The answer
Take bus 612 — €2.00 cash to the driver — from the terminal down the seafront into Kato Paphos (last stop the Tombs of the Kings), 25–30 minutes; its sibling 613 serves the upper town at Karavella station.
OSYPA's own announcements name 612 and 613 as the only two lines that run year-round with no timetable changes — everything else in the district shrinks on Sundays and holidays.
Hotel up the hill or catching an intercity? 613 drops at Karavella, the upper-town station, for the same €2.00.
Four people, late landing? The legal fixed taxi fare into Kato Paphos is €20 by day / €25 at night for up to 4 passengers, luggage and VAT included — cheaper per head than night buses to Coral Bay prices imply.
⚠️ The traps (walk past these)
€20 is Kato Paphos — Coral Bay is €35, and the zone flips at 20:30
Paphos taxi fares are fixed by LAW in three airport zones: Kato Paphos up to the Tombs €20, Chloraka–Kissonerga €25, Coral Bay west to Pegeia €35 — with a €5 night step-up from 20:30. A negotiated 'special' from a rank driver is not a bargain, it is an off-list price: the pricelist warns charging higher OR lower than the fixed charges is illegal.
Do this: find your zone on the posted airport pricelist and hand the driver the printed figure
The bus doubles its price at 21:00
OSYPA's fare table: daytime single €2.00, after 21:00 €3.00 — while the national Motion ticketing section on the same page caps a driver-issued night paper ticket at €3.50. Expect to pay €3–3.50 for the identical 25-minute ride after nine at night.
Do this: landed before 21:00? board before it lapses; late arrivals — small notes help, night tickets are issued by the driver
Between roughly 01:00 and 05:50 there is no bus at all
The airport lines stop for the night: last 612 departs near 01:00, last 613 near midnight, first trips around 05:50–07:30 (per public timetables). A 03:00 charter landing has exactly one motorised option on the apron — taxi or app.
Do this: arriving inside the 4-hour gap? pre-book a transfer at a fixed price, or budget the €25 night taxi
612 and 613 are not interchangeable — pick the wrong one and walk
612 hugs the coast to Kato Paphos / Tombs of the Kings; 613 goes inland to Karavella upper-town station. Seafront hotels and hill hotels are minutes apart on the map but effectively on different lines, and there is no free hop-back between the two town ends for under four singles.
Do this: match the route number to whether your address is 'Kato' (lower, sea) or upper town before boarding
Holidays collapse the rest of the network — but not the airport lines
OSYPA runs Sunday schedules on public holidays, and lines that have no Sunday service simply do not run. Only 612 and 613 keep the exact timetable year-round — so onward trips to Polis or the villages after a holiday morning landing can be thin, even though your airport hop is safe.
Do this: book any same-day onward coach (Polis, Troodos) before travelling on a red-letter date