Nicosia is a hot and frantic city in the height of summer when temperatures regularly exceed 40C. The best time is to visit in the spring when, with a hire car, you’ll be able to drive across the central Mesaorian Plain to see the carpets of wild flowers that grace what is usually a dustbowl in summer.
You can cross into the Turkish occupied side of the city along Ledra Street which has now been refurbished to offer swish shops and eateries. Once over the border you’ll find you can still shop in euros.
Nicosia Mini Guide
Cyprus’ capital Nicosia is a stylish and sophisticated place which uniquely remains the last divided city in the world. But Nicosia, the largest city in Cyprus, is more than just a curiosity fashioned by its fascinating and violent history.
This glamorous, cosmopolitan location is where people from all over the world go to do business, shop and enjoy themselves.
Situated in the centre of the island, Nicosia is decorated and scarred by its past, from the magnificent 16th century Venetian walls which surround the city to the Green Line demilitarized zone which runs through its heart.
Nicosia, otherwise known as Lefkosia, was being torn apart by Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities in the 1960s, before attempts to unite the island with Greece caused the Turkish army to invade Cyprus in 1974. The capital has remained divided since then, though there are signs of a will to reunify Nicosia and the Ledra Street crossing in the centre of the city was symbolically opened in April 2008.
Walking through Nicosia you will find charming cobbled streets, shady tree-lined avenues with fashionable stores, and leafy suburbs with old colonial houses. The property market in Nicosia is not as saturated as in some of the coastal towns because many tourists prefer to live by the sea, but if you are working in Nicosia it is best to live there as the traffic on approach to the city can be terrible. Driving is not difficult for English people though as Cypriots drive on the left with standard English road signs, though they can sometimes be unpredictable.
Walking is a great way of investigating Nicosia, especially in the pedestrianised city centre, as you can smell sweet jasmine plants as you stroll around and get to choose your favourite restaurants and bars from the hundreds on offer. The food in the capital reflects its multicultural make-up with everything on offer from sushi bars and pizza places to African and Indian restaurants as well as traditional Cypriot food such as Meze.
Nicosia is a great place to visit because it has a history dating all the way back to the Bronze Age, while offering every possible convenience such as a massive mall and a varied programme of cultural events.
While Nicosia is the financial and administrative capital of Cyprus it also has many universities, schools and offshore companies which give the population a diverse feel. This is augmented by the large numbers of foreigners who live in Nicosia including sizeable communities of Sri Lankans, Philippinos and Russians.
Nicosia has many attractions to offer shoppers with more or less every type of shop and restaurant to choose from - it even has an Ikea which is laid out exactly the same as the Ikea stores throughout the UK even including the restaurant and the food on offer i.e. swedish meatballs etc. The main shopping areas are Ledra Street, within the walls, and Archbishop Makarios III Avenue to the south on the other side of Eleftheria Square, where many upmarket shops are now situated.
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