# Driving in Cyprus: A Newcomer's Guide to the Rules, Limits and Fines > New to Cyprus roads? Drive on the left, handle roundabouts, and know the speed limits, drink-drive limit and traffic fines before you set off. - Canonical: https://periodiko.com/driving-in-cyprus-newcomers-guide/ - Updated: 2026-07-06 --- If you have just moved to Cyprus, the single biggest adjustment behind the wheel is simple to state and strange to do: **Cyprus drives on the left, in right-hand-drive cars.** Everything else — roundabouts, speed limits, the fines — flows from getting comfortable with that first. This guide walks a newcomer through the rules that actually matter, with the current speed limits, alcohol limit and a fines table for the offences you are most likely to trip over. ## Which side of the road does Cyprus drive on? Cyprus drives on the **left**, and cars are **right-hand drive** (steering wheel on the right). This is a genuine adjustment if you learned to drive on the right — the gear stick is on your left, the mirrors and blind spots feel reversed, and for the first week your instinct at junctions will be wrong. A few habits help: give yourself extra time, say "stay left" out loud when you pull out of a car park or petrol station, and treat quiet residential streets as the place to build muscle memory before you take on a city. Newcomers from the EU may drive on their home licence; non-EU visitors may drive on their national licence for up to 30 days or on a valid International Driving Permit. ## How do roundabouts work in Cyprus? Roundabouts are everywhere in Cyprus, and they follow the standard drive-on-the-left convention: **give way to traffic already on the roundabout, which comes from your right.** You wait at the entry line until there is a safe gap, then join. Because you are driving on the left, you travel **clockwise** around the island in the middle. Signalling trips up a lot of newcomers. As a rule of thumb: signal **left** as you approach the exit you want, and do not signal at all if you are taking the first exit or going straight through. Watch for two-lane roundabouts — stay in the left lane if you are leaving at the first or second exit, and use the right lane for exits further around. ## What are the speed limits in Cyprus? Speed limits are posted in **kilometres per hour**, never miles. The defaults for ordinary cars are: - **Motorways (the A-roads):** 100 km/h maximum, and a **minimum of 65 km/h** — going too slowly on a motorway is itself an offence. - **Built-up / urban areas:** 50 km/h unless a sign says otherwise. - **Open rural roads (outside built-up areas):** 80 km/h unless signed lower. Where a road sign shows a lower limit, that sign wins. Heavier vehicles (trucks over 3,000 kg and vehicles towing a trailer) have lower limits — typically 80 km/h on motorways and 64 km/h on two-lane roads. *Source for the 100 km/h motorway and 50 km/h urban limits: Cyprus Police / TISPOL, "A Guide to Driving in Cyprus."* ## Seatbelts, phones, child seats and headlights **Seatbelts are compulsory in both the front and back seats** for everyone in the car — this is not optional and is actively enforced. **Mobile phones:** using a **hand-held** phone or device while driving is prohibited. A hands-free setup is legally allowed, though the police explicitly say it is still not recommended. If you need to text or take a call, pull over. **Child seats:** children must be secured in a restraint appropriate to their size. The commonly stated rule is that children **under 150 cm tall (roughly under 12)** must use a proper child seat or booster, younger children must sit in the **back**, and very young children may not travel in the front seat. **Headlights:** use them at night and in poor visibility (tunnels, heavy rain, fog). Cyprus does not require daytime running lights for cars, but since a 2010 law change **motorbikes and mopeds must run their headlights during the day.** ## What is the drink-drive limit in Cyprus? The standard legal limit is **22 micrograms of alcohol per 100 ml of breath** (equivalent to **50 mg per 100 ml of blood**, a BAC of 0.5). For higher-risk drivers — anyone who has held a licence for **less than three years**, learner drivers, motorcyclists, and professional drivers (lorries over 3.5 t, buses, taxis on duty, dangerous-goods vehicles) — the limit is much stricter at **9 micrograms per 100 ml of breath** (20 mg per 100 ml of blood). Police run roadside breath checks, and since recent amendments they can **suspend a licence on the spot** for drink- or drug-driving. The practical advice for newcomers is the safe one: if you are driving, don't drink at all. *Source for the alcohol limits: Cyprus Police / TISPOL, "A Guide to Driving in Cyprus."* ## Cyprus traffic fines: the common offences Cyprus uses an **out-of-court (extra-judicial) fine** system with **penalty points** attached; the more serious bands and refusals go to court. The figures below are the out-of-court amounts published by the government's road-safety schedule. | Offence | Out-of-court fine | Penalty points | |---|---|---| | Speeding up to 30% over the limit | €2 per km/h over | 1 | | Speeding 30–50% over the limit | €3 per km/h over | 2 | | Speeding 50–75% over the limit | €5 per km/h over | 3 | | Speeding over 75% over the limit | Court | — | | Using a hand-held mobile phone | €150 (€300 if repeated within 3 years) | 2 (4 on repeat) | | Not wearing a seatbelt / no child restraint | €150 (€300 if repeated within 3 years) | 3 | | Drink-driving 23–35 µg/100 ml breath | €125 | 1 | | Drink-driving 36–55 µg/100 ml breath | €250 | 3 | | Drink-driving 56–70 µg/100 ml breath | €500 | 4 | | Drink-driving over 70 µg/100 ml breath | Court | — | | Running a red light | €300 | 3 | **Note:** speeding fines scale with how far over you were, so a big overshoot adds up fast — 20 km/h over on the motorway at €2/km is €40, and the bands climb quickly from there. Police apply a small tolerance before ticketing (larger on motorways, tighter in towns), but do not rely on it. **Fines and penalty points in Cyprus are revised periodically — the amounts above are a guide, not a guarantee. Always confirm the current figures with the Cyprus Police (police.gov.cy) before you rely on them.** Unpaid out-of-court fines increase by 50% after the deadline and can end up in court. ## A local tip: install Waze before you drive One genuinely useful habit for driving in Cyprus is to run the **Waze** app on every trip. Waze crowd-sources real-time alerts from other drivers on the same roads, so it flags **police and speed-camera locations** as you approach them, and warns you about **accidents and traffic jams** ahead. On Cyprus roads — where fixed and mobile speed cameras are widespread and a single motorway incident can back traffic up for kilometres — those live alerts help you keep to the limit and pick a faster route. It is free, it works island-wide, and locals lean on it heavily. Set your destination before you set off, not while moving. ## Frequently asked questions **Do I need an International Driving Permit to drive in Cyprus?** EU/EEA licence holders can drive on their home licence. Non-EU visitors can drive on their national licence for up to 30 days or with an International Driving Permit; if you become a resident, check the Road Transport Department's exchange rules. **Which way do I go around a roundabout?** Clockwise, giving way to traffic already on the roundabout (coming from your right). Wait for a gap, then join. **Are speed cameras common in Cyprus?** Yes — Cyprus operates fixed and mobile photo-enforcement cameras, and average-speed enforcement has been expanding on motorways. Waze will usually warn you, but the reliable strategy is simply to stay at or under the posted limit. **How much is a speeding fine in Cyprus?** It scales with how far over the limit you were: roughly €2 per km/h over for up to 30% above the limit, rising to €3 and €5 per km/h in higher bands, with the most serious cases going to court. Confirm current rates with the police.