Girne
A horseshoe harbour, a castle at the end of it, and a mountain range standing right behind the town. Kyrenia is the postcard, and it is also where most people end up buying.
People have been landing here since the Bronze Age. Almost all of it is still standing.
Byzantine walls, rebuilt by the Venetians, guarding the harbour for a thousand years. Inside is the Shipwreck Museum, which holds a Greek merchant ship that sank around 300 BC. It is one of the oldest recovered vessels anywhere.
A 13th century Gothic abbey on the hillside above town, with cypresses and a view straight out to sea. Lawrence Durrell lived in the village below and wrote Bitter Lemons there. Concerts are still held in the refectory.
A crusader castle clinging to the mountain above the coast road. The climb is worth it for the view alone: on a clear day you can see the Turkish mainland. It is widely said to have inspired the castle in Disney's Snow White.
Wooden gulets tied up along the quay, restaurants in the old carob warehouses behind them, and a day boat leaving most mornings in season. In the evening the whole town walks here.
Fifteen minutes inland the coast turns into pine forest, reservoirs and villages. Geçitköy is the easy one. Beşparmak, the Five Finger range, is the reason the coast has its own microclimate.
Loggerhead and green turtles nest on the sand east of town between May and October. The nests are marked and protected, and volunteers walk the beach at night through the season.
Minced lamb wrapped in caul fat and grilled over charcoal until it crisps. It has nothing to do with peaches, whatever the name suggests. This is the one dish to try first.
Halloumi is Cypriot, and here it comes grilled until the outside squeaks and blisters. Eaten with watermelon in summer, in a sandwich the rest of the year.
Twenty or more small plates, brought in waves, meant to take three hours. Order it when nobody has anywhere to be. Finish with a strong Cyprus coffee.
The coast runs east and west of town for miles, and almost all of it is reachable in twenty minutes.
Organised beaches with sunbeds and a kitchen sit right next to empty coves you reach down a dirt track. Both cost about the same to get to. The season runs from April into November.
The evening ritual here is simple: a table by the water, fish that came in that morning, and the lights coming on across the bay. It is the reason people stop looking at other coasts.
This is the most established market on the island, so it holds its value best and sells on the fastest. Sea view apartments, hillside villas above the coast road, and stone village houses inland all trade here.