Tilliria, Nicosia district's stretch of coast

Look at a map of the districts and you’ll see Nicosia has a loose piece of coastline in the north-west, with no direct link to the rest. That’s Tilliria. What it is, how to reach it and what’s there come from using the Nicosia Tourism Board, the Spanish foreign ministry and CYSTAT. The whole district is in Nicosia district.

A piece of Nicosia by the sea

The Tourism Board describes Tilliria as a part of Nicosia district between wooded hills and the sea, a remote corner with villages such as Kato Pyrgos, Pano Pyrgos and Pachyammos, cobbled streets and a mix of mountain, forest and sea, with trails, hidden coves and viewpoints. It also praises the locals’ hospitality and their village festivals. OpenStreetMap groups these villages in the Tilliria community cluster.

It’s very thinly populated. At the 2021 census Kato Pyrgos had 919 residents, and the other localities in that census block between 79 and none at all; Agios Theodoros Tillirias is listed with zero.

Getting there

This is both the charm and the catch. The Tourism Board puts Kato Pyrgos 111 km from central Nicosia and explains that the longer route is via Paphos, but that the scenery from Argaka makes up for it, with the sea on one side and green fields on the other. In practice I’d tackle it from Polis, on the Chrysochou coast, not from the capital.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Polis before prices climb.

The north next door

Tilliria borders the northern part of the island. The Spanish foreign ministry includes the Kato Pyrgos-Limnitis (Yeşilırmak) crossing, on the north-west coast, among the crossing points, and it’s covered with the rest in crossing to Northern Cyprus. At sea, the ministry advises against sailing across the maritime demarcation line in Morphou Bay, so respect it if you’re boating here.

The area on the map

To get a feel for distances, worked out as the crow flies with OpenStreetMap, Kato Pyrgos is about 61 km from Nicosia, but the road loops round through Paphos, which is why the Tourism Board gives 111 km. From Polis it’s about 29 km as the crow flies, along the Argaka coast. Pachyammos lies about 9 km west of Kato Pyrgos, and Limnitis (Yeşilırmak), already in the north, about 5 km east. That geography explains the area’s isolation, with the sea in front, the mountains behind and the north next door.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Polis and choose by the reviews.

What I’d do

A long day or a night. I’d head down to the beaches at Kato Pyrgos, which the Tourism Board calls Nicosia’s beach, call in at Pachyammos, whose coastline is in the photo, and return via Argaka to sleep in Polis. From what the sources describe, it’s the island’s quietest coast, without big hotels or seafront promenades, and that’s what draws me to it. To the west, the coast carries on past Pomos to Polis Chrysochous.

A car frees you from timetables: search car hire in Polis on DiscoverCars and compare companies.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Polis before prices climb.