North Cyprus Holidays
North Cyprus is a fantastic holiday destination. The fabulous port city of Kyrenia is one of the unspoiled gems of the Mediterranean – a perfect harbor with old Turkish gulets, or sailing ships, and overlooked by mighty Kyrenia Castle. They say every cloud has a silver lining, and one of the outcomes of the 1974 civil war and partition was that the TRNC (the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) was cut off economically from the European Union. As a result the swathes of overbuilt tourist hotel complexes that blight part of the south were never really replicated in the north.
North Cyprus holidays are best taken in the Spring or early Fall, since the heat of summer can be intense, reaching 110 F in the shade. Travelers come here for many reasons – the beautiful deep blue sea and the stunning barren hillsides, almost desert,have magnificent coastal vistas. The Karpas peninsula is particularly beautiful and isolated. It is renowned for its turtles and is a sanctuary for rare island wildlife.
Cyprus is as close to the Middle East as to Turkey, and is a stone’s throw from Syria and Jordan. The atmosphere in the old marketplaces of Famagusta and Lefkosa is truly exotic and oriental. The old mosques are well worth a visit. The Ethnographical Museum in Lefkosa (Nicosia) is particularly interesting in its telling of Turkish Cypriot culture. The city is of course divided by the Green Line and it is well worth a visit from the old, dusty streets of the north into the gleaming, opulent and westernized Greek Cypriot south.
Of course the stunning history remains the primary draw. Start with Salamis, the ancient Roman city where St.Paul landed. After a tsunami the city was lost beneath the sands for centuries and today is a city back from the deep past with astonishing Roman amphitheaters and bath complexes. It is also essential to visit the Castle of St.Hilarion which is perched an amazing 741 meters above the blue Mediterranean sea. You won’t forget the spectacular views from here in a hurry.
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