to the motorway at 8-9 in the morning ! Although, I suppose all the traffic will be going southbound then ?

One web site I looked made this observation:-

If you hit another tourist normal rules of engagement apply.

If you hit a Greek, its your fault, no matter what happens.

If you hit a Turk you go into a shop and claim a prize !

Struggling on !

Nick,

19/03/06

If you hit a Greek, its your fault, no matter what happens.

If you hit a Turk you go into a shop and claim a prize !

Wouldn't that depend which side of the island you were on?

Theres a nice, large area of very green grass in Episkopi which is 'irrigated with non-pottable water'... I expect you'll see it..

Ahhh cyprus.. i happen to know quite a few cypriots and frequent the island often as the lady friends parents live at the sea caves near coral bay.

If you see a car driving towards you flashing its lights, do not worry! they are simply informing you there is a police car with a speed camera further up the road.

Cypriot police never used to care about speeding, they recently got speed guns and think they are the best thing since sliced bread so be warned.. they are trigger happy!!

The younger cypriot drivers are fine.. its the old guys with a face like a dried up olive in a 30 year old pickup and a donkey in the back you want to watch out for.. awful drivers and so are cypriot women.. give them a wide birth!!

Do not be afraid of the akamas gorge as mentioned above.. its brilliant!! I have done it in a vitara, beach buggy and a bright yellow mini moke!! Drive it like you stole it and you will be fine... :P

The motorway is always empty.. at least everytime i have been on it, its deserted.

I just found proof i made it through aswell.. even if the road is closed and dangerous!

Oh and a word of warning... it MAY kill you!

breakdown cover is it that bad then or are the cars just not very well maintained?

on the front at Limmasol, there are loads of car hire places, we went looking for a car and someone had put big signs up about avoiding one particular company, cannot remember the name, who, if the car happened to break down, they refused to come and send a breakdown truck to collect it until huge amounts of money were paid, so beware, read the agreement carefully before you sign owt! we went to one just across the road from L'onda Beach hotel, next to Grecian Restaurant, got a new Opel Astra, it was fine,

My employer's local office have booked the car, so here's hoping ! I presume that with temperatures at this time of year I can get away without aircon.

Nick,

21/03/07

My employer's local office have booked the car, so here's hoping ! I presume that with temperatures at this time of year I can get away without aircon.

Nick,

21/03/07

when are you going? If its in the next few months, I would insist on air con, it starts warming up soon, my friend is going in April and says it should be warm enough for swimming and sitting in the sun:D its 20c at the moment accoding to the BBC website, and when we went in July it was in the 40s every day, I used to have me breakfast outside at 10.30 and it was 38C then:thumbup:

Could anyone advise on the driving environment in Cyprus ?

Nick,

20/03/07

I lived there for 2 years whilst in the Army, Drive aggresivley, don't trust road signs, buy a good map, careful at night as some roadworks only get "marked" with oil drums (painted green).

The areas around the cities are not to bad in the greek side, the SBA's (Sovereign Base Area's) have decent enough roads. If your hiring, hire a 4x4 and head off into the akamis peninsular, great "casual" off road driving with the odd picnic area bizarely enough. Watch the police in the SBA's because you have Cypol (Cypriat police) who are not known for their morels and you also have the SBA police who are pretty much all "ladies genitalia".

It is a great little country though and driving is easy enough, simple enough just don't give any quarter as none will be returned and do head off road if you get the chance. If planning to go off road, get hold of the OS maps for Cyprus, not the tourist maps, in fact I would say grab the OS maps even if your not and forget the tourist maps...... example ......... heading from ****ouri to Omodos on an A road, get to river crossing, bridge is half built with re-inforcing wire hanging out and we had to drive down and through a ford (or whatever you call them) and this was last January on holiday not years ago when in the mob.

enjoy, it will be fun ... in a nice way

Theres a nice, large area of very green grass in Episkopi which is 'irrigated with non-pottable water'... I expect you'll see it..

The joys of happy valley

I found the roads, signs, traffic lights etc to be much like the UK. Didn't find the local drivers too aggressive compared to holiday areas in Spain or Greece, but they all seem eager to get through traffic lights while their still at red.

Every time I've driven in Cyprus I've seen Police with speed guns...mainly on the edges of motorways like what the cops in the UK would do in a 30 zone!! Obviously its not recommended to cross the border...apparently its just a complete hassle at border patrol, plus you need additional insurance. As mentioned before, the tourist maps are pretty poor. They'll probably give you some maps with the car hire, but not usually up to much.

Good Luck & Enjoy!!

Cypriot Corsas dont like driving on the beach by the american Star shipwreck.

And I dont like it when my missus turns right at the end of the track from there, instead of left, and we end up on some mountain road with a ten million foot drop and a rizzla to stop you going over!!

Other than that its fine!

oh, and we just used one of the proper hire firms (think it was Avis).

Going this coming sunday, Paphos (Not holiday).

Will they accept UK currency or do I need some Cypriot pounds ?

Should I avoid any particular gas stations ?

Nick

22/03/07

don't think they will accept UK currency but you can use your debit/credit card over there but be careful, I am not too clever at maths and had a bit of a shock on the bank statement when we got home, we kept drawing 100 Cypriot pounds out from cash machines and on our statement, they took quite a bit more out for exchange rate, etc, we ended up spending more than we thought:cool: