Cyprus Plug Type and Adapters in 2026: What UK Visitors Need to Pack

Cyprus plug type matches the United Kingdom exactly: Type G, the same three rectangular pins you already have at home, running on 230 volts at 50 hertz (Electrical Safety First). British visitors need no adapter whatsoever. Anyone flying in from mainland Europe, North America, Australia or Asia does need one, and there are a few practical wrinkles that catch people out once they are inside a villa rather than a hotel room.

We manage self-catering houses around Paralimni, Protaras and Pernera, so socket questions reach us most weeks of the year. Here is the short version, then the detail nobody else bothers with.

Quick answer

Question	Cyprus
Plug type	Type G
Pin design	Three rectangular pins, arranged in a triangle
Fuse	Yes, inside the plug, to BS 1362
Voltage	230 V
Frequency	50 Hz
Socket shutters	Yes, opened by the earth pin
Same plug as the UK?	Yes
UK traveler needs an adapter?	No
EU traveler needs an adapter?	Yes, Type C or F to Type G
US or Canadian traveler needs an adapter?	Yes
Voltage converter required?	Only for devices not rated for 230 V
Northern part of the island	Type G

Sources: Electrical Safety First and the BS 1363 standard. Reviewed for the 2026 season.

Are plugs in Cyprus the same as the UK?

Yes, and that is not a coincidence. Cyprus sat under British administration until 1960, and the island kept that wiring standard after independence, exactly as Malta, Ireland and several other former colonies did. The formal name for the design is BS 1363, published in 1947, which specifies a three-pin layout rated to 13 amps, a cartridge fuse to BS 1362 inside the plug itself, and shuttered sockets whose live and neutral openings are released by the longer earth pin. That fuse is the part most travelers never think about.

It protects the flexible cable rather than the appliance, which is why a kettle carries a 13 amp fuse and a phone charger normally carries a 3 amp one. If something stops working mid-holiday, a blown fuse in the plug is worth checking before you assume the appliance has died.

So if you are arriving from Britain, pack nothing extra. Your hair dryer, your laptop charger, your travel iron and your child's night light all work straight out of the bag.

What about Type C and Type F, the European two-pin plugs?

Here is where the tidy answer gets slightly messier, and where the big reference sites stop being useful.

The wall sockets across the island are Type G. However, plenty of appliances sold locally arrive with a European two-pin lead attached, because the stock comes through Greek and Italian suppliers rather than British ones. You may therefore find a lamp, a fan, a phone charger or a pool robot in your villa that has a small adapter permanently fitted to its cable. That is normal and perfectly safe when the adapter is a proper fused one.

Type C and Type F are not the same thing, incidentally, since Type F adds earthing clips along the sides while Type C has none, a distinction set out in the IEC world plug reference. Both will push into the same European socket, and neither fits a Cypriot wall outlet without help.

Please do not use the old trick of jamming a pen or a screwdriver into the earth hole to force a two-pin plug into a British socket. It defeats the shutter mechanism that exists to stop children poking things in, and it is exactly the kind of shortcut that ends a holiday badly. Travel adapters cost very little in any supermarket or electrical shop on the island.

What plug do I need for Paphos, Larnaca or anywhere else?

The same one. There is no regional variation. Paphos, Limassol, Nicosia, Larnaca, Protaras and the Ayia Napa resorts all run one identical standard, and so does the northern part, which is a common source of confusion because the two sides differ in so many other ways.

If you are traveling with friends or family from the continent, the easiest approach is to bring one multi-socket extension lead from their country, plug a single adapter into the wall, and share it. That way one adapter serves four devices rather than four adapters serving four devices.

What charger do I need, and will my appliances work?

Check the small print on the charger itself. Almost every modern laptop, phone, tablet, camera and electric toothbrush is marked "100 to 240 V, 50/60 Hz", which means it handles Cypriot power without any conversion. A plug adapter is enough.

Where you need to be careful is with older or region-specific equipment, particularly from the United States, Canada, Japan and parts of South America. A 110 volt hair dryer or hair straightener will not survive 230 volts, and an adapter alone will not protect it. That needs a voltage converter, which is heavy, or, far more sensibly, a cheap dual-voltage replacement bought before you fly.

Australian, New Zealand and South African visitors are on 230 V already, so they only need the plug shape changed.

Can I use a UK charger in Cyprus?

Yes, with no adapter and no converter. A British phone charger, laptop brick, shaver or electric toothbrush plugs straight into a Cypriot wall socket and charges at the same rate it would at home, because both countries share the plug and the supply.

Does Cyprus use EU plugs?

No. Despite being an EU member state, Cyprus never adopted the continental two-pin standard. Visitors from Germany, France, Greece, Poland and everywhere else on the continent need a Europe-to-Type-G adapter, which is the opposite of what most people expect from an EU country.

The villa-specific bits nobody else mentions

Hotels and holiday houses are not the same animal, and this is the part where a rental company can actually help.

• Socket count. Older properties around Paralimni were wired long before anyone owned six devices per person. You may find a single double socket in a bedroom, and it may already be occupied by a lamp. Pack a small four-way extension or a multi-port USB charger and you remove the problem entirely.
• USB outlets. Newer builds increasingly have USB-A or USB-C built into the wall plate. Older stock does not. Do not assume, and if it matters to you, ask us before booking rather than after arrival.
• Bathroom shaver sockets. These look like a spare outlet and are not. They are low-wattage supply units intended for razors and electric toothbrushes only, and they will trip or simply fail to run a hair dryer or a travel kettle.
• Outdoor and poolside power. Terrace sockets exist in most of our houses, though they are weatherproofed and sometimes switched from indoors. If a socket by the pool seems dead, look for an isolator switch inside before assuming a fault.
• The pool pump timer. Every villa with a private pool has one, usually in a service cupboard, and it looks temptingly like a light switch. Guests turn it off, the filtration stops, and the water goes cloudy within a day. Leave it alone.
• Air conditioning isolators. The same applies to the A/C isolator, which is often a separate switch near the unit or on an external wall.

Why does the power sometimes trip?

Because a 13 amp socket delivers roughly three kilowatts, and a British kettle plus a hair dryer plus an air fryer on the same extension lead exceeds that comfortably. The consumer unit does its job, the residual current device trips, and half the house goes dark.

The fix is simple. Find the consumer unit, which in most Cypriot houses sits near the entrance hall or in a utility cupboard, unplug whatever you had running, and flip the switch back up. If it trips again immediately, one appliance is at fault, so leave it unplugged and call us rather than experiment.

Stagger your heavy appliances, especially in August when the air conditioning is already drawing hard, and this never becomes an issue.

Electric cars and charging

More guests arrive with an electric hire car each season, and the assumptions are worth flagging. A standard Type G socket with a granny cable charges slowly, measured in overnight rather than hours, and it is not something to run through a domestic extension lead. Some properties have a dedicated wall box and many do not.

If you plan to rent an electric vehicle, tell us at the booking stage so we can match you to a house that suits, and read our car hire guide for the wider picture on driving here.

Where to buy an adapter once you land

Adapters are widely stocked. The airport shops at Larnaca and Paphos carry them, as do the large supermarkets, the electrical chains and the general stores across Paralimni, Protaras and the surrounding villages. If you land late and everything is shut, a filling station shop is often the fallback.

Prices and opening hours vary, so we will not quote either. What we will say is that picking one up at home costs considerably less than grabbing the last one in a departure lounge at midnight.

The short packing answer

British visitors: nothing. Everyone else: one adapter per traveler, plus a multi-port USB charger, plus a short extension lead if you are a family. Our villa packing list covers everything else, and our first-time visitor guide covers the wider practicalities.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cyprus a three-pin or two-pin plug country?

Three-pin. Cyprus uses the Type G design defined by BS 1363, with its pins set in a triangular arrangement and a fuse sitting inside the moulding. Wall sockets are shuttered, so the earth pin has to enter first before the live and neutral shutters open. Two-pin European plugs do not fit without an adapter, although you will see them on some locally supplied appliances, where a fitted adapter has been added to the cable at the point of sale.

Do I need a voltage converter in Cyprus?

Almost certainly not. Supply runs at 230 volts and 50 hertz, which matches the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia and most of Asia and Africa. Anything labeled 100 to 240 V works with a plug adapter alone. Travelers from the United States, Canada and Japan should check each appliance, because single-voltage 110 V hair tools will be damaged by Cypriot power. A dual-voltage replacement bought at home weighs less and costs less than carrying a converter around.

Are the plugs in the north of Cyprus different?

No. Both sides of the island use Type G at 230 volts, a legacy of the same British wiring standard. This surprises people, because passports, insurance, mobile roaming and hire car cover all work very differently across the crossing points. Electricity is one of the few things that stays constant. If you are planning a day trip across from Protaras or Deryneia, your chargers are the one thing that needs no thought at all.

Why does Cyprus use British plugs?

Britain administered the island until 1960, and the electrical standard adopted during that period simply stayed in place. BS 1363, the British three-pin design, was published in 1947, which put it in use across British territories before many of them became independent. Malta, Ireland, Malaysia, Hong Kong and several Gulf states kept it for the same reason. Changing a national socket standard is enormously disruptive, so countries rarely bother.

Will my UK four-gang extension lead be safe to use?

Yes, provided it is in good condition and you respect the 13 amp limit. Extension leads are rated for the total load across all sockets, not per socket, so a kettle and a hair dryer together will trip it. Look for one with a thermal cutout or surge protection, keep it off the floor near a pool or bathroom, and unplug it when you go out. For a family sharing one bedroom socket, a decent extension lead is the single most useful thing in the suitcase.

Planning a stay?

If the electrics are the only thing left on your list, you are close to ready. Have a look at our villas in Protaras and our family villas across the east coast, and tell us at the booking stage if you need USB points, an electric car charger or extra sockets for work equipment. Book direct and you get our local team on the phone, which is considerably more useful at 10pm on a Saturday than an international call center.