Things to Do in Kyrenia: Common Mistakes and Their Fixes

Kyrenia (Girne) is the main tourist hub of North Cyprus, about 25 km from North Nicosia (Lefkoşa) and roughly 40 minutes by car from Ercan Airport. There is a lot to see, and most visitors lose time to the same handful of mistakes. Here they all are, each one followed by its fix. Read it once and do Kyrenia right.

Treating Kyrenia as one harbour photo

The horseshoe old harbour is genuinely lovely, and plenty of people take a few pictures there and head home. But the harbour is only the shop window. The real story is behind the walls of Kyrenia Castle.

The fix: Walk the harbour from end to end, then go into the castle. They are two halves of the same visit, so give the pair half a day.

Skipping the Shipwreck Museum

Lots of people go into the castle, stroll the walls and walk out again. Inside, though, is the Shipwreck Museum, home to a merchant vessel that went down in about 300 BC, one of the oldest ever recovered. Leaving Kyrenia without it is like walking out before the end of the film.

The fix: Set aside proper time for the museum inside the castle. Tickets and hours can change, so ask at the entrance.

Driving up to St Hilarion without checking

St Hilarion Castle sits on the ridge above town and comes with the famous “Disney castle” legend. Parts of it have been under restoration, though, and climbing all those bends only to find the gate shut is a miserable way to spend a morning.

The fix: Check that it is open before you set off. If it is, go early; the climb is hard work in the heat.

Driving mountain roads like a motorway

The Nicosia–Kyrenia road is a dual carriageway. The roads over the Kyrenia range, the Five Finger mountains (Beşparmak), are not: they are narrow and winding. On top of that, traffic keeps left, you give way to the right at roundabouts, and speed cameras are common.

The fix: Slow down, follow the signs and never overtake on a bend. Rental cars carry red plates. The full rules are in our driving guide.

Calling Bellapais “just another church”

Bellapais Abbey is a Gothic abbey from the 13th century, in the village of the same name, the one Lawrence Durrell made famous in “Bitter Lemons”. It is not a five-minute stop.

The fix: Give Bellapais a slot of its own. Take your time in the abbey, then wander the village lanes.

Cramming everything into one afternoon

Harbour, castle, museum, St Hilarion, Bellapais, Buffavento… Try to squeeze them all into a few hours and you end up seeing none of them properly. The mountain castles mean climbing; the harbour wants a slow stroll.

The fix: Split it. One half for the harbour, the castle and the Shipwreck Museum. The other half for the mountains: St Hilarion, Buffavento Castle, Bellapais and, if there is time, Karmi village. Two separate days is better still.

Looking for Lara Beach near Kyrenia

Lara Bay is in the south, near Paphos, not anywhere near Kyrenia. Reading the wrong half of the map costs people a wasted drive. The Kyrenia side has beaches of its own, west and east of town: Escape Beach, Acapulco, Kervansaray and, to the east, Alagadi.

The fix: Pick from the Kyrenia side’s own list. They are all in our beach guide.

Turning up at Alagadi after dark

Alagadi is also called Turtle Beach. Its gates shut at night through the nesting months, May to October. Green and loggerhead turtles are the reason.

The fix: Go in daylight, follow the sign at the entrance and stay clear of marked nests.

Paying for everything in euros

Euros and pounds are taken in many tourist places. You usually get a better deal paying in lira, though, and changing money at a hotel tends to cost more than at an exchange office (döviz bürosu).

The fix: Get lira at an exchange office and keep some cash on you; small cafés, markets and some taxis take cash only. More in our money guide. Back in Famagusta and up for a game of backgammon? KARTAL is a tavla and PlayStation café in Famagusta.