Nicosia Old Town and Coast: Lefkosia Urban Regeneration, Phaneromeni Church Square, the 3-Hour City Walk Circuit, Thalassa Marine Museum, Ayia Napa Club Resort, and Protaras Fig Tree Bay Family Beach
The Nicosia old town and coast guide covers the Lefkosia Laiki Geitonia bar and gallery regeneration, the Phaneromeni Square intellectual gathering point, the 3-hour Venetian walls city walk circuit, the Thalassa marine heritage museum, the moderated Ayia Napa club resort, and the Fig Tree Bay family beach ranked among Europe's five finest.
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Lefkosia Old Town: The Renovation
The Nicosia old town within the Venetian walls, known as Lefkosia in Greek, has undergone a significant urban regeneration in the past decade with the Faneromeni Square and the Laiki Geitonia neighborhood transforming from neglected post-partition commercial areas into the thriving bar, restaurant, and gallery district that anchors the revitalized southern Cyprus urban culture. The Cyprus Handicrafts Centre on Athalassa Avenue and the Pafos Gate gallery district present the contemporary Cyprus arts and crafts in the most accessible concentration in the capital.
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The Phaneromeni Church and Neighbourhood
Phaneromeni Church in the old town of Nicosia, the most beloved Orthodox church in the capital and the site of the ossuary of the Cypriot martyrs executed by the Ottomans during the 1821 Greek War of Independence uprising, is surrounded by the Phaneromeni Square neighborhood of the street cafes, the bookshops, and the tavernas that form the most convivial public space in the Nicosia old town and the gathering point of the university students, the artists, and the intellectuals of the capital.
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Nicosia City Walk: Within the Walls
The Nicosia city walk within the Venetian walls, from the Eleftherias Gateway entrance through the Cyprus Museum approach, along the Ledra Street commercial pedestrian zone to the Green Line crossing point, and returning through the Onasagorou bar district to the Costanza Bastion, covers the essential Nicosia experience in a 3-hour morning circuit that encompasses the partition, the colonial heritage, the Byzantine churches, the Ottoman hamam, and the contemporary Cypriot city life.
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Thalassa Museum: The Ayia Napa Marine
The Thalassa Municipal Museum of the Sea in Ayia Napa, the coastal resort town 90 kilometers east of Nicosia, houses the largest collection of Bronze Age seafaring artifacts from the eastern Mediterranean, including the complete reconstruction of a 4th century BC merchant ship based on the Kyrenia ship in northern Cyprus, and the natural history of the Cyprus marine environment in the most complete marine heritage presentation in the island. The Thalassa museum is the essential complement to the Kyrenia ship ancient shipwreck for the visitor interested in the ancient Cyprus maritime tradition.
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Ayia Napa: The Club Capital of the Mediterranean
Ayia Napa on the southeast coast of Cyprus, the party resort town that attracted the British club tourism market from the late 1990s and was at one period the most concentrated outdoor club scene in the Mediterranean outside Ibiza, has moderated its mass party tourism focus in the past decade and developed the Nissi Beach resort and the water sports and diving operations that have made it the most complete beach resort town in Cyprus for the 20 to 35 demographic. The summer Ayia Napa festival circuit is the most active music event program in Cyprus.
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Protaras and Fig Tree Bay: The Family Beach
Protaras on the southeastern Cyprus coast, with the Fig Tree Bay consistently rated among the five most beautiful beaches in Europe for the clarity of the turquoise water and the fine white sand in the sheltered bay, is the most family-appropriate beach resort in Cyprus. The Protaras resort area combines the Fig Tree Bay beach with the Cape Greco national forest park, the cycling path along the rocky southeast coast, and the Agia Napa sea caves, accessible by kayak along the Cyprus coastline.