Living in Paphos: an area guide

Paphos at a glance#

Paphos district covers the western end of the island, from the Akamas peninsula in the north-west round to the coast east of Geroskipou. The town has two parts. Kato Paphos, the lower town, sits on the shore around the harbour, the medieval fort and the archaeological park. Ktima, the upper town, stands on the ridge above it and holds the municipal market, the district administration and the older residential streets.

Away from the town the district divides into three bands: the coastal strip north and south of Paphos, the belt of villages on the first rise behind it, and the higher villages on the western slopes of the Troodos range. To the north, past Peyia and Coral Bay, the Akamas peninsula is a state forest and a protected area, so building there is tightly limited. The north coast, reached over the hills, centres on Polis Chrysochous and the small harbour at Latchi.

Greek is the language of administration and state schooling, and English is in common use in the coastal areas.

The neighbourhoods, and what each is like to live in#

• Kato Paphos: the coastal quarter around the harbour, mostly hotels, apartments and tourist services, next to the Nea Paphos archaeological park and the Tombs of the Kings site.
• Ktima and Paphos town centre: the upper town, with the market, schools, courts, the district lands office and older houses on a grid of streets.
• Universal, Anavargos and Konia: residential areas on the eastern side of town, a mix of houses and low blocks within reach of the centre.
• Chlorakas, Kissonerga and Emba: the coastal and near-coastal villages immediately north of town, largely low-rise housing on former agricultural land.
• Peyia and Coral Bay: hillside village and coastal resort area to the north-west, with steep streets, sea views and the boundary of the Akamas beyond.
• Tala, Tremithousa, Mesogi and Tsada: villages on the ridge behind the town, with village cores and newer housing around them.
• Geroskipou, Timi, Mandria and Kouklia: the eastern coastal villages, close to the airport and the motorway, with the Palaipaphos site at Kouklia.
• Polis Chrysochous, Latchi, Argaka, Pomos and Neo Chorio: the separate north-coast settlements beyond the hills.
• Hill villages: Kathikas, Drouseia, Arodes, Polemi, Kannaviou and Pano Panagia, on the western Troodos slopes, several with vine-growing land around them.

The right area for a household depends on commuting, school choice and the type of building. This page does not rank them.

Getting around: roads, buses and the airports#

There is no railway in Cyprus. The A6 motorway runs east from Paphos along the coast to Limassol, where it meets the motorways to Nicosia and Larnaca. The B7 road climbs north over the hills to Polis Chrysochous; it is not a motorway, and journeys to the north coast take longer than the distance suggests. Driving is on the left.

Paphos International Airport lies east of the town near Timi and is the closest airport to the district; Larnaca International Airport (Glafcos Clerides) is the alternative for routes Paphos does not serve. Urban and rural bus routes run from the town, and intercity coaches connect Paphos with Limassol and Nicosia; timetables are published on the government transport portal.

Schools, healthcare and everyday services#

State schools teach in Greek under the national curriculum set by the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth. Private schools in and around Paphos teach in English and other languages and follow foreign curricula, setting their own fees and admissions rules. Higher education in the district is provided by private institutions.

Healthcare runs mainly through the General Healthcare System (GESY), which beneficiaries join by registering with a personal doctor. Paphos General Hospital is the district's public hospital, and private clinics operate in the town and the larger villages.

For property matters, the Paphos District Lands Office is where contracts of sale are deposited and transfers are registered, and the municipality or community council for the address deals with planning permits, water and refuse charges.

What the official data says about Paphos prices#

Two official series describe the Paphos market, and neither is an average price for a home. The Central Bank of Cyprus publishes a Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) for each district, built from bank valuation data. The Department of Lands and Surveys publishes the number of contracts of sale deposited at each district land office each month.

The Central Bank index for residential property in the Paphos district stood at 119.38 in Q2 2026, against 108.95 in Q2 2025, on a base of the first quarter of 2010 = 100.² That is a rise of 9.6% year on year (derived: 119.38 divided by 108.95, minus 1).² The Central Bank published the Q2 2026 index on 24 September 2026.¹

Source: Central Bank of Cyprus. Retrieved 29 Oct 2026.

Latest official release: Q2 2026 · Next expected: December 2026

Chart by the Cyprus Property Network · CC BY 4.0 · CSV · JSON · Permalink

The Department of Lands and Surveys recorded 345 contracts of sale deposited at the Paphos district office in September 2026.³ Adding the monthly figures gives 2,999 for January to September 2026, against 2,531 in the same nine months of 2025.³ The whole of 2025 came to 3,567 (derived: sum of the monthly DLS district figures in the 2024–2025 table).⁴ The same sum for 2020 is 1,554.⁵

• Domestic
• EU
• Non-EU

Source: Department of Lands and Surveys (13 releases). Retrieved 29 Oct 2026.

Latest official release: September 2026 · Next expected: November 2026

Chart by the Cyprus Property Network · CC BY 4.0 · CSV · JSON · Permalink

• Indicative only: "domestic" is the published total minus the EU and non-EU figures. The DLS total counts contracts deposited, while its EU and non-EU figures count properties under those contracts, so the two are not the same unit and the DLS publishes no domestic figure itself.

A contract of sale is deposited when buyer and seller sign, which can be years before a transfer is registered, so the count measures activity rather than completed changes of ownership. The index series is set out on Cyprus house price index, and the national contracts-of-sale figures on Cyprus contracts of sale.

Practical points to check before you commit#

• Whether a separate title deed has been issued for the specific unit, and whose name is on it.
• The planning zone and building coefficient for the plot, from the local authority and the District Lands Office, and whether the land falls within the Akamas protected area or a forest boundary, where building is restricted.
• Access rights and the legal status of the road serving a rural plot, which is not always a public road.
• Water supply and sewerage: some villages are on private boreholes or septic systems rather than mains connections.
• Common expenses and management arrangements in a block or a gated group of houses.
• The registration of anyone acting as an estate agent. Only a person on the register of the Real Estate Agents Registration Council may act as one, and that register is public.