All you need to know before travelling to Cyprus
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| Blue Lagoon (Paphos) |
Disclaimer: I have not travel blogged in a while due to COVID. Our last travel was in December 2019 in Italy. Cyprus was one of the few places that were still open to non-vaccinated visitors during COVID-19 travel bans.
I do not receive any payment for any of the places mentioned. I just share my experience to help other travellers.
Airport
Cyprus is divided into two countries, Northern Cyprus/ Turkish Republic of Cyprus and (South) Cyprus which is part of the EU. There are three airports in Cyprus, Ercan in Northern Cyprus and Larnaca and Paphos in EU-Cyprus. Deciding which airport to land in is crucial as it will restrict your movement around the island. The Greek/EU Cyprus Government do not recognise Northern Cyprus and as such if you land in Ercan (located in Northern Cyprus), you will struggle to cross the border to visit the EU/Greek side. The best thing to do is to land in Paphos or Larnaca if you want to travel around the whole island and visit the other side.
Car Rental
We rented a pre-booked car from a well-reputed international car rental company at Larnaca Airport where we landed. If you haven’t pre-booked, not to worry as there are plenty of car rentals to choose from. I would also advise you to buy a comprehensive insurance cover if you intend to travel the whole island. Please note, if you choose to take the car to Northern Cyprus, the car will not be covered by the insurance bought in South Cyprus and you will need to buy additional insurance at the checkpoint before crossing over at the cost of £20 for 3 days, this will enable you to cross back and forth for 3 continuous days. The car rental company cannot stop you from crossing over, but they will advise you against it, this is the normal procedure. I would highly recommend renting a 4-wheel drive if you are of the adventurous kind and want to visit some of the remote areas of the island, if not you can always rent quadbikes or book jeep safaris, there are certain areas north of Paphos which cannot be visited by a normal car past a certain point, namely the road leading to Lara Beach and past Lara Beach (Turtle beach) going up the mountains. In perfect honesty, we saw cars trying to get to Lara Beach, and it was a battle for them, and we could see some metal flapping at the bottom of the car. This is very important as your car rental policy will stipulate there is no cover for damage caused on off-road driving. We had planned on renting a normal 7-seater car due to cost, and there being 6 of us. When we got to the airport, we were lucky enough to be offered an upgrade to a 4x4 7-seater for a minimal fee (I had already checked online this would have cost us a fortune if we pre-booked). Even with the minimum fee, the car rental was costing us less than it would have cost us to do jeep safaris or rent a quad bike. If you can afford it, rent a 4x4, there are some exceptional places you will be able to drive to.
Note that they drive on the same side as the UK in both Northern and South Cyprus. The motorways tend to be not so busy, there can be some traffic in the cities such as Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos. There were no visible fixed cameras in South Cyprus and drivers definitely were driving above the speed limit they also run through Red lights and will beep you to do so too. I had trouble using Apple Maps there, but Waze (run by Google maps) worked just fine most of the time. A charge will be applied by your network provider due to Brexit if you are a UK citizen whilst using GoRoam Europe in South Cyprus, and GoRoam World in Northern Cyprus. Northern Cyprus has cameras everywhere, and there is also more police patrol, and we have seen them fining people. City names on maps are also different to the actual signs, for example, Lefkosa is Nicosia on Google maps, Lemosos in Limassol. The places have two names generally, one in Greek, and possibly the other more international.
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| View from Apostolos Andrea Monastery |
What to see and do
South Cyprus is a tourist destination seeking beaches and driving all around the South, you have a sense of them advertising nothing else but beaches and churches. There are very few tourist signposts around the island that are not related to beaches or churches, the tourist signposts are normally brown. Agio stands for ‘church’ and you will definitely see a lot of Agios.
We love churches, but there are so many, and you can only select a few, some of the famous ones are the Missing Persons Monastery (Women are not allowed to visit the monastery, and men have to be fully clothed as shorts are not allowed), apparently, there is a Holy Cross there. There is also the famous Monastery of Cats, if you have a phobia of cats like I do, definitely a place to avoid.
There is also the Hala Teke Mosque in Larnaca, this is a very old mosque which includes some tombs that can be visited free of charge, again you have to be fully clothed to visit the place. There are also cats around, but they are normally fed so don’t tend to bother you and mainly sleep during the day or mind their own business.
Cyprus has all kinds of beaches to offer, and choosing the beach depends on the activity you intend to do. Paphos has some great kiteboarding beaches if this is your thing. Most parts of the island are suitable for swimming, but I would advise swimming in areas where there are lifeguards. Personally, the area around Nissia beach, Fig Tree beach was the best; sandy beaches calm water, and fish swimming around you, great if you have little ones! There are two Blue Lagoons in Cyprus, one past Lara Beach and the second in Kavo Greko (sea caves), generally speaking, you will need a boat to swim in both, as the area is very rocky, I would strongly recommend not diving in from the cliffs as it is very rocky, and you may end up with an injury. Most beaches with lifeguards have some sort of shower area and changing cubicle.
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| Nissia beach |
There are plenty of ruins around Cyprus to choose from, the ones in Paphos are the most known. We visited in August when it was hitting around 36 degrees, and as such avoided being in the sun and did not visit a lot of ruins as there is no shade. Also, we have been to Rome and other places and have seen plenty of ruins, so it was not really something we were interested in.
Other than churches and beaches, the mountains will add a cooling effect to your holiday, it is a nice escape from the heat, also beware you are still looking at temperatures above the 30s in most places. Troodos is a great choice for walking around and was probably the coolest place at 21 degrees. On the way to Troodos, depending on where you are coming off, I would advise visiting a waterfall; we visited Chantara waterfalls, which included 3 waterfalls and a water pool. It was refreshing to walk in the water, which was not too cold, nor too hot.
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| Water pool at Chanter waterfalls |
The small villages like Kalavasos are nice to visit to get a feel of the locals. They lose the roads off at night, so all the restaurants have their tables out and the whole village comes to life as a community. Lefkara is another village to visit, it is known for its silver jewellery and lace market. On your way to Lefkara, you will see signposts of the Bio Olive Farm, it is free to visit, but be warned, you will want to buy everything they make. The farm is owned by a husband and wife who will make you try everything in the shop, and it tastes absolutely beautiful. The couple is passionate about Olive Oil. The wife made us try so many things, and everything tasted so good! We probably cost them more in tasting than what we actually spent buying there due to airport hand luggage restrictions. She makes everything out of fresh olive oil, we bought some sweet olive oil (watermelon flavoured). We were offered a whole platter upon arrival just for tasting, and even when we left she packed us some free olives to eat for the rest of the holiday. Surprisingly, the kids loved that place, I thought they probably would have little interest in an Olive Farm but apparently, they were fascinated by all that goes on there.
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| Tasting at Bio Olive Farm |
There are several Salt Lakes where Flamingos may be visible. We saw some from far away in the Salt Lake near Limassol but there were none in the Salt Lakes near Larnaca.
There is also a Camel Park and a Donkey Park. Camel Park includes the use of the swimming pool, but we did not visit Camel Park. We also did not visit Donkey Park, but you can get Donkey milk ice cream there, which has a different taste from the usual ice cream. However, if you want to see wild Donkeys for free, then head to Karpass Peninsula in Northern Cyprus. You will see plenty on your way up to Apostolos Andrea Monastery, a beautiful, restored Monastery by the beach. The Donkeys roam free and will walk around your car, it is always handy to have a few carrots that you can wave by the side of the window to get them to move to the side.
Coming back to ice cream, we accidentally found a small family-run Ice Cream parlour in Nicosia, Northern Cyprus. By far this is the best ice cream we have had, there were so many flavours to choose from, Walnuts and Figs, Tahini, Bitter Orange, Rose and many others. The owner keeps experimenting with the flavours, we went two days in a row, and each day we got different unique flavours to try. This is definitely a cheap and great place to have homemade ice cream. Paying a visit to Sedo Ice-Cream is a must if you are in Nicosia, the décor will also blow you away. The family has been in the ice cream-making business for generations, and they certainly know what they are doing. I would also recommend you try the local delicacy, some sort of sweet bread with cheese, it tasted like heaven. We were lucky to be given a tour around the ice cream-making area which is attached to the shop and the owner’s house. They also entertained our kids with board games while we chatted away for hours with them. Please note this is not paid to advertise, but the family was so welcoming that I cannot help but give them a special shoutout. They enlightened us on the History of Cyprus, and it was great to see people from South Cyprus and North Cyprus sitting together and having a good laugh.
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| Sedo Ice Cream |
Walks around cities are also recommended, each city has its own vibes, so go for it if you have time, especially in the evenings.
We found Northern Cyprus to be more interesting, there was the Karpas Peninsula, which included encounters with sheep, donkeys and goats, and beautiful sights of cliffs, sea, golden beaches and the Monastery. Heading up to the monastery from the South, we also saw some beautiful mosques and abandoned churches, many of those churches were actually in a pitiful state, and this has to do with the history and politics of both Cyprus’.
There is the ghost city of Varosha in Famagusta. You cannot drive inside the ghost city, but it is permissible to park and walk around certain areas of Varosha. It is highly guarded; filming and photos are prohibited, and warnings are visible all around. The city is surrounded by barbed wires and is guarded by soldiers. The city was a highly sought resort like Ayia Napa, but due to politics, the whole city had to be abandoned by Greek Cypriots who moved to the South. The city will give you a bitter-sweet feeling, bitter as it feels eerie and sad, sweet as you will not find this sight anywhere else. It is a reminder of how politics dehumanise us. For me as someone who campaigns against the illegal settlement of Israelis in Palestinian homes, this hit hard.
Not far from Varosha, you will find the Walled city. The city still contains many old buildings, but is mainly a tourist area with shops and restaurants, but should be on your list of things to see. The Lala Moustafa Pasa Mosque/Saint Nicholas Cathedral is situated there. This is an old Cathedral that was converted into a mosque and is still used as a mosque. It is free to visit but you must be fully clothed. This is like seeing the reverse of Cordoba Mezquita or Seville Cathedral in Spain.
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| Lala Moustafa Pasa Cami |
Further up on the eastern coast you will come across the Salamis ruins. It costs 1 euro for a child to visit, and 2.50 for an adult. Note that they will accept both Turkish Lira and Euros everywhere in Northern Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus looks very deserted in many places, driving along the north coast we saw many abandoned estates, with bungalows fully erected or partially built abandoned mid-construction. We later learnt that those buildings were bought/built by EU citizens who had to abandon claim to those as they were dragged to EU courts through South Cyprus. So if you are a European citizen thinking about investing there, do your research or you might lose everything.
Along the northern coast, you will also come across the Turtle Conservatory area in Northern Cyprus. We saw sea turtle nests in both Northern and South Cyprus, but unfortunately no turtles. The turtles come out at night, and it is prohibited to visit the area at night-time as the sea turtles get disturbed and disorientated by light. There are certain night visits that are arranged by an organisation, but we did not pursue this route.
Also along the coast, you will find Kyrennia/ Girne, a cute little port city, nice for a little stroll and you can also visit the castle. There are also Hillarion Castle ruins not too far from there which have a beautiful view.
Heading back more South (though still in Northern Cyprus), you will come across Nicosia, the last divided city in the world. Nicosia also has an old walled city which you can drive or walk around. There is also the Sellimiye Mosque but it has been closed for the past two years, this is another Cathedral that has been converted into a mosque.
Crossing the borders
There are different places to cross the border, and we crossed over through three different borders. Depending on where you are staying, choose the border close to you. We stayed in Larnaca whilst visiting Northern Cyprus, the nearest border to us was Permagasos. It is a very small border unlike Nicosia’s and is not very busy. The borders at Nicosia and Famagusta were busier. Some of the borders such as the one in Famagusta are owned by the UK, the UK forces still hold 3% of Cyprus. Permagasos had only one check post by the Turks, unlike Nicosia where you have to pass two check-in posts, one owned by the Turks and the other by the Greeks. It was very easy to cross over, we only had to show our passports and buy insurance for the car there. Note if you buy anything from Northern Cyprus to take to the South, there is an 85 euros limit to shopping and you might get stopped for a car check. We did not buy anything, but the Turkish side was by far cheaper, even to fill up petrol or for food. We were asked about cigarettes and alcohol; I assume there is some sort of limit or prohibition.
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| Donkeys in Karpass Peninsula |
Food
There are Fish taverns everywhere, and that’s where the locals eat. One of my daughters has a shellfish so we avoided those. As Muslims, we also are limited in what we can eat. Ocean Basket have restaurants in all cities, and they are a good choice, advertised as a luxury seafood restaurant, the grilled octopus is to die for! We have visited Ocean Basket in many countries, it is always a hit. Additionally, for those looking for Halal food, there is not much, we found a few places in Paphos but they were not worth it. Limassol had a good Muslim population but all restaurants also serve Pork. We ate at Cleopatra where the owner assured us that Pork dishes are prepared and cooked in a separate area of the kitchen, the food was definitely amazing, and there were certain Lebanese dishes on the menu that we never saw in Lebanese restaurants in the UK, like the Chilli Kofte. Larnaca had an Arabic shop and we bought some halal meat which I cooked as we were self-catered. There was also a few Halal restaurants. Otherwise, the pastries at Lidl never failed to impress.
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| Ocean Basket |
Food in Northern Cyprus was much easier to find for us. Everything was Halal. We were told by some locals that Niazi is a great place to eat at. If you are in Kyrennia or Nicosia. Having eaten at Niazi already in Kyrennia, we wanted to try something different and were recommended Ezci. The place blew us away, the menu had about 30 pages, and all dishes looked exceptional. We each ordered a dish thinking it would be a small plate, to our surprise each plate turned out to be a platter, and there was so much left over that we had enough food for another meal the next day.
Kyrenia Harbour
Cyprus is a great place to visit, it can be hot and humid, so definitely make sure there is air conditioning wherever you are staying during the summer. It snows in certain areas in winter, so if you are planning a winter visit then be ready for the cold weather. Everybody drinks bottled water, although we saw a few reservoirs, there was also a desalinated plant in Larnaca, so we would recommend not drinking tap water. The people are very friendly in both the North and the South, they are possibly the most honest people (not much tourist trap) we have come across, and I believe the crime rate must be low there as we saw people living their doors wide open, and we were even told to leave the keys in the doors in the house when checking out.
PS: As somebody suffering from ailurophobia (phobia of cats), I must admit it was not too bad, just avoid being around restaurants at night and ask to eat in restaurants.
