Situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the island of Cyprus adopted the Euro as its currency at the beginning of 2008. This unique island is currently split in two, with Turkish Cypriots living in the north.
As a popular holiday location, you’ll find that Cyprus is very much in tune with the rest of Europe. Major credit cards are accepting in many large stores and restaurants, ensuring that you needn’t carry too much cash around with you during your visit.
If you do wish to withdraw cash then you’ll find that there are numerous ATMs located on the island, allowing easy access to your money. Before travelling, it’s worth checking with your own bank to see whether they will levy extra charges if you withdraw money overseas.
It does seem that many banks will charge extra for cash withdrawals in this manner, so you may want to investigate alternative options, such as travellers cheques.
Cyprus is in a different time zone to the UK, meaning that clocks are generally two hours ahead of UK time when in Cyprus. Don’t forget this difference – it could be vital if you have a flight to catch!
Public pay phones are found in most Cypriot towns of any size, but it’s also possible to use your own mobile phone, as long as you have activated international roaming.
Such functionality has been in the news quite a lot recently, mainly due to the large costs that have been observed when making or receiving calls abroad.
This is not a problem that is isolated to Cyprus by any means, but it is worth checking with your mobile phone provider before heading off on holiday.
Making sure that you know exactly what costs are involved will save you from getting a nasty shock when you receive your first phone bill on your return home.
