"Christmas Break in Kyrenia" Top 5 Page for this destination Kyrenia District by XenosUK

Kyrenia District Travel Guide: 228 reviews and 595 photos

We spent a week in Kyrenia (or Girne in Turkish), from 24 December 2005. It is a fairly large town and with masses of villa developments springing up everywhere it can only get bigger. The harbour is very picturesque, with plenty of bars and restaurants and a walk around the castle is an interesting way to spend a morning. There didn't seem to be any decent beaches at all in the area, unless they were all situated in the grounds of the big hotel complexes on the outskirts of town, which we didn't visit.

Shopping seems to consist of either general souvenire-type shops or ones selling designer knock-offs. The prices of these seemed fairly reasonable for things like jeans and tops, but very inflated for watches (£25+)and handbags (£40+) compared to what you see in Asia, although the quality may have been slightly better.

On the whole, I'd say that Kyrenia is a good place to visit off-season, as an alternative to a city break and it makes a good base for exploring the rest of Northern Cyprus. But the lack of beaches and proliferation of "holiday village" developments mean that I personally wouldn't go there for a summer holiday since I like to relax on a quiet beach during the day and enjoy local bars and restaurants in the evenings and I think that it would be necessary to have a car and do a fair bit of driving around for the whole holiday in order to do both, so not exactly a "vegging out" holiday. I enjoyed our week there and am glad we went, but having "been there, done that", I wouldn't be in any hurry to return.

Last visit to Kyrenia District: Dec 2005
Intro Updated Jan 1, 2006
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Reviews (10)

Driving in North Cyprus Transportation (1)

We hired a car from Sun RentaCar and were very impressed, since it was a virtually new Fiat Panda with only about... more travel advice

The "ancient" columns at Salamis - Kyrenia District

Salamis & Gazimagusa (Famagusta) Things to Do (7)

10km north of Gazimagusa, the ancient city of Salamis was supposedly founded by the Greek hero Teucer, following the... more travel advice

A tiny chapel on the coast near Lapta - Kyrenia District

Driving West from Kyrenia Things to Do (7)

Once again, the drive out of Kyrenia heading west offers many more villa developments and I'm really not sure how they... more travel advice

Rugged coastline near Esentepe - Kyrenia District

Driving East from Kyrenia Things to Do (7)

As you leave the main town area, the road is some distance from the shore and for several miles all you see is villa... more travel advice

Restaurants (1)
Try the Full Kebab

Hotels (1)
Tired hotel in a decent location

Comments (5)

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gilabrand Feb 22, 2007 at 1:03 PM

Wonderful tour! Maybe I will get there one day. It's probably the closest "overseas" place I could fly to.
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scottishvisitor Feb 22, 2007 at 12:38 PM

Nice to find some spots which aren't over developed - loved the castles & Abbey - thanks for the tour!
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bugalugs Aug 19, 2006 at 9:12 AM

A lovelt page an such an historical place. Dont know whether I would manage to get to the Castle though, might have to just sit in a bar instead - lol
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whitecliff62 Jan 4, 2006 at 10:09 AM

Great stuff Eliane, looks as if the sun shone for you as well
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nickandchris Jan 3, 2006 at 4:16 AM

Good tips although I have to agree, why spoil the reason for visiting northern Cyprus with all that development? Not for me. I did like the look of the coast further east, was it? where exploitation hadn't happened yet.