Paphos International Airport to Kato Paphos & the Harbour
About 15 km from PFO; bus 612 does it for €1.50 in roughly 30 minutes, and the official taxi tariff is around €20–25 by day.
The lower town by the sea, where the medieval castle sits at the end of the quay, the Roman villa mosaics of Nea Paphos lie under shelters just inland, and the hotel strip runs north along the coast road.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Kato Paphos & the Harbour, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €25). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €1.5) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €1.5 | €25 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €3 | €25 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €6 | €25 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €1.5, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
€1.50 each way and the best-value ride at this airport by a wide margin. The seventy-minute gap between departures is the catch — miss one and you've a long wait, so check the board before committing to it.
Where to catch it: The 612 stop is outside the terminal; it runs to the harbour at Kato Paphos, which is where most visitors are heading.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
Roughly €20–25 in daylight and several euros more once the night rate starts at 20:30. The harbour hotels are strung along a couple of kilometres of coast, which accounts for most of the range.
Where to catch it: The rank is immediately outside the terminal doors; Paphos drivers work to a published tariff sheet rather than a bare meter.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
Priced per vehicle, so a family of four pays about what two taxi fares would cost. Give the hotel name — the coast road numbering means little and the drivers navigate by property.
Where to catch it: The case for booking at PFO is the thin bus timetable: a car that tracks your flight removes the risk of landing thirty minutes after the 612 has gone.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsCar rental
Drive on the left. Kato Paphos itself is walkable and hotel parking is generally free, so the car is for the Akamas and the hill villages rather than for getting to dinner.
Where to catch it: Counters in the small arrivals hall with collection just outside; hire cars wear red number plates in Cyprus.
Best for travellers who want to exploreKato Paphos & the Harbour & Paphos in photos
Buying tickets in Paphos
Paphos is the island's smaller airport and its public transport is correspondingly thin: two OSYPA routes, both €1.50 paid on board. Route 612 runs to the harbour at Kato Paphos in about 30 minutes but only around every 70 minutes even in season. Route 613 goes to Karavella bus station in the upper town (Ktima) in about 40 minutes, with roughly four departures a day — near 08:00, 10:00, 16:30 and 19:00 — so it works only if your flight happens to land in the right window. Everywhere beyond Paphos itself means changing at Karavella onto an intercity service. Check the board on your way out of arrivals: if the next 612 is an hour away, the rank outside is the realistic option.
Taxi scams & safety in Paphos
Paphos taxis work to a published tariff sheet rather than an open meter, which makes this one of the few airports where you can look up the fare before you land — roughly €24.30 to Coral Bay, €42.77 to Polis and €46.27 to Limassol on the day rate, each rising after 20:30 when the night rate applies. Ask which rate you are being charged if you arrive near that boundary. Because the bus service is sparse, the practical risk here is not overcharging but being stranded, so book ahead if you land late or are heading to a villa. Cyprus drives on the left and hire cars carry red number plates. One contractual point worth knowing: standard rental agreements generally forbid the unsurfaced track to Lara Bay on the Akamas, and driving it voids the insurance — take a licensed jeep tour instead.
Getting from PFO to Kato Paphos & the Harbour
Paphos is the small airport, and that changes the arithmetic of arriving. Larnaca has a coach network built around flight banks; here there are two bus routes and a taxi rank. The good news is that the useful bus route goes exactly where most visitors want — down to the harbour at Kato Paphos, fifteen kilometres, for €1.50. The bad news is that it runs about every seventy minutes.
Route 612, and the seventy-minute gap
The 612 stop is outside the terminal and the bus runs to Kato Paphos harbour in roughly half an hour for €1.50 flat. That's excellent value and the service is straightforward. What determines whether it works for you is the headway: even in the holiday season departures are around seventy minutes apart, and off-season it thins further. Miss one and you have a long wait in a small terminal with limited to do. Check the board as you walk out of arrivals — if the next one is twenty minutes away, take it. If it's an hour away, the rank is outside and costs about twenty euros.
The harbour is where the town works from
Kato Paphos is the lower town, built along the sea, and it's where nearly all the visitor infrastructure sits. The medieval castle stands at the end of the quay; the Roman villa mosaics of Nea Paphos lie under shelters a few minutes inland and are the reason the whole area is UNESCO-listed; the hotel strip runs north along the coast road towards the Tombs of the Kings. Restaurants face the harbour. This is a compact area you can walk end to end, which matters because the hotels are strung along a couple of kilometres of it and the bus stop is one point on that line.
Published tariffs, not open meters
Cyprus taxi drivers here work to a published tariff sheet rather than a bare meter, which is unusually helpful — you can look up roughly what a journey should cost before you land. To the harbour it's about €20 to €25 in daylight, rising several euros once the night rate starts at 20:30. Twenty-five minutes. The range within that reflects how far north along the coast road your hotel sits. Lead with the hotel name; the coast road numbering means little and the drivers navigate by property.
The thin timetable is the case for booking ahead
A pre-booked car runs €25 to €38 for the vehicle. At most airports the argument for booking is comfort or price; at Paphos it's the bus timetable. A car that tracks your flight number removes the risk of landing thirty minutes after the 612 has gone and facing an hour in a terminal that closes down between banks. Priced per vehicle, so a family of four pays roughly what two taxi fares would. For a couple arriving mid-afternoon on a well-timed flight, the bus is genuinely fine and the transfer is unnecessary.
The car is for the Akamas, not for dinner
€22 to €50 a day at the desks in the small arrivals hall at the desks in the small arrivals hall, with collection just outside. Kato Paphos itself is walkable and hotel parking is generally free, so a car parked for a week does nothing for you in town. What justifies it is west and north — the Akamas peninsula, the Avakas gorge, Lara Bay, the hill villages inland. Cyprus drives on the left and hire cars carry red number plates, which locals read as a cue to leave you room.
Why Paphos suits a slower trip
Worth calibrating expectations. This end of the island is archaeology, coastline and villages rather than nightlife — the evening at the harbour is dinner and a walk, not a strip. The beaches immediately at Kato Paphos are rocky and modest; the good sand is fifteen minutes north at Coral Bay. People who arrive expecting Ayia Napa are disappointed, and people who arrive expecting a slower Mediterranean town generally aren't.
Practically: check the 612 board on the way out — €1.50 and half an hour if one's due, the rank at €20–25 if not. Book ahead if you're landing late or travelling with children, because a seventy-minute wait is a different proposition at midnight.
