Summer afternoons in Erbil leave the streets quiet, and the city saves its strolling for after sunset. Then families fill the square below the citadel, tea glasses clink at the Machko teahouse under the old walls, and the covered Qaysari bazaar, shaded by its metal roof, stays busy until shutters come down.
Beyond the old center, Ankawa keeps its churches and late dinners, and Sami Abdul Rahman Park gives joggers two lakes and a rose garden. Summers are long, dry and very hot, while winters are mild and bring most of the year's rain. A Local Friend reads the menu, the map and the mood for you, from the dolma worth ordering to the hour the square fills up.
