FamagustavsIskele & Long Beach guide
Comparing lifestyle, investment, and vibe to help you decide where to stay or buy.
Famagusta
Famagusta — Gazimağusa in Turkish — is the history capital of North Cyprus. A medieval walled city sits behind Venetian ramparts up to 60 feet high, with a Gothic cathedral turned mosque at its centre and Othello Castle guarding the old harbour. Ten minutes north lie the Roman ruins of Salamis, once the capital of the whole island. Add easy sandy beaches and a large university population, and Famagusta becomes the natural counterweight to Kyrenia: less resort, more depth.
Top Highlights
- ✦A medieval walled city ringed by massive Venetian fortifications.
- ✦Salamis Ancient City — capital of Cyprus from around 1100 BC.
- ✦Othello Castle, the tower linked to Shakespeare's play.
- ✦Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque, the Gothic Cathedral of St Nicholas.
Iskele & Long Beach guide
Long Beach is the reason most travellers end up in Iskele: roughly 25 kilometres of golden sand along North Cyprus's east coast, backed by a landscaped promenade rather than an old harbour town. The rhythm here is different from the rest of the island — slow mornings, long flat walks, shallow family swimming, cafes on the sand — with Famagusta's walled city about twenty minutes south and the empty Karpaz roads beginning just north. This guide covers the beach, the town behind it, and how to use both.
Top Highlights
- ✦Roughly 25 km of sand with a promenade and cycling path.
- ✦Gently shelving, family-friendly swimming from May to October.
- ✦About 50 km — 45 to 50 minutes — from Ercan airport.
- ✦Ask MERVE to match a Long Beach stay to your dates and budget.
Detailed Comparison
The Famagusta Experience
Where Famagusta is and how to get there
Famagusta sits on the east coast of Cyprus, about an hour's drive from Kyrenia and roughly 45 minutes from Ercan airport. İskele and Long Beach are twenty minutes north, and the Karpaz peninsula begins beyond that. The walled city itself is compact and best explored on foot — park outside the walls and walk in.
The walled city and Othello Castle
Famagusta's old town is enclosed by Venetian walls that reach around 60 feet high and 30 feet thick in places, built to withstand the Ottoman siege of 1570–71. Inside, narrow streets link ruined churches, the Venetian Palace, and a string of cafés. Othello Castle, set into the walls by the old harbour, takes its name from Shakespeare's play — the connection is usually traced to Christoforo Moro, a Venetian governor of Cyprus. You can walk the ramparts for views across the harbour.
The Iskele & Long Beach guide Experience
What Long Beach actually is
Long Beach is not a resort town centre — it is a long, straight stretch of sand below Iskele town (the old village of Trikomo), with new apartment blocks on the land side and a landscaped promenade with walking and cycling paths along the sea. The section nearest the resort developments is the serviced part, with sunbeds, umbrellas, showers, and beach cafes; keep walking and the coastline turns emptier and wilder. The beach itself is municipal and free to enter — you pay only if you take a sunbed.
Swimming and the family beach day
The sea shelves gently here, with a soft sandy bottom and no sudden depth changes close to shore, which is why Long Beach is the default family recommendation on this coast. The comfortable swimming season runs May to October: the water passes 25°C in June, peaks near 29°C in mid-August, and locals stretch swims into the calm 'velvet season' weeks of October.