Getting Ready for Christmas in Cyprus: Where to Buy Decorations, Trees, Festive Food and Local Treats (2026)

To get ready for Christmas in Cyprus, buy decorations and lights from November at IKEA, Superhome Center, Leroy Merlin or Jumbo, pick up a real pine tree at a Forestry Department station in December, and order your turkey or souvla meat about a week ahead. Shops close by 18:00 on Christmas Eve and stay shut on Christmas Day, so the week before is when everything happens.

Last checked: 19 October 2026. The 2026 Christmas dates for tree sales, markets and shop hours are not out yet; we update this guide when they are announced.

When should you start your Christmas shopping in Cyprus?

Earlier than you might think. Decorations appear in the big stores from the start of November (IKEA's Christmas page says its range reaches stores from 1 November), and the island's festive season opens in late November, when the official Christmas Villages start on 21 November 2026 and town squares light their trees.

A sensible timeline:

1. Early November: decorations, lights and an artificial tree, while stock is full. If you are ordering festive food or gifts from the UK, order now (see the customs section below).
2. Late November to mid-December: buy a real tree when the Forestry Department sales open, and pre-order cakes and sweets from your bakery.
3. Week before Christmas: order turkey, pork or lamb from your butcher or supermarket and do your dry-goods shop.
4. 23 and 24 December: fresh bread, vegetables and halloumi only. Christmas Eve is the busiest shopping day of the year, and shops must close by 18:00.

Where can you buy Christmas decorations and lights?

IKEA's Limassol Plan & Order Point is closed on 25 and 26 December. If you live in Paphos or Larnaca, Superhome Center is the closest big choice for trees and outdoor lights; Jumbo is good for children's decorations and Christmas stockings.

Where can you buy a real Christmas tree?

Imported fir trees are not easy to find, but every December the Forestry Department sells pine trees that come from thinning its forest plantations. They are cheap and fresh. In 2025:

• Sales ran from 26 November to 19 December, on weekdays from 08:00 to 14:30.
• Trees were sold at forestry stations in Athalassa (Nicosia), Larnaca, Dhekelia, Fasouri, Limassol, Parekklisia, Paphos (Yeroskipou), Gialia and Panayia/Platania.
• In 2024, an Aleppo pine up to 1.5 metres cost from €6 and a black pine up to 2 metres from €14.

The 2026 dates have not been announced yet (checked 19 October 2026); the department usually publishes them in mid-November. Every legal tree carries the Forestry Department seal. Cutting, keeping or transporting a tree from the forest without a permit is an offence under the Forest Law, with a fine of up to €5,000 and/or up to a year in prison, so never cut your own.

Superhome Center also lists a "real plants and trees" category in its Christmas range; call your nearest store to ask what it has this year.

Where can you buy turkey and festive meat?

Turkey is not the centre of a Cypriot Christmas. A Nicosia butcher told SigmaLive in December 2025 that pork and lamb souvla dominate local tables and turkey is becoming less popular, which means you should order a turkey rather than hope to find one on the day. His advice: pre-order from the middle of Christmas week and ask your butcher when the animal was slaughtered.

• Alphamega has a "Christmas turkey and duck" category and a Christmas baking section in its online shop. Delivery is free on orders over €100, or you can click and collect in Nicosia (Acropoli, Astromeritis) and Limassol (Polemidia).
• METRO supermarkets take orders for turkeys and suckling pigs before Christmas; check the details in store.
• Lidl sells its festive Deluxe and Favorina ranges in December, which is the easiest place for stollen, panettone-style cakes and continental treats.
• Your local butcher is the best option for souvla cuts, a whole leg of pork or a large bird.

For prices, the government's e-kalathi price comparison found Sklavenitis the cheapest chain on a basket of 234 products in September 2025 (€930.60) and Alphamega the dearest (€1,017.05). In Nicosia supermarkets, the Cyprus Consumers Association priced a "rich" Christmas table at about €160 for four people and €227 for six in 2025, the same as in 2024.

Where can you buy Cypriot Christmas sweets and breads?

The festive sweets are melomakarona (honey and walnut biscuits) and kourabiedes (almond shortbread dusted in icing sugar), followed by the vasilopita cake for New Year. Every bakery sells them from early December. In SigmaLive's survey of 20 shops in December 2024, prices per kilo ranged from €11.95 at Zorbas to about €18–19 at patisseries such as Columbia and Sigma in Limassol, with Vienna Bakeries at €14.95 and Chocoland in Larnaca at €13.90.

• Zorbas has bakeries across the island and a Click & Pick service for ordering ahead.
• Pralina, the Zorbas Group patisserie, reopened in Limassol at 11 Kolonakiou Avenue in December 2025 and has two shops in Nicosia, good for Christmas cakes and logs.
• Columbia Confectionery in Limassol launched a "Nutcracker Christmas" collection in 2025 with an advent calendar, melomakarona and kourabiedes.

If you prefer to bake, Alphamega's online shop has a Christmas baking category, and its site has recipes for Cypriot Christmas sweets.

Where can you buy halloumi, cheese and local produce?

Municipal markets are where Cypriots shop for the festive table:

• Nicosia: the Central Municipal Market is open daily and busiest on Saturdays, with fresh produce, homemade bread, olives, herbal teas, halloumi and other cheeses and cured meats. (The old Palouriotissa market is now a cultural venue, not a food market.)
• Limassol: the renovated Limassol Agora in the old town has a traditional bakery, a delicatessen, a fruit market and a wine shop among its shops.
• Larnaca: the new municipal market in the city centre opened in March 2023 with 20 shops.

For a deli selection, Vetrina, which opened at The Landmark Nicosia in March 2026, sells olive oils, wine, cured meats, cheeses and fresh pasta. Our guide to markets in Cyprus lists farmers' markets by city.

Local treats for the table and for gifts

Agros rose products. The Rose Factory in Agros, run by the Tsolaki family since 1948, sells rosewater, rose tea, liqueur, jam and chocolates and is open all year. Agros is also one of the nine official Christmas Villages for 2026–27, so you can combine a visit with the festive stalls.

Wine and Commandaria. A bottle of Commandaria goes with melomakarona as well as with Christmas cake. See our guide to the best Cypriot wines and Commandaria for Christmas.

More ideas are in our local products and souvenirs guide.

Can you get British Christmas food in Cyprus?

Some, but not everything. We could not confirm any specialist British food shop trading in Cyprus in 2026. M&S, run in Cyprus by Retail Cura, sells food as well as fashion, but its Cyprus store locator did not show which stores have food halls, so ask your nearest store before you count on Christmas puddings or mince pies. Lidl's seasonal range is the other easy option.

Many expats ask family to post treats instead. Since 1 July 2026, parcels from outside the EU, including the UK, have lost the old duty exemption: a temporary €3 customs duty applies per item type until 1 July 2028, and VAT is charged on the total. Gifts from one private person to another remain exempt up to €45. Ask them to check Royal Mail's (or their courier's) last posting dates for Cyprus and to post well before them. Our guide to parcels and customs explains how to pay any charges.

What are shop opening hours over Christmas?

• Normal days: shops can open from 07:00 to 21:00 Monday to Saturday; on Sundays most open from about 11:00, and some stay closed.
• 24 and 31 December: shops must close by 18:00.
• 25 and 26 December: in 2025 shops were closed on both days and reopened on 27 December. Mall shops also closed on 1 January, and many on 2 January, in 2024.
• Sales: the winter sales started on 7 January in 2026.

Supermarket and mall hours for 2026 are usually announced in mid-December. Our guide to public holidays and working hours has the full holiday list.

What to do next

• Buy decorations in November and diarise the Forestry Department tree sale when it is announced.
• Book your butcher order and bakery order by mid-December.
• Plan your days out: see Christmas in Cyprus, the Christmas Villages guide and our supermarkets guide.