Unique Experiences
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Enjoy Cypriot cuisine in local restaurants: a lunch at Kyrenia Harbour; lunch by the beach at Salamis; a traditional mezze lunch in Paphos and a dinner at Bellapais Abbey.
7 nights from
£1835
“A golden green leaf thrown into the sea”, is how Cypriot poet Leonidas Malenis described this beautiful island, but the leaf was thrown to a politically strategic position which invited invasions by Roman and Persian, Ottoman and Venetian empires, along with Crusader campaigns, all leaving their legacy on the landscape and heritage of Cyprus.
The country’s most recent occupation, the 1974 Turkish invasion, split the island, leaving Nicosia as ‘the world’s last divided capital’. With local guides in each area, the tour takes you to the most intriguing and impressive ancient and medieval landmarks, visiting northern sites from formidable Crusader forts to tranquil Bellapais Abbey, the sea-view ruins of Roman Salamis, Famagusta’s citadel, and Kyrenia’s harbour castle.
We visit monuments and museums on both sides of Nicosia’s divide, and learn of myths and miracles in a tour of the south, to the peace of the Troodos Mountains, the spectacular remains of Roman Curium (Greek Kourion), legendary Aphrodite’s Rock, and the catacombs and colourful mosaics of Paphos.
Enjoy Cypriot cuisine in local restaurants: a lunch at Kyrenia Harbour; lunch by the beach at Salamis; a traditional mezze lunch in Paphos and a dinner at Bellapais Abbey.
St. Hilarion Castle on Day 2 involves many steps with steep climbs.
Air travel and taxes, transfers, 7 nights’ accommodation, breakfast daily, 3 lunches and 5 dinners, itinerary as described, services of guides and local representatives. If our specially negotiated airfares are unavailable at the time of booking, a supplement may apply.
Travel insurance, optional excursions, tipping, any government taxes or compulsory charges introduced after publication.
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Exceptional value for a journey of discovery from Istanbul to Ephesus via Troy, Pergamon and Bursa through ancient, Ottoman and Byzantine Turkey