city: Chipre

Kyrenia & Bellapais Abbey Tour

Thirty years after the border into the occupied northern part of Cyprus closed, it's once again open to visitors. Oozing with history and culture at every turn, on this full-day trip you'll journey through the hills to Kyrenia for lunch and free time, before a visit to 13th-century Bellapais Abbey for a guided tour. Leaving Paphos behind, you'll travel towards the Ayios Dometios checkpoint, driving past the Venetian Walls of Nicosia. Once we're across the border into occupied northern Cyprus, we'll head straight through the scenic Pentadaktylos Mountains to reach Kyrenia. Here, you'll have some free time to explore the seaside town as well as a guided walk around Kyrenia Castle and lunch at the harbour.Next up is a visit to the ruins of the Gothic Bellapais Abbey. The setting on a mountain slope is as beautiful as the views down to Kyrenia and the Mediterranean. It was in the village of Bellapais that Lawrence Durrell lived and wrote his novel, Bitter Lemons.