The 10th century town of Kyrenia (Girne) has one of the most picturesque harbours in the Mediterranean. Overlooked by the imposing Venetian castle the horse-shoe harbour is a bustle of quay-side restaurants and boats. A wonderful place for a stroll and a coffee by day, by evening one can dine out in the glow of the harbour lights. The castle is huge, and takes about half a day to get round. It can be quite strenuous clambering around, so it is best not done in the middle of the day! Thankfully there is a small cafe under shady trees in the castle courtyard where you can get refreshments. The Shipwreck Museum is also housed within the castle, displaying the 2,300 year old merchant ship (in a wonderfully cool humidity-controlled environment)- one of the oldest recovered ships in the world.

Behind the harbour lies the town centre. Kyrenia is a bustling little town of with a population of about 8,000. The town has a wide range of shops, cafes, banks, jewellers, gift shops and a weekly outdoor market (on Wednesdays) offering a huge range of goods from spices to clothing. A great place for fresh fruit and vegetables.

The town also boasts an Icon Museum, a Folk Art Museum and a Fine arts Museum.

Useful information

ARRIVING

At the immigration desk at Ercan airport, pick up and fill in a small white visa form, giving your name, nationality and passport number. These are free, and it means they will not stamp your passport. 

You must keep this white form; it is your visa, and will be needed when you are leaving Cyprus . It may also be needed when you stop in Turkey on your flight back.

TAXI

The drive to the villa takes about 40minutes from Ercan, and the fare is roughly £25, if you have car hire through us we can get you collected from the airport free of charge.

If you require taxi during your stay there is a number on the mobile called VIOREL CAB, he speaks good English and the area for pick up is called Edremit before Karmi Casino opposite the Church (Turkish it is called KALISSA) say Richard's Villa.

THE AGENT

We have an agent Dennis manages the property for us and cleans the pool on Mondays and Thursdays in the Summer months and once a week in the winter.

RUBBISH COLLECTION

The Rubbish is collected on Wednesdays, please leave the bins out where the dustmen can access them.

CAR HIRE

Car hire is essential and can be arranged through us with a company called cyprus pines, the cost is about £20-£25 a day depending season and car type.

There are regular police speed checks on the open roads, and they are serious about trying to enforce the speed limits. The limit on open roads is usually 80 km per hour, but it varies a lot, and near villages and town it drops to 65 or 50 km.

SHOPS

There is a small village shop in Karmi near the church. It is usually open from 9 to 1 and 5 to 7 (except Sundays).

The best place for food shopping is the Lemar Supermarket on Lapta rd next to Burger city.

The most convenient supermarket is Lemar, which you cannot miss on the road between Karaoglanoglu and Kyrenia. They accept payment with a Visa card or cash (Turkish Lira OR Sterling!),which can be handy. Other supermarkets

include Tempo and AK market in Kyrenia and you can buy most things here. They are open from about 8 am to 8 pm .

On Wednesday there is a market in Kyrenia near the bus station. It's a good place to fresh fruit and vegetables, and you can also get T shirts, shorts etc.

MONEY

There are about 2.3-2.4 Turkish lira to the pound. The actual rate, which is published daily in the newspapers, varies quite considerably because of inflation, so it is sensible to have no more than £50 - 100 in Turkish lira at any time. Almost everybody will accept Sterling , and indeed most of the restaurants publish their prices in Sterling or Euros.

You can change sterling, dollars, or ordinary English cheques with a banker's card etc at the main banks or exchange bureaux in Kyrenia. Travellers' cheques are sometimes problematic to change.

If you have a VISA card, you can use the cash machines in Kyrenia, which dispense turkish Lira. There is a cash machine at the HSBC half way down the hill in the High Street in Kyrenia and next to Ciderman.

TELEPHONES

Dial 0044 for England and take off the first 0 ie 0044208

MOBILE PHONES

We have a mobile at the villa please fill free to use this, but please ensure you turn it off when leaving.

Most standard (but not pre-pay) mobile phones will work in Cyprus . Before you go, check with your mobile service provider that you have a roaming agreement that covers North Cyprus . With some mobile telephone companies,

roaming agreements can take several weeks to set up, so it is worth sorting this out in advance.

INTERNET ACCESS

E-mail services are available from the Internet Café in Kyrenia. This is in between the English church and the Brasserie restaurant, near the castle and main police station. You can get internet access for as little or as long as you like, and the man in charge speaks good English. Internet access costs about £2 per hour.

HOW TO USE

Information for items to use in the villa can be found on the back off the store room doors.