Walking home at two
People do it without a second thought, in Kyrenia harbour, in the old city of Nicosia, in the villages. Women walk home alone. This is the single most common thing new residents remark on.
The bit people mention first when they come back.
Not the beaches and not the prices. Almost everyone who visits says the same thing: they had forgotten what it feels like not to think about it.
What it looks like day to day
Children on their own
Children walk to school, cycle to a friend's house and play out in the street. Every parent who moves here notices how quickly their own rules relax.
Houses left empty
Thousands of holiday homes here sit empty for eight months of the year without incident. It is one of the practical reasons the buy to let market works so calmly.
Why it is like this
A small place where people know each other
The whole population is smaller than a mid sized European city. Villages and neighbourhoods are tight, and anonymity is genuinely hard to come by.
Very little violent crime
Serious violent crime is rare enough to be news when it happens. The realistic risks here are the ordinary ones anywhere: road accidents and opportunistic theft from an unlocked car.
A settled, welcoming society
Foreign residents from dozens of countries live here without friction, and hospitality to visitors is a genuine part of the culture rather than a slogan for tourists.
Sensible precautions, the same as anywhere
Drive carefully
Mountain roads are narrow and unlit, and the roads are the one genuine risk worth respecting. Take it slowly at night.
Lock the car
Opportunistic theft from unlocked vehicles is the most common report by a distance. Locking it removes almost all of it.
Sun, not crime
The most likely thing to spoil your first week is a July afternoon on an unshaded beach. Hat, water, shade between noon and four.
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