Months are June, days are Saturday. Cyprus We hit the road again early in the morning for our journey. Weekend getaways are one of my secret weapons! Going on Friday evening or Saturday morning and returning on Sunday evening, weekend trips are a real lifesaver for me, who is bored of Istanbul. Anyway, back to the topic, although Cyprus is right under our noses, it was one of the places I hadn't thought of going for years. When one of my dear friends lived there for a while for business and invited him persistently, we decided to go see our friend and see the baby country when we found a cheap flight ticket.
Is a Passport Required When Going to Cyprus?
One of the best things about going to Cyprus is being able to just take your identity card and leave. You do not need a passport or visa. All you have to do is take your identity card with you and prepare your bag.
Of course, if you are traveling from Istanbul by airline, you go through passport control. So what happens then? They give you a form the size of an ID card, you have to keep this paper with you until you return.
10 Reasons to Travel to Cyprus
Let me first tell you why I have never included Cyprus in my travel plans: prejudice! Yes, unfortunately it is. When I think of Cyprus, I thought of five-star hotels and casinos, and I didn't think of Cyprus because I didn't have an eye for any of them. But I was wrong! Everyone makes mistakes! One of the benefits of traveling is to get rid of our prejudices, isn't it?
For those who say why should we go to Cyprus;
- Cyprus is an island, so like almost every other island, it has a beautiful nature, it's airy.
- We said the island, of course, it has beautiful beaches, are you tired of the heat, hooop to the beach!
- We are talking about an island in the middle of the Mediterranean. Over time, it has been under the influence of the cultures of many different civilizations. Its historical monuments, mosques, monasteries and churches are worth seeing.
- There are charming cities, villages and towns that have not lost their naturalness.
- They have very good dishes, we can say that they are a synthesis of the cuisines of the Mediterranean dish. In addition, I should not go without saying that the food prices are very affordable.
- The booze is cheap, which makes me happy.
- Relax people! Nobody makes a mistake out of the blue, does not rush anywhere. Typical Mediterranean people are relaxed and happy.
- Free casinos may be attractive to some, although it is beyond my sphere of interest.
- The people of Cyprus have a painful past, following the traces of this past is invaluable for learning lessons from history.
- You can see Nicosia, the only city in the world with a capital divided into two as north and south.
I didn't know these reasons before I went, I'll admit it frankly.
Traveling in North Cyprus
The main places to see on the island of Cyprus are all in different cities. Therefore, if you are going for a weekend cultural tour like us, renting a car is the best option. In addition, public transportation is insufficient to go to different and deserted beaches, so Cyprus is an extremely suitable place for car rental.
The only thing you need to be careful about is that the traffic flows from the left, not from the right, like us. If you want to rent a car in Cyprus, it would be good to ask where the steering wheel of the car will be. Because I have come across vehicles that have both left and right steering wheels. Pacific Rent-A-Car company is a good alternative among companies where you can rent a car.
Our Weekend Route in Cyprus
If we look at the places we visited in Cyprus;
The airport in Northern Cyprus is in Nicosia, so we landed there. As soon as we landed, our friend picked us up from the airport and we drove to Famagusta. Since Famagusta is a student city and a port city, it has many traces of history. Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque, which was actually a gothic church at the time, we are halfway through the day after the Venetian Palace, the Othello Tower, the prison and museum where Namık Kemal slept for a while, the Sinan Pasha Mosque, and the Famagusta bazaar.
We turn our way south a bit and go to St. After stopping by the Barnabas Ikin and Archeology Museum, we proceeded north this time and went up to the Kantara Castle. The beauty of Kantara Castle is that you can see both the south and the north sea from the top of the island.
At the end of the first day, we drew a huge U and arrived in Kyrenia, where we were going to stay. After taking a rest at our hotel, we went to the restaurant called The Meyhane for dinner. If you choose from the ready-made menus, a magnificent and rich feast awaits you.
We started the second day early again and first turned the Girne Castle upside down. There are many museums inside the castle, don't forget to stick your head in all of them. Keep in mind that Kyrenia has a very pleasant harbor to sit and breathe on the beach. The prices of the restaurants in the port are also very reasonable.
Bellapais Monastery is one of the must-see spots in Kyrenia where we don't have time to go.
Our next stop after Kyrenia was Nicosia. In addition to historical stops such as the city walls, Büyük Han, Selimiye Mosque and Bedesten, the border gate connecting Northern and Southern Cyprus is worth seeing. It is a very interesting sight that half of the city is Northern Cyprus and the other half is Southern Cyprus.
You can see our weekend route in Cyprus on the map below:
Video of Our Cyprus Trip
Be sure to check out the video of our Cyprus trip.
Stay on track!
Don't forget to follow my social media accounts to be informed about my new posts and for more photos and videos!
- Instagram: cokokuyancoktraveler
- Facebook: cokokuyancoktraveler
- Youtube: cokokuyancoktraveler
2 Comments
Super sharing, the video is great, but now we are waiting for GoPro shots Sevil 🙂
The whole video was shot with Gopro 🙂