SHOPPING & OPENING HOURS
When you visit or live in Cyprus you will need to adjust more than your watch or alarm clocks to allow for the shift in time zone – anyone used to a 24 / 7 retail shopping experience will find that access to ‘retail therapy’ is significantly different.
The culture shock can feel strange at first, but once you get to know when you can or cannot shop, you should find that there are compensations in migrating to what is arguably a more laid back and less stressful lifestyle compared to that enjoyed with a compulsive shopping tendency!
Shop opening hours are different in winter and summer. In the winter period from 1 November to 31 March they open at 09:00 and close, in accordance with the law, at 19:00, except on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays when they close at 14:00, 20:00 and 15:00, respectively. Sunday is not a working day and supermarkets usually open between 07:00 and 18:00.
In the summer period from 1 April to 31 October the shops open at 09:00 and close, in accordance with the law, at 20:30, except on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays when they close at 10:00, 21:30 and 17:00 respectively. From 15 June to 31 August the ‘afternoon rest’ measure applies, and shops are usually closed between 14:00 and 17:00, Sunday is not a working day. The supermarkets usually open between 07:00 and 20:00.
Many shops and offices take advantage of good lunch breaks and will close from 13.00 – 15.00 or 14.00 – 16.00 depending on the time of year or area.
All urban areas have kiosks which are open for longer than the shops, or even for 24 hours a day. A large number of bread shops (bakeries) stay open until 23:00 or even trade 24 / 7 – an absolute boon if you get back from a night out and need some milk at 3 in the morning! Kiosks sell cigarettes, soft drinks, mineral water and magazines and newspapers, etc., and bakeries sell bread, other bakery products, milk, dairy products and the like.
The official public holidays for shops are:
• 1 January
• 25 March
• 1 April
• Easter Monday
• 1 May
• 1 October
• 28 October
• 25 December
• 26 December
The Minister for Labour and Social Insurance designates what are considered to be tourism areas – and shops in those areas adhere to the tourism system of opening hours which allows for longer opening all through the week and on Sundays too.
In the Christmas period, which begins on 12 December and ends on 30 December, and the Easter period, which begins 10 days before Easter Sunday, the shops are open for longer.
Once you know when you can shop, you also know when you can make the most of your visit to Cyprus – and take advantage of getting to know the island, its people and the enormous fund of hospitality that awaits you.
