Kyrenia (Girne)

Advantages: Very pretty harbour, cooler to walk round and explore at night, amazing castle
Disadvantages: Girne town centre is VERY HOT to walk around in the day, inadequate infrastructure to cope witht he amount of litter generated by tourists

...looking out over Girne. Kyrenia Castle - Situated in Girne Harbour. The most complete and well preserved place we visited. Great view of the harbour below. Definately worth a visit. Bellaix Abbey - Near Girne in the hills. Very peaceful old abbey. They hold music festivals here - there was a Mozart festival held when we were visiting but unfortunately we didn't get a chance to go. Although when we visited there was an orchestra practising in the ...
...in to the room from huge windows. Even my tetchy adolescents enjoyed that. Gamaguza - (Also known as Famagusta) Three of us visited Gamagusa for the day. The former St Nicholas Cathedral was very nice (Now a mosque but you can go in for a look for a small fee). We visited Othello Tower which my husband enjoyed but I found it had a quite disturbing atmosphere (although he said I was wierd so that may be the case). There are lots of nice little shops ... Read review

Advantages: Very few tourists, relatively unspoilt, mountains and sea
Disadvantages: More difficult to get to than South Cyprus

Kyrenia (Greek) or Girne (Turkish) was a very charming little town - now a medium-sized town with charming bits - in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). To get there: 1. You can take a day-trip from southern Cyprus. 2. You can fly to the TRNC (Ercan airport), via Istanbul, from the UK and Germany, I'm not sure about other countries. Brief history: The site of amazing civilisations from thousands of years ago - there are still ruined ...
...cost. Cyprus is a divided island - Greek-speaking in the south, Turkish-speaking in the north. There was a bloody confict in (and leading up to) 1974 which saw the island split in two when Turkish troops invaded to stop a reported genocide of Turkish Cypriots. No other nation except Turkey recognises the TRNC. Re-unification talks between the two parts of the island keep happening and collapsing. Nature: The scenery is breathtaking - a craggy mountain ... Read review

Advantages: Unspoilt, scenic, historic
Disadvantages: In the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus

...a party of four, visited Kyrenia on a day trip on our last holiday to Cyprus, which was in September 2003, and it was well worth seeing. We had heard various reports, mostly from the Greek Cypriots, about how hard it was to get there, how long a wait it was, how much hassle you got from the border guards etc, but we still decided to give it a go. There are, as far as I know, two border gates open for day trips. We used the one on the outskirts of ...
...does), and the road to Kyrenia was straight and well looked after. Kyrenia is "Girne" in Turkish, so look out for the signs. There was a large car park near the harbour, with good toilet facilities, and the usual free splash of lemon cologne from the attendant! The harbour area itself is very pretty, old Ottoman style houses cling to the cliff and round the waters edge bars and cafes abound with gaily coloured tablecloths flapping in the breeze, ... Read review

Advantages: Sightseeing, relaxing atmosphere, very pretty scenery
Disadvantages: Can get very hot in high season

You can visit Kyrenia via southern Cyprus now. If you are staying in Paphos it would be a bit of a trek (around 2 plus hours by car), from Limassol, Protaras and Ayia Napa about 1 hour 15, Nicosia 15 minutes. Its well worth the visit as there is plenty to see. The Turkish Cypriots keen to make money will accept UK sterling, US dollars, Euros! Dont miss the following places when you visit: The Venetian harbour - where you can take a relaxing stroll, ...
...back into south Cyprus. Kyrenia Castle - tyou can explore the towers and dungeons here as the shipwreck museum....this houses what is believed to be one of the oldest shipwrecks in the world. Believed to have been a cargo ship transporting wine from Rhodes and Kos to Cyprus when it encountered stormy seas. You will not only see the ship in the museum but food such as nuts which have been amazingly preserved all these years, its a really interesting ... Read review

Advantages: PEACEFUL, RELAXING, HISTORIC
Disadvantages: BORDER CONTROL, IN A NON RECOGNISED STATE

...ME MAKE IT CLEAR THAT KYRENIA (GIRNE) IS ON THE NORTH COAST OF CYPRUS IN THE 'OCCUPIED AREAS' OF THE TRNC (TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS) A REPUBLIC WHICH IS NOT RECOGNISED BY ANY OTHER NATION IN THE WORLD ... FOR MORE INFORMATION TYPE 'THE CYPRUS PROBLEM' INTO YOUR BROWSER. ANYWAY, JUST BECAUSE IT'S IN THE NORTH DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU CAN'T VISIT. YOU CAN FLY INTO ERCAN AIRPORT IN THE NORTH (AND STAY ONLY IN THE NORTH) OR EITHER OF THE TWO ...
...IN THE COASTAL TOWN OF KYRENIA AND FIND A BEAUTIFUL, UNSPOILT LITTLE HARBOUT TOWN/ FISHING VILLAGE DOMINATED BY A LARGE FORT ... THIS IS DEFINITELY WORTH A LOOK AS IT IS LITERALLY DRIPPING WITH HISTORY FROM THE BYZANTINE ERA, RICHARD THE LION HEARTS TIME AND SO MANY BYGONE ERAS. I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU TOO MUCH, JUST GO AND TAKE A LOOK FOR YOURSELVES ... IT'S WORTH IT. BY THE WAY, ON THE NORTH OF CYPRUS ANY CURRENCY IS WELCOMED THOUGH TURKISH ... Read review

Advantages: Ruins (and scenery, and wild flowers in Spring)
Disadvantages: Ruined (or on the way to becoming so)

.... It's mainly a modern port, but if all you want to do is lie on a beach with a hotel bar to hand, the stretch of shoreline north of Gazimagusa is sandy and as good, or as bad, a place as any other. Old Gazimagusa must be seen for its massive mediaeval walls and turrets, equal to those of the capital. Behind them, 5000 Venetian defenders for ten months withstood a besieging Ottoman army numbering over 100,000. Nowadays, inside, the old city is rather run down, its network of lanes interspersed with empty spaces and abandoned churches, but has atmosphere. South of the city, the formerly Greek resort/suburb of Varosha, once the smartest place to live on the island, is now a ghost town, full of overgrown, crumbling villas cordoned off behind barbed wire. ~ Girne (aka Kyrenia). The place from which to see Girne to best advantage is... Read review

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Advantages: Very well preserved ruins, impressive scenery
Disadvantages: Lack of information material and sign-posting on the site

...A poster of the ruins of the ancient town of Salamis, Northern Cyprus, seen on a tourism fair in 1998, first brought my attention to the part of the world as a possible holiday destination. I booked a 1 week holiday in the neighbourhood of Salamis, was smitten by the country, met my - now - husband and moved there within less than a year. We lived in the small town Yeni Bogazici, right opposite of Salamis, and for the next 1 1/2 years (we moved to another town later on) the ruins were literally "down our street" and our favourite spot for walks. How to reach Salamis ? If you are staying either in Magosa (Famagusta), the Greek part of Cyprus or in Girne (Kyrenia) you will approach Salamis from the south. It is situated about 8 km to the north of Magosa, right opposite to the entrance of the village Yeni... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful