Restore from iCloud without updating iOS

Restoring to an iCloud backup doesn't restore or update the iOS, but you have to be running the same iOS or higer as the device whose backup you are restoring to. Restoring the backup has to be done in the initial setup process. If you have any data on your phone now that is not in the backup that you want to save you'll need to do that first. Then go to Settings>General>Reset and tap Erase All Content and Settings. You will then go through the setup screens as you did when the phone was new. When given the option, choose Restore from iCloud Backup (see image below). Be sure you are connected to wifi and your charger as this will take some time to finish.

No, it doesn't erase the iOS, just all your data and settings. It returns the phone to the initial setup screens the way it was when it was new.

You're welcome.

I've read...and re-read...the response from randers4, and still don't understand it. I upgraded iOS on my old phone just last week, to 6.1, and also "turned on" iCloud at that time, at the suggestion of the Verizon rep, when I ordered my new IPhone 5.

I now have my new IPhone 5, have followed all the activation instructions up to "Restore from iCloud Backup" at which point I got the following message:

no iCloud backups are compatible with the version of IOS (6.02) on this iPhone. So my question now is: what do I do next? And I understand that randers4 may well have said what to do next...but can you (or someone) perhaps explain it a different way, step-by-step? Thanks in advance.

As Amorron said, because the phone you backed up was running iOS 6.1, the phone you are trying to restore to this backup must be running iOS 6.1 or higher (6.1 is the highest available at the present time. So the first thing you have to do is update your phone to iOS 6.1. To do this, connect your phone to your computer, open iTunes, click on the name of your phone, go to the Summary tab of your iTunes sync settings and click on Update. (You may get a pop-up message as soon as your phone connect to iTunes telling you that an update is available. If so, choose the option to Download and Update.)

After updating the iOS, go to Settings>General>Reset and click on Erase All Content and Settings. Then go through the setup screens on the phone, and when given the option, choose Restore from iCloud Backup. The backup from your old phone should now be available to select to restore from.

Okay, looks like I'm replying to myself...but thanks for the extra context, randers4. What was confusing me was the ".1" and the ".02". I couldn't understand why what I'd just downloaded last Thursday was seemingly "older" than what was on my brand new iPhone 5. Jeebus. Can we get some new, less confusing naming conventions for our software? (I'm looking at YOU, Apple...and software developers everywhere, the world over.)