Kyrenia - The port city of Girne in Northern Cyprus (Cyprus)

After our 3 nights at Salamis Bay Conti Resort Hotel & Casino on the east coast of Cyprus, we spent the next 4 nights at The Acapulco Beach Resort & SPA in the port city of Kyrenia (Girne) on the north coast of Cyprus.

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The Acapulco Beach Resort & SPA Hotel

The 850-room Acapulco Beach Resort & SPA Hotel is spread over 100,000 m2 of land and has a beautiful sandy beach of 1 kilometre. We had “only” opted for a half-board package, as we knew beforehand that we would always be on the road during the day. And so it was. The Acapulco Hotel was also overcrowded with families and almost fully booked. However, as the area was very generous, this was distributed quite well.

The Acapulco Resort Convention SPA Hotel

The fortress of the port city of Kyrenia

Kyrenia is a port city on the north coast of Cyprus with more than 33,000 inhabitants. Hotel Acapulco Beach Resort & SPA Hotel is about 10 minutes away from Kyrenia’s Old Town, depending on the traffic. Among the most famous sights of the city are the fortress and the monastery Bellapais, which we both of course also looked at.

The fortress of Kyrenia has a varied history behind it. Since its first development in the 7th century, the complex has been continuously expanded in the following centuries, before it was almost completely destroyed by the Genoese in 1373. The Venetians then rebuilt the fortress in conflict with the Ottomans and gave it its present form. During the British colonial period of Cyprus, the British used the castle as a prison before it was transformed into a tourist attraction with several museums, including the Shipwreck Museum, from 1960.

Girne Kalesi

The entrance to Kyrenia Fortress

Kyrenia Fortress

The Shipwreck Museum

Kyrenia Fortress

View to the port of Kyrenia

Panoramic view of the port in Kyrenia, Cyprus, Northern Cyprus, sights, travel report

Panoramic view of the harbour in Kyrenia

We especially found the view of the fortress from the adjacent harbour wall,which is only accessible for pedestrians, is great. The colossal walls of the fortress with the marina on the right and the Kyrenia Mountains, which are up to 1,024 metres high in the background, somehow reminded us a little of the scenery in Cape Town.

Ataturk Monument

The fortress of Kyrenia

The port of Kyrenia

Panoramic view of the harbour in Kyrenia

Panoramic view of the fortress of Kyrenia

The ruins of Bellapais Abbey

The ruins of Bellapais Abbey is a Gothic monastery ruin located about 6 km southeast of Kyrenia. Bellapais is now considered one of the most beautiful monastic ruins in the entire Mediterranean. Since the monastery is closed at 6 pm in the summer months and unfortunately we did not arrive at the parking lot until about 6.15 pm, we unfortunately had no possibility to visit the ruins from the inside. So we only had a few nice impressions from the outside – but they were really great.

To Bellapais Abbey

All travelogues from Cyprus

The island of Cyprus has about 1.1 million inhabitants and is the third largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily and Sardinia. Since 1974 the island has been divided. However, it was clear to us from the very beginning that we would like to explore the entire island on our own - both Northern Cyprus and Southern Cyprus. In our articles we will give you detailed information about our hotels, the sights of the whole island (north and south), diving at the wreck Zenobia and turtle watching in Alagadi.