Walking in North Cyprus

Fun week with a diverse group of like-minded people. Good balance between walking, sightseeing and relaxation. Good quality hotel with swimming pools and pleasant bar area.

Plenty of sunshine, history and sea views alongside a nice hotel.

A lovely sunny week in November in North Cyprus. A very enjoyable trip with a week of medieval castles, wonderful sea views and rewarding walks through pine forests and on mountain slopes. Interesting recent history of the island too.

Trip notes “Walking through areas teeming with wildflowers and wildlife” . I saw very few wildflowers and hardly any wildlife. “Leisurely/Moderate”. I suppose I took leisurely to mean easy rather than slow because of the rough terrain.

Whilst the hotel was good quality with a pool the hotel experience was spoiled by an in-house disco on both Wednesday and Saturdays. The noise made it impossible to sleep or even eat TV until after 11.30 p.m.. The Castles were interesting and whilst walking enjoyable the combination of heat and rough tracks made it feel more difficult than the advertised grade

The walks were amazing, the food was great, the hotel was excellent being about a 20 minute walk from the beautiful harbour of Kyrenia and the weather was warm after a wet first morning!

A wonderful walking holiday in a beautiful part of the world. The highlight for me will always be the castles. Spectacular location and amazing views. Our guide Gizer was amazing and gave us a wonderful overview of North Cyprus. Very centrally located accommodation with easy access to the charming centre of Kyrenia.

Overall an enjoyable week of walking with a great guide (Gizer) and driver (Omer). The walks were as stated in the trip notes and places visited were definitely well worth the walks. A great group of 11 in total, that definitely helped make the week a lovely break. The hotel Pia Bella is well situated in Kyrenia, with excellent facilities, and the staff were all very helpful. If you enjoy walking and visiting historical sites, this trip is for you.

This was a busy week of walking, sometimes on quite difficult paths. However it was combined with visits to beautiful cultural sites and a lot of information about Cyprus - both historical from way back and the more recent and current political situation. We also saw some wildflowers, lizards, and a chameleon.

A really good trip with excellent walking. Our guide Gizzer was very knowledgeable and good company.

This week had it all treading a good balance between some culture and the lovely walking in the hills of northern cyprus. Our guide, Gizer, made the trip very relaxing giving us just the right amount of information at the right time so we were always aware of what to expect the next day. It was also very interesting to hear about the situation between northern cyprus and cyprus. I would definitely recommend this trip. The three meals that Gizer organised for the group were delicious.

A really interesting trip with enjoyable walks, good company and a great leader.

A Brilliant time with some great walking and a lot of History in this trip

Lovely weather. Walks seemed more difficult than other grade 2’s I’ve done

the trip was as advertised

Very enjoyable trip.

Currently on the holiday. Having a wonderful walking experience although weather not been great but improving. Learning the history of the separation of the island very interesting too.

Excellent guide, Gizer. Excellent driver, Ermer (spelling?). Eleven other interesting (not a euphemism) customers. Good walks, two reminded me of previous grade 3/4 but it's subjective, to some extent. Good weather. Ten out of ten.

A great week walking in the mountains of North Cyprus. Vertiginous castles. A wealth of history.Lots of different mezes and kebabs. Superb group leader.

Excellent walking holiday, which was very well organised. The guide was very friendly and made it a great experience.

The island has a fascinating history and it was good to try to understand the recent history that has created North Cyprus, whilst participating in walks with great scenery. Plus visits to castles, abbeys and monasteries. Made even better by a great group of fellow travellers. The Pia Bella Hotel rooms are spacious and of excellent quality and good air conditioning. The breakfast buffet offers a wide choice. But if you favour European continental breakfast, there is no fish, very little meat and no pastries or croissants. There is an excellent pool, open till 6pm. The bar was often busy but service was good and prices competitive.

Awesome trip with a home base in an amazing hotel with great views, pool and breakfast buffet. The walks were different terrain every day, beautiful scenery. Gizer was an excellent, knowledgeable, funny guide. He arranged dinners, trips, could not ask for a better leader of the group. The only complaint: very hot weather that made the hiking less enjoyable than ideal. Definitely recommended!

A great trip with a good combination of walking, sightseeing, culture and history

Have just come back from a great trip based in Kyrenia. The guide, Gizer, knows the area very well and could tell us a lot about the history and culture as well as flora and fauna and birds. There were also some great optional extras, such as a trip to Salamis and Famagusta and, on the last day, to Nicosia. He organised visits to several evening restaurants, that served traditional Turkish Cypriot meals, the last one being especially good. I thought the level of walking was quite challenging for a "Leisurely" grade, although that was partly due to it being quite hot. The group size was excellent at 12, and we mainly got on very well, although one couple spent most of the time away from us as they had not expected such hard walking. The hotel was excellent, with a wide choice of a buffet breakfast, very comfortable rooms and friendly, helpful staff. All in all, a great holiday and I feel I've got to know a lot more about North Cyprus.

I had been looking at doing this trip for a few years and it did no disappoint. The walks provided both lots of historical interest and stunning views. Our guide, Gizer, was excellent and told us not only about the ancient but also the more recent history of Cyprus. He also pointed out the flora and fauna on our walks. The optional free day is a must and everyone in our group went.