Cyprus Travel Tips

Tips. In hotels and restaurants, a 10% service charge is included in the bill, so tips are not required, but a trifle is always accepted with gratitude.
It is customary to leave a small tip for taxi drivers (usually the amount is rounded up to the nearest whole number), porters, and hairdressers. In the hotel it is customary to leave a few coins for the maids.

In summer, it is better to go on excursions to archaeological excavations early in the morning or towards the end of the day, when the sun moderates its ardor.

For photography and filming in state museums, you need to obtain a special permit, and the request is sent in writing. It is forbidden to photograph the border zone between the two parts of Cyprus, soldiers and military installations.

When visiting monasteries and churches, women must wear skirts with covered shoulders, and men– in trousers (not in shorts). In churches, as a rule, photography and video filming is prohibited.

Despite the dominance of the metric system of measures and weights, the main measure of weight in Cyprus is the drachma (100 drachmas are equal to 320 grams).

Cyprus: Money and currency of Cyprus

According to RRRJEWELRY, the currency of the Republic of Cyprus is the Cypriot pound, divided into 100 cents. Commercial banks in Cyprus have correspondent relationships with almost all major cities in the world and transactions can be carried out in all major currencies.

When exchanging currency, you must have a passport. Banking hours: Monday – 8:30-12:30, 15:15-16:45, Tuesday – Friday: 08:30-12:30; June, July, August: Monday – Friday: 08:15-12:30.
Banks located in places of congestion of tourists, work in the afternoon. In all cities and in the tourist resorts of Ayia Napa and Paralimni, ATMs for currency exchange operate 24 hours a day, all major currencies are accepted. Hotels, large stores, restaurants usually accept travelers checks and the most common credit cards. The exchange rate is published daily in the local press.
Banks are closed on public holidays (an additional day off is Tuesday after Easter). Christmas Eve is a working day for banks.

Cyprus: Cuisine of Cyprus

An important place, as in any Mediterranean cuisine, is occupied by local fresh vegetables, spices and olive oil. The main secret of Cypriot cuisine is fresh ingredients; “meze” is her other secret.

Meze (set of appetizers) consists of 20-30 types of dishes, starting with sauces and vegetables and ending with meat and fish dishes. The composition of the meze often includes the following dishes and snacks: lukanika (coriander-flavored smoked sausages, previously marinated in red wine); kupepya (grape leaves filled with minced meat and rice); luntza (smoked pork tenderloin, also served on sandwiches with halloumi, a soft cheese made from sheep’s or goat’s milk and often flavored with mint); sheftalia (grilled pork cutlets); aphelia (pork marinated in wine and coriander); stifado (beef or rabbit stewed in grape vinegar with onions and spices) and ofto kleftiko (lamb baked in a clay oven with bay leaf). Some restaurants and taverns serve only fish meze or only meat meze.

Fish taverns serve squid, octopus in red wine, red mullet and sea bass.

Common vegetable dishes include potatoes with parsley in olive oil, pickled cauliflower and beets, zucchini, kolokasi (a sweet potato-type root vegetable), and asparagus.

There are certainly classic dishes of Greek cuisine: taramosalata – a pink creamy seasoning made from fish caviar whipped with potatoes, parsley, lemon juice and onions; talaturi – cold yogurt with finely chopped cucumbers, mint and garlic, Greek salad (salad horiatiki) of tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, feta cheese, green olives and local spices, moussac (minced meat and eggplant casserole topped with béchamel sauce) and soufflé (barbecue of pork, lamb or chicken).

Dessert in Cyprus is often served with fresh fruit, served on its own or along with pastries or canned fruit in syrup. Popular sweet dishes include loukoumades (Cypriot donuts in honey syrup), dactyla (fingers stuffed with almonds or walnuts and cinnamon), and shiamishi (a sliced ​​cake stuffed with semolina and orange). Cafes often serve kolokoti (a pie stuffed with pumpkin, couscous, and raisins) as well as pastellaci (a dessert made from sesame seeds, peanuts, and honey syrup). Definitely must try galatopurekos (puff pastry stuffed with cream) and lucumia (gelatin cubes with the smell of rose water sprinkled with powdered sugar).

Cyprus: Culture of Cyprus

In Cyprus, both public and religious holidays are celebrated (78% of Cypriots are Orthodox, and 18% are Muslims).

Holidays:

• New Year – January 1
• Epiphany – January 6
• Green Monday (beginning of Lent, 50 days before Orthodox Easter) – with a variable date
• Greek National Day – March 25
• National holiday of Cyprus – April 1
• Good Friday (Greek Orthodox Church) – Variable Date
• Bright Monday (Monday after Easter, Greek Orthodox Church) – variable date
• International Labor Day – May 1
• Cataclysmos (festival in honor of the Great Flood), Monday after Trinity – variable date
• Assumption – August 15
• Cyprus Independence Day – October 1
• Greek national holiday (OHI Day) – October 28
• Christmas Eve – December 24
• Christmas – December 25
• Christmas time – December 26

All state institutions, private enterprises, banks and shops are closed on public holidays. In resort and coastal areas, shops and some services remain open. Banks are closed on Easter Tuesday but open on December 24th. Cypriots celebrate about 40 more folk holidays, for example, the Fig Festival in the village of Zakaki near Limassol, the Flower Fair in Paphos, the Folk Dance Festival in Limassol, the annual wine festival and others.