Paphos International Airport to Paphos Town (Ktima)
Roughly 16 km inland and uphill; bus 613 goes directly for โฌ1.50 but runs only about four times a day, so taxis do most of this traffic.
The upper town where Paphos actually lives โ the covered market, the municipal gardens, tavernas that don't have menus in six languages, and the Karavella station where every island bus route begins.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Paphos Town (Ktima), a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from โฌ28). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from โฌ1.5) 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 โ so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo ยท 1 traveller | โฌ1.5 | โฌ28 | Bus |
| Couple ยท 2 travellers | โฌ3 | โฌ28 | Bus |
| Family of 4 ยท 4 travellers | โฌ6 | โฌ28 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority isโฆ | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From โฌ1.5, 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 3โ4 | 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
โฌ1.50 and forty minutes, but with only four departures a day this is entirely a matter of whether your flight lands at the right time. If it doesn't, take the 612 to the harbour and a local bus up the hill instead.
Where to catch it: The 613 leaves from outside the terminal and terminates at Karavella, the main bus station in the upper town.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
Published day tariff in the low twenties, with the night rate from 20:30 adding several euros. Given the 613's timetable, this is what most people end up taking.
Where to catch it: A few euros above the harbour fare because Ktima sits higher and further inland.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
Fixed price per car. Worth it if you're staying in one of the small guesthouses in the old quarter, where the nearest vehicle access can be a couple of streets away.
Where to catch it: Ktima's older streets are narrow and steeply stepped in places; a driver who knows which end of the street is reachable saves a climb with cases.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsCar rental
Ktima has proper municipal car parks, unlike the harbour strip, so a car is less of a nuisance here than you'd expect. It also puts the wine villages at Omodos and Lofou within an easy morning.
Where to catch it: Half an hour including the climb from the coast; left-hand driving from the car park onwards.
Best for travellers who want to explorePaphos Town (Ktima) & 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 โฌ1.50 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 โ near 08:00, 10:00, 16:30 and 19:00 โ 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 โ roughly โฌ24.30 to Coral Bay, โฌ42.77 to Polis and โฌ46.27 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 โ take a licensed jeep tour instead.
Getting from PFO to Paphos Town (Ktima)
There are two Paphos. Kato Paphos is the lower town by the sea where the hotels and the mosaics are. Ktima โ usually just called Paphos town โ is the older settlement up the hill behind it, where the market is, where the buses terminate at Karavella station, and where people actually live. Sixteen kilometres from the airport and about six hundred feet above the harbour. Getting there is a straightforward drive and an awkward bus.
Route 613 exists, four times a day
The 613 runs directly from outside the terminal to Karavella bus station in the upper town for โฌ1.50, taking about forty minutes. That's the cheap option and it's entirely dependent on the clock: departures are roughly 08:00, 10:00, 16:30 and 19:00, which is four chances a day. If your flight lands at 11:20, the 613 is of no use to you whatsoever. The fallback is to take the 612 down to the harbour instead โ it runs far more often โ and then a local bus or short taxi up the hill, which works but turns a โฌ1.50 journey into two legs and the better part of an hour.
What Ktima is like, and why some people prefer it
The covered market, the municipal gardens, a square of tavernas without menus in six languages, and prices maybe a third below the harbour. It's the working town, and the Cypriot part of Paphos. Staying up here means a walk or a short bus down to the sea and the archaeology, which some visitors find a nuisance and others find is precisely the point โ you eat where locals eat and you're not living inside the tourist strip. The Mycenaean and Byzantine museums are up here too, along with most of the town's actual civic life.
Taxis, and the climb
A few euros above the harbour fare โ call it โฌ22 to โฌ30 on the published day tariff, more once the night rate starts at 20:30 โ because Ktima sits further inland and higher. Thirty minutes. Given the 613's four-departures-a-day timetable, this is what most people arriving here actually take, and the drivers do the run constantly. The one thing to be specific about is where in the old quarter you're staying, because the streets up here are narrow, some are stepped, and the nearest point a car can reach isn't always the door.
Guesthouses, and the streets a car can't enter
Reckon on โฌ28โ40 for a car arranged ahead, which buys buys a driver who knows which end of your street is reachable. That sounds like a small thing until you're standing at the top of a flight of steps at eleven at night with a suitcase, working out whether the guesthouse is up or down. Much of the accommodation in Ktima is small family-run places in the older quarter rather than hotels with driveways, and this is the practical difference between a booked car and a rank fare. Confirm the drop-off point when you book rather than at the destination.
Karavella is the island's western hub
Worth knowing whatever you're doing here. Every intercity route out of Paphos starts at Karavella station: Limassol, Polis, the Troodos villages. If you're planning to move around Cyprus by bus, staying near Karavella is genuinely convenient in a way staying at the harbour isn't. It's also where you'd catch the bus back to the airport on the 613 โ with the same four-a-day caveat, which means checking it the day before rather than the morning of your flight.
Parking is easier up here than down there
Around โฌ22 a day, up to โฌ50 in August, and Ktima has proper municipal car parks, unlike the harbour strip where hotel parking is the only realistic option. That makes a hire car less of a nuisance here than you'd expect from the narrow streets. It also puts the wine villages โ Omodos, Lofou, Vasa โ and the Troodos foothills within an easy morning, which is the strongest reason to have one at this end of the island.
The short version: the 613 at โฌ1.50 is excellent if your flight lands near 08:00, 10:00, 16:30 or 19:00, and irrelevant otherwise. For every other arrival time it's a โฌ22โ30 taxi, or a booked car if you're in the old quarter where the streets get complicated.
