Busk your way around and buy a guidebook ?

Nicosia is in both the north and the south. Driving into south Nicosia is not a problem. Your insurance will cover you for that. Nowadays you can walk over to the north.

All 3 times I've been there I've gone by car. There are numerous car parks dotted around.

With regards to what to see, all we did was wander around aimlessly. Sorry.

Mark

So drive to the South side (like going to any big city?) and find a parking spot (like any big city?)... and then walk across?.. (get lost and spend 3 hours looking for where you parked the car, like any big city? lol )....

thanks for the starter for ten guys...

Are there no organised trips that do a proper guided tour and some stop offs??...

Is there anything worth seeing in the Northern side or is the main stay of things in the South (how big is it realisitically?)

Thanks

Steve

With regards to what to see, all we did was wander around aimlessly

Me too, and it feels 10deg hotter than in the resorts. You'll welcome the AC in the shops

AskCy wrote:

So drive to the South side (like going to any big city?) and find a parking spot (like any big city?)... and then walk across?.. (get lost and spend 3 hours looking for where you parked the car, like any big city? lol )....

Yup!

saintscully wrote:

and it feels 10deg hotter than in the resorts

If you listen to the weather forecasts they always say the central plain is going to be warmer than the coastal areas.

Mark

I went on a guided tour a few years ago. We booked it direct with a travel agent in resort.

We drove round the capital on a guided tour. Then we visited the Archbishops home and were left some free time to do our own thing. we went up to the museum on the top floor of Woolworths (in Ledra Street) and looked out over the occupied North. It was quite interesting.

On the way down we had fish and chips in the cafe lol
Kath x

So if we go to Nicosia we won't be going to the Northern side of it?

Steve

We visited the North the same way (booked through loal travel agents).

We only pased through Nicosia. Be careful what you buy in the North, because the coach usually gets searched on return - and they will confiscate annything they can.

I am glad that we did it, but I wouldn't chose to doi it again.

Kath x

Hi Steve
You can go to the northern side of Nicosia, if thats what you want to do. Adter you have parked up, walk towards the walled city. When you reach the wall, follow it around in a clockwise direction and you will come to the crossing point. Show your passport and fill in a visa slip and you can cross through.

Once in the northern part, there is a very useful (if rubbed off in places) blue line on the ground that you can follow around. I think it was supposed to be like a "tourist trail", but please be advised that it is *very* different to the south...and I mean very.

Ady

I know the problems of both sides and realise the issues that might arise, but I'm slightly curious as to what the Northern side of the Island is like. After all it was once all part of the single beautiful island of Cyprus... wouldn't want to cause myself problems by visiting there, but part of me is curious (yeah I know it killed the cat)...

Steve

Understand, Steve, but don't worry - you won't cause yourself any problems.

We have crossed into the north on several occassions - much for the same reasons as you are considering it. Only once from Nicosia though - the others were from Vrysoulles. In my opinion, and if you want to see some of the north, then it may be better to go on a trip to Famagusta or Kyrenia. Walking through at Nicosia is a completely different experience...maybe do both, or all three, but not just Nicosia...

Only my opinion

Ady

thanks ady (and all)...

its about time we did some trips that way.. in fact we haven't even done a boat trip anywhere yet.. so maybe the on up the coast to famagusta?....

(ps is the a beach BBQ boat trip from anywhere around Pernera/Protaras ?)

I've been to Girne, Gazimagusa and Lefkosa many years ago, and of those 3, Lefkosa is the one I'm not too bothered about revisiting.

Mark

We did a coach trip to Kyrenia from Paphos and went through Nicosia , dropping off those who just wanted to go to Nicosia for the day, and picking them up on the way back. I expect they do similar trips from Protaras and Ayia Napa.
Also crossed the border near Vrysoulles and drove to Famagusta one year. I would love to visit both places again from the south, preferably under our own steam so that we could go different places as well, but haven't worked out the logistics of it, given that you're not supposed to take a hire car over.
It was interesting looking at Nicosia and the border from the coach, but I'm not sure I would have wanted to spend a whole day there, at least not in the summer when it is hot.

We did a trip to Nicosia from Ayia Napa a couple of years ago, booked it with our rep at the hotel (probably cheaper to do it with one of the travel agents you see around resorts), anyway we went by coach to the South Side, we had plenty of free time to look around the city ourselves. We also then were taken to the north side and shown round (following the blue lines previously mentioned) by a tour guide so got to see plenty of places of interest.

Well worth a visit in my opinion.

i'd recomment hiring a car because you can move around the city easier... and dont worry, it's not a really big city! rather small i would say...
anw if you are interested in shopping the best place to go is makariou avenue (that's where all the good shops are and where all us local usually go shopping) as well as stasikratous (that's where the bit more expsensive stores are ). Also you might find like ledra street quiet interesting.. All these are very close and you can do all the shopping by food, without using the car to go from one street to another...
As for the northen site of the city, well, i wouldnt recommend it...
Anw, have fun and if you want anything else from someone local just ask me!!!

As others have said to be perfectly blunt I would avoid Nicosia in June , July and August as it's like walking round an oven. You would actually end up going in shops to avoid the heat. And by the way it's half day closing for most shops and attractions on Saturdays.

I think that the (cultural) attractions in Nicosia are within walking distance. I would say that visiting the walled city of Nicosia is a must for those Cyprus visitors interested in cultural heritage (especially with regards to the period after 1000 AD). You will catch a good glimpe of a medieval city. The walls themselves are a great example of military architecture (around 1,400), and you will see nice examples of old greek orthodox churches a few centuries old, frankish palaces, gothic cahtedrals (turned into mosques), restored khans and hammams. The basic material used in all these building is sandstone.

Unless you want to learn from a guide many many details about the buildings, you could do the trip on your own on a public bus. I dont think you need to hire a car to come to Nicosia.

And I suggest that you explore both parts of the walled city, so you should bring your passport along to cross.

Enjoy
Phivos

As someone said earlier, driving to Nicosia is pretty straightforward and there are lots of car parks in the city centre, close to the old walled part of the city.

For those who don't already know, the barricade in Ledra Street went in April and you can now easily walk across into the northern 'occupied' part of the city provided you have your passport with you, which is much easier than wandering around the outside all the way to old Paphos Gate crossing.

You can also get there by bus but I suspect that the 'inter-city' bus timetables won't leave you a great deal of time in Nicosia - I know the bus from Pahos gets you there with about an hour before the return journey.

I travel up from Paphos by car in a couple of hours and generally make a day of it when I go to Nicosia, stopping off somewhere like Petra Tou Roumio (Aphrodites' birthplace) on the way back or, alternatively doing a detour to Lefkara.

It's a good day out though - so much to see.

Dave