The drinking age in Cyprus is 18. It was 17 until 2020, which is why guidebooks, forum posts and the occasional bar still get it wrong. Several other everyday rules catch visitors and new residents the same way: vaping is treated in law as smoking, a drone needs an operator registration before it leaves the ground, and pointing a camera at the wrong fence can end with an arrest rather than a word of advice.
Alcohol: 18 to buy, 18 to drink
The trade sits under the Sale of Intoxicating Liquors Law, Cap. 144, and Parliament raised the age limit from 17 to 18 in 2020. The government's Business in Cyprus portal, which sets out the licensing rules for anyone selling alcohol, now puts the limit for sale, supply, distribution and consumption at 18.
Two practical points follow. The seller has to be able to show the buyer was over 18, so being asked for ID in a supermarket is the law working rather than an insult. And the licence, issued by the municipality or the District Officer, belongs to the business. A kiosk that serves a 17-year-old without asking is not doing the customer a favour; it is risking the thing that lets it trade.
Smoking and vaping are the same offence
The Protection of Health (Control of Smoking) Law, 24(I)/2017, bans smoking in enclosed public places and in all workplaces, and it treats an electronic cigarette exactly as it treats a cigarette. Section 11(5) goes further and applies the ban to e-cigarettes that contain no nicotine at all. Waterpipe tobacco and heated products are in there too.
The bit that surprises people is the veranda rule. Smoking is allowed in an open outdoor area attached to an indoor no-smoking space only where the two are permanently separated, or where the outdoor area is open on at least one side and its permanent openings come to more than 30% of its perimeter. Zip the plastic sheeting down around a taverna terrace in January and a lawful smoking area quietly becomes an unlawful one.
Then there are cars. Section 12 prohibits smoking and vaping in any public-use vehicle, and in a private car carrying a minor. Under this law a minor is anyone under 18, not under 16 as it is often reported. Parents of teenagers are the group most likely to get this wrong.
On conviction the fine can reach €2,000. Separately, the Head of the Health Services can impose an administrative fine of up to €850 without any criminal case at all, and authorised officers issue out-of-court fines at the roadside or in the venue. Supplying tobacco or e-cigarettes to anyone under 18 is its own offence.
Drugs, including the ones in your washbag
Cyprus has no soft-touch tier for personal possession. The European Union Drugs Agency records the maximum penalties for possession for personal use as 12 years for Class A drugs, eight years for Class B and four for Class C, with lighter treatment in practice for young first-time offenders. Cannabis sits in Class B. Medical cannabis exists here, but on a Cyprus prescription; a foreign one does not travel. UK Foreign Office advice for Cyprus describes a strictly enforced zero-tolerance policy covering cannabis and nitrous oxide.
The quieter risk is your own medicine cabinet. If a regular prescription includes a controlled medicine, typically a strong opioid painkiller, a benzodiazepine or some ADHD medication, the ordinary rules about carrying a month's supply do not apply. Bring the original prescription, keep the medicine in its labelled packaging, and check the current requirements with the Pharmaceutical Services at the Ministry of Health before you fly, because a permit and a quantity limit may apply. Anyone in the middle of a move will be dealing with the health service registration anyway, which sits alongside the rest of the relocation admin in moving to Cyprus from the UK.
Where you point the camera
Military installations, personnel and equipment are not photographic subjects here. UK Foreign Office travel advice for Cyprus warns against taking photographs near sensitive sites such as military buildings and says the authorities may arrest you for it. The same applies on both sides of the UN buffer zone, and the boundary of a military area is not always obvious from the road. Where a sign shows a crossed-out camera, take it literally, including for phone photos and video.
Visitors often assume the north operates under looser rules. It does not, and the wider legal risks of doing anything more permanent there are set out in buying property in Northern Cyprus.
Drones need an operator number before takeoff
Cyprus applies the EU drone framework through the Department of Civil Aviation, which runs registration at drones.gov.cy. You register as an operator, not per aircraft, and you need to do it unless the drone weighs under 250 g and carries no camera or other sensor capable of capturing personal data. Nearly every consumer drone with a camera is caught, whatever it weighs. The operator number then goes on the aircraft and into its remote identification system.
In the open category the ceiling is 120 metres and the drone stays within sight. Sub-category A1, for machines up to 250 g, allows flights almost anywhere except over assemblies of people. A3, for the heavier end, requires at least 150 metres between the drone and any residential, commercial or industrial area. Restricted zones around airports and military sites are absolute.
An operator registration issued by any EASA member state is valid across the others, which helps EU visitors. A UK CAA operator ID is not an EASA registration, so British owners should confirm their position with the Department of Civil Aviation before the first flight rather than after it.
E-scooters: the minimum age moved to 17
Parliament raised the minimum age for e-scooters from 14 to 17 in April 2026, and the change took effect in May, aligning the age with the learner driving licence. The speed threshold at which penalties bite rose from 20 km/h to 25 km/h at the same time. Devices have to meet European standard specifications and carry the corresponding marking, police can seize machines that do not, and adults who let an underage rider use a scooter can be fined, as can riders carrying an underage passenger.
Rental scooters are everywhere in Limassol and Paphos. The rental company's terms and conditions are not the law, and hiring one for a 15-year-old is unlawful whatever the app allowed you to do. The rules for cars are a separate matter and are covered in driving in Cyprus.
The fragment you found on the beach belongs to the Republic
Under the Antiquities Law, Cap. 31, an antiquity is anything made in Cyprus before 1850, and antiquities belong to the Republic rather than the finder or the landowner. Taking one out of the country requires an export licence from the Department of Antiquities, and searching for antiquities with a metal detector requires a permit that a visitor is not going to be granted.
Reproductions from a museum shop are yours to pack. The piece of worked pottery from a ploughed field near Kourion is not, and the airport is where that conversation usually starts.
Most of these rules end at an out-of-court fine and a bad afternoon. The exceptions are the drug offences and anything involving a camera near a military site, where the sensible move is to say nothing beyond your name and call a lawyer before you explain yourself.
Stopped, fined or charged in Cyprus and unsure where you stand? Browse the directory for a litigation and criminal defence lawyer, or start with a firm in Paphos that regularly acts for foreign residents and visitors.