Panagia Faneromeni Church
Once the capital’s largest church — Byzantine, Latin and neoclassical outside, frescoed wall to ceiling inside.
Walking, eating and museums — no beach day required
Spring and autumn; summer afternoons are hot inland
Pitsilia villages, Machairas, the Troodos within an hour
Nicosia — Lefkosia — is a city where every corner tells a story. Within its old Venetian walls you find traditional cafés, elegant balconies, historic churches, museums, workshops and narrow streets full of authentic Cypriot character.
Unlike the coastal towns, Nicosia shows a different side of the island: urban, cultural and deeply connected to the past. It is a city best explored slowly — a simple walk leads to hidden courtyards, old neighbourhood cafés and architecture untouched by time.
Perfect for
History lovers, old town walks, local food, photography, museums and traditional neighbourhoods
Nicosia today
Air: MET Norway
Atmospheric lanes, restored houses, local shops and hidden cafés inside the historic city walls.
Churches, galleries, museums and monuments that reveal the island’s layered Greek, Byzantine, Ottoman and British history.
Traditional tavernas, coffee spots and relaxed neighbourhood corners where locals gather all day.
Once the capital’s largest church — Byzantine, Latin and neoclassical outside, frescoed wall to ceiling inside.
Built in 1857 by Archbishop Makarios I — the first girls’ school in Cyprus.
A church inside a cave near Kato Deftera — ‘golden cave’ — early Christian, and closed whenever it rains.
840 hectares of pine and eucalyptus on the capital’s edge, with running and cycling loops.
Restored lanes inside the walls, taverns and souvenir shops, and the city’s main tourist office.
Panagia Machaira, high on the Kionia slopes about 40km from Nicosia — named for the knife that cut back the brush around its hidden icon.
A small chapel below the peak of Koroni hill at Mitsero, with panoramic views over the Nicosia district.
840 hectares of pine and eucalyptus on the capital’s edge, with running and cycling loops.
Restored lanes inside the walls, taverns and souvenir shops, and the city’s main tourist office.
‘Old village’ in Greek — a Pitsilia village of painted churches in the Nicosia region.
A small Nicosia-district village on the Palaichori road, resettled after an 18th-century epidemic.
Driving on the left, cards and cash, whether you need a car at all — the practical questions, answered.
Good to Know