I visited Northern Cyprus when I stayed in Ayia Napa in 2023. Due to Ayia Napa’s proximity to the border between Northern Cyprus and Cyprus, it is a very easy day trip and one that will provide you with considerable information about Cyprus’ history, Northern Cyprus (officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) and Cyprus’ previous and ongoing relationship with Turkey.
For those who are unaware, Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, declaring Northern Cyprus independent from Cyprus. The only country that recognises Northern Cyprus is Turkey, with the rest of the world recognising Northern Cyprus to be a part of Cyprus as a whole. Despite this there is still a border through Cyprus and to visit Northern Cyprus you will need a passport.
Due to convenience I visited Northern Cyprus on a day tour. I was picked up near my accommodation in Ayia Napa where we travelled across to Northern Cyprus. Although our passports were checked (scanned, not stamped) at the border, they didn’t actually compare the passports to our faces – our tour guide picked up all our passports when we approached the border to give over to be scanned and then returned them to us once we crossed the border. I don’t know if this is just for tourist buses to save time as I imagine if you are travelling over independently it wont be the case, but what I basically learnt was that you need a passport to enter – will it be checked against you? Maybe.
The tour took me to Famagusta (Google Maps location here). Firstly, the walled city of Famagusta and then an area called Varosha which is a part of Famagusta. Varosha was significantly more interesting.
The walled city of Famagusta wasn’t overly exciting. It was very hot that day but it seemed to me the town now relies mostly on tourism, as when there weren’t tour buses there (I arrived before most tour buses came in for lunch about 1.5 hours later) it was very quiet. This town was very affordable and cheaper than Cyprus. I went to the top of the walls and wandered the town and then waited to go to Varosha, the part I was most interested in seeing.
Varosha is a part of Famagusta, and was once considered the tourist section. In 1974 when Turkey invaded Cyprus, the Cypriots fearing for their lives had to flee on the spot, leaving their homes and possessions as they were. 50 years on… it is in ruins. This is because the Cypriots were not allowed back to Varosha and nothing was changed to the city. It was essentially locked up for 50 years, and been left to go to ruin. It was only in 2020 that parts of the city were opened up to the public and it has become a popular Northern Cyprus day tour excursion (especially those visiting from Ayia Napa). You can only really walk down the main street of the town and are not allowed to enter the houses in fear they are so feeble they will collapse. Even though we only walked down the main street, this abandoned city was incredibly interesting to explore. At the end of the street was a beach which shocked me that people were just using as though it was no big deal they crossed through an abandoned city to get to, just seemed really creepy in my honest opinion.
After exploring Northern Cyprus we were taken back to Ayia Napa. Overall the day was very interesting if a bit slow at the start and I learnt a lot about Northern Cyprus. If you are visiting Cyprus, especially the Ayia Napa region, I would recommend looking into a tour into Northern Cyprus to learn all about the history of the area you are in.
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