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Excursions & day trips
Varosha experience tour by the Original Red Bus
Ayia Napa, Cyprus
4.5/5
Free Cancellation
Language:
English
Mobile voucher accepted
Duration: 4 Hours
Do this because
Visit the forgotten resort of Varosha
Open-top bus tour and free time
Recently reopened to the public
What to expect
Once a thriving holiday resort, Varosha has lain abandoned in the northern part of Cyprus for over 50 years. This open-top bus tour takes you to the heart of this forgotten town, where you'll have around two-hours of free time. Desolate hotels line the beach where you can grab a drink and relax on the sands – it's a real touristic time capsule.
What's included
Transport
Driver/ Guide
What to remember
Drinks are available to purchase from the vendors near the beach but only card payments are accepted
Just so you know, because of local restrictions at Strovillia checkpoint, only passport holders from EU member states, the UK, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland can travel to and from the northern part of Cyprus
Children must be supervised by an adult (over 18 years) at all time
Bring a hat
Bring suitable footwear
Bring money for extras or gratuities
Bring your passport or official EU identification
Food and drinks not included
English-speaking guide for all nationalities
Please note that all times are approximate and subject to change
Bring bathing gear and sunblock
Bring a towel
This experience doesn't follow our general cancellation policy. If you need to cancel, you must do so at least 24 hours in advance to receive a full refund
Provider
TUI CYPRUS LTD
Booking Fee
Good news! No extra fees are applied to this booking.
Cancellation Fee
Receive a 100% refund if you cancel up to 1 day before the experience begins
Reviews
Excellent
4.5/5
Based on
24 reviews from verified customers
P
PHILIP.
August 2025
From United States of America
Traveled as
With family
- 54 years old
Average
41* heat....Front tyre blew out in paralimni , start of tour to the northside. the electrics were all out (off) in varosha - so no cold drinks, ices, etc.
M
Marie
August 2025
From United States of America
Traveled as
With family
- 28 years old
Average
The tour guide Hayley was excellent and very Knowledgeable. The bus broke down on the way there, was resolved in 30 to 40 minutes. Sitting on the open top bus needs a warning, it was so hot and all the waiting caused us to feel unwell, so don't sit up there! When we got to Varosha after 3 hours trip, the beach shop wouldn't allow us to purchase a drink as their system was down. We had to go back to the entrance and stayed there at Goodfellows where we could get a drink and cool down. Awful day!
T
Tracey
July 2025
From United States of America
Traveled as
With family
- 41 years old
Excellent
S
Sue Gray
August 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 39 years old
Excellent
We only wanted a short trip and this was perfect for us. The guides were very informative. An extra half hour in Varosha would have been better.
A
Anonymous
August 2024
From United Kingdom
Excellent
Very well organised tour, would highly recommend. Great value for money.
L
Liz
July 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
With family
- 41 years old
Excellent
Loved every minute (except going over speedboats,however slow!). Guide and driver excellent, having water available to purchase was invaluable, fans on the bus inside a blessing.
A
Andy
July 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
Alone
- 29 years old
Excellent
Clive, the driver and Paul, the tour guide were very welcoming and gave a lot of fantastic information about Varosha along with some handy maps for the two hours of our own time. The two were also very funny and you could tell they enjoyed working together. They were also very knowledgable. Just a couple of points of info that could be given beforehand; if you are on the 02 network, you leave their free roaming 'Europe Zone' when you visit as you are in 'Turkey'. Also only card payments in Lira
L
Lauren
June 2024
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
As a couple
- 15 years old
Excellent
A tad on the expensive side, but a very good and interesting experience and day out. The guide and driver, Hayley and Clive were fantastic and knowledgeable! We rented scooters when we got there as it was so hot, which were about €12pp, but there was options for buggys with guides too.
A
Anne & Stewart
June 2024
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
As a couple
- 29 years old
Excellent
Overall we had an amazing experience. Paul the guide was fantastic very knowledgeable and entertaining. Just the right amount of time spent in varosha with plenty to see and learn of the history, also very sad seeing all the empty buildings. Plenty of cafes to cool down in as it gets extremely hot walking around the town. We would highly recommend this trip, thank you Paul and Clive.
C
Cabman
June 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 45 years old
Excellent
Great trip, excellent tour guide, fascinating visit to see the ghost town
W
Will & Katie
September 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 10 years old
Excellent
Thoroughly enjoyable experience, well worth a day out you holiday. The tour takes you into the deserted city and really goes into detail regarding the history of the 1974 invasion and really puts things into perspective. The journey to Famagusta can take a while so i would recommend lots of suncream, towels for the seats and plenty of fluids - although they do have water available to buy on the bus.
T
Thomson ??
September 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 43 years old
Excellent
From the moment the bus picked us up the staff were SO friendly and helpful very informative and interested in what we had to say as well ??the whole experience was really great and I would highly recommend to see the history of Varosha
S
Steve byatt
September 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 42 years old
Excellent
Lovely people
L
Linda
September 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
With friends
- 42 years old
Excellent
The Varosha trip was excellent .Paul was our host and was a wealth of information and lots of fun also .We did the trip on foot once inside Varosha but would advise using the little golf carts or bikes as it was so hot
N
Nicky
July 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
Great
We loved going into Varosha. However as it was only a half day tour we had just two hours there. We would have paid a little more for more time there.
M
Mrs F
June 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 36 years old
Great
Very interesting tour. Would like to hear more from the guide whilst on the bus as to the history of why the situation arose.
J
Juliet
June 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 46 years old
Excellent
The whole experience was amazing staff very friendly and knowledgeable. Would have liked some kind of guided tour we listened in on someone else's and it made it more interesting.Also I think we should have been told sooner about the one hour work to the famous hotel so we could have done that first.
N
Neil F
June 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
With family
- 22 years old
Great
Was a really good trip and definately worth going on. The kids and us were interested in the history and sights. Only down alide was they did keep teying to upwelling some of gifts a little but weren't pushy with it though, and would have like slightly more time in Varosha to explore the ghost town further as didn't quite seem long enough esp. with kids in tow. Otherwise definately worth going on and would recommend to others.
K
Kate
June 2023
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
As a couple
- 15 years old
Great
The staff were friendly and explained everything that was needed for the day. The bus was comfortable and water was available for us to buy. Overall the experience was very enlightening however I would suggest the times of the trip be updated what was suggested as 2 - 4 hours turned out to be more likely 7 to 8 hours.
M
Mrs Ben
October 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
As a couple
- 40 years old
Great
Great tour so interesting to see a resort frozen in time. Would have liked a bit more time there to explore. Friendly and informative tour guides.The bikes were a great idea, but were very shoddy and not maintained to even a basic safety standard, seat heights could not be adjusted which ruled me out as I have a recent knee injury. Suggestion would be to charge more to hire and get new stock that is lovingly maintained. Trikes/buggy’s would also be a good idea for the less physically able.
J
Jen/richard
September 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
As a couple
- 46 years old
Excellent
Weather was fantastic, sitting on top of the bus with wind blowing a bonus. The driver and guide very knowledgeable. Scenery fantastic. Very sad to see such what was a thriving village and area turn into a ghost town, beach area is beautiful. Experience was long enough to wander round and enjoy the beach, there is a cafe on beach, and at entrance to the town. Well worth the money. We highly recommend booking this trip.
R
Robin
August 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
With family
- 27 years old
Excellent
Tour guide was very good. I wish we had long time so I you could spend more time on the beach before walking around.
C
Claire
August 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
With family
- 29 years old
Great
An enjoyable experience to be able to go within Varosha walls. So much to see.
K
KarenT
June 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
With friends
- 35 years old
Great
A box tick trip. The area has only opened after 47 years in the last 6 months. Our guide was friendly but we had to Google why the area is uninhabited and actually got more info on a different trip the day after. Warning, it took 40 minutes to walk to the beach through the town. Issue, we were told to give our passports to the guide for the border. He had a contact who would get them checked and returned to us on the way back but this contact has gone home and was asleep with our passports?
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