# Famagusta & Kyrenia: An East-Based Weekend > A 2-night North Cyprus weekend from a Famagusta base: the walled city plus one full Kyrenia day (80 km / 75-90 min) and back. The short plan, 2026. - Canonical: https://www.kiprarent.com/en/guide/famagusta-kyrenia-weekend/ - Updated: 2026-06-13 - Language: English - Publisher: Kipra Rent A Car — https://www.kiprarent.com/ --- A long weekend is enough for the two headline corners of North Cyprus — Famagusta and Kyrenia — if you keep one base and treat Kyrenia as a day trip rather than a second stay. This is a **two-night, east-based weekend**: you rent the car and stay in Famagusta or on the Long Beach strip, spend the first day on the east coast, and give the second day entirely to Kyrenia, which sits **80.6 km / 75-90 minutes** away in the 2026 routing data. No mid-trip packing, no hotel change for a single night. ## Should you stay in Famagusta or Kyrenia for a short trip? Stay east and day-trip west — the geometry makes a second base pointless for two nights. From Famagusta, Kyrenia is a comfortable out-and-back, and everything worth seeing on the Kyrenia side packs into one day. Splitting two nights across two coasts would cost you a packing morning and a check-in for no real saving in driving. The distances behind the weekend: | Leg | Distance | Drive time (routing data, 2026) | | --- | --- | --- | | Long Beach (İskele) ↔ Famagusta | **23.1 km** | ~30 min | | Famagusta → Kyrenia | **80.6 km** | 75-90 min | | Famagusta → St Hilarion (via the castle road) | **92 km** | 105-125 min | | Famagusta → Bellapais | **71 km** | 80-95 min | The full matrix is in the [North Cyprus driving distances table](/en/guide/driving-distances-north-cyprus/). This weekend is the short version of the [one-week North Cyprus itinerary](/en/guide/one-week-north-cyprus-itinerary/) — the same one-base-in-the-east logic, compressed into 48 hours. If you have a full week, follow that plan instead; this page is for when all you have is the weekend. ## Day 1 — The east coast and the walled city Spend the first day where you are based, on the east coast. Famagusta's **walled city** is a compact, on-foot afternoon: the Venetian walls, the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque (the former Gothic cathedral of St Nicholas), and the lanes between them need no car. Pair it with a morning on a nearby beach — Glapsides is only [5.4 km from the old town](/en/guide/glapsides-beach-famagusta/), and the [best beaches in North Cyprus, ranked](/en/guide/best-beaches-north-cyprus/) help you pick a different stretch if you would rather. Arriving from Larnaca? The [Larnaca to Famagusta route via Deryneia](/en/guide/larnaca-airport-to-famagusta-via-deryneia/) covers the border-crossing arrival that frames an east-based trip. Keep the evening on the Long Beach promenade or in the old town — you want an early-ish night, because day two is the long one. ## Day 2 — The full Kyrenia day, there and back Give the whole second day to Kyrenia and return to your east-coast base in the evening. The realistic shape, leaving after breakfast: - **Morning — St Hilarion Castle.** The fairytale ruin on the Five Finger ridge, **150 TL** on the EEMD summer 2026 tariff, with an early **16:30 last entry** because the climb from the car park takes about an hour. Do it first, while it is cool. - **Midday — Kyrenia harbour and castle.** Lunch at the horseshoe harbour, then the castle (**150 TL**, summer 2026) with its shipwreck museum. This is the core of the [Kyrenia day trip from Famagusta](/en/guide/kyrenia-day-trip-from-famagusta/), which shapes the harbour-and-castle hours in full. - **Afternoon — Bellapais.** The Lusignan Gothic abbey above the town, a gentle half-hour add-on before the drive home. - **Evening — back to base**, the 80.6 km return in daylight if you leave Bellapais by around 17:00. That is a full, well-paced day. It does not all fit if you dawdle — the Kyrenia day-trip guide is honest about what gets cut when you try to add more. ## When should you time the weekend? Avoid the religious-holiday weekends if you can — bayram is peak domestic-tourism time and hotels on both coasts fill and price up. The two multi-day bayrams in 2026 fall on **20-22 March** (Ramazan Bayramı) and **27-30 May** (Kurban Bayramı); the [North Cyprus public holidays calendar](/en/guide/public-holidays-north-cyprus/) flags the full set and what closes. Otherwise spring and autumn are ideal — swimmable sea on day one, a comfortable Kyrenia day on day two, none of the August heat. The island is busier than it was: according to the TRNC Tourism Planning Department, North Cyprus drew **2,589,729 visitors in 2025**, up **17.2%** on the year, with Türkiye supplying roughly 70% of them. Kipra Rent A Car is a Famagusta-based local rental company with VAT and third-party insurance included in every displayed price and free delivery to your hotel — the car waits at your east-coast base on Friday and the Kyrenia day adds nothing to the rate. The weekend's costs, from the rental line to fuel and the two castle tickets, are laid out in the [North Cyprus trip budget](/en/guide/north-cyprus-trip-budget/). --- Plan your two-night weekend: [book a car](https://app.kiprarent.com/en/book/cars) · WhatsApp +90 546 996 1004 — English spoken. ## Frequently Asked Questions **Can you see both Famagusta and Kyrenia in a weekend?** Yes, comfortably, from one east-coast base. Stay in Famagusta or on the Long Beach strip, spend day one on the east coast and the walled city, and make Kyrenia a single full day trip — it is 80.6 km / 75-90 minutes each way in the 2026 routing data, an easy out-and-back without changing hotels. **Should you stay in Famagusta or Kyrenia for a short trip?** Stay east, in Famagusta or Long Beach, and day-trip to Kyrenia. The two-night weekend works best from one base: Kyrenia's sights — the harbour, the castle, St Hilarion, Bellapais — all fit one day, so there is little reason to pack and move hotels for a single night on the other coast. **How far is Kyrenia from Famagusta?** 80.6 km, about 75-90 minutes each way on divided road, per the 2026 routing data. That makes Kyrenia a realistic full day out from an east-coast base — leave after breakfast, return in the evening, no overnight needed. **Is a weekend long enough for North Cyprus?** For a focused first taste, yes. A weekend covers Famagusta's walled city and one full Kyrenia day. For Karpaz, Kantara and the beaches as well, you need the full week — this is the short version of the one-week plan, same base, compressed. ## Sources - Driving distances dataset (routing data, 2026): https://www.kiprarent.com/data/guides/driving-distances-north-cyprus.csv - Eski Eserler ve Müzeler Dairesi — visiting hours & fees (summer 2026): https://eemd.gov.ct.tr/Z%C4%B0YARET-SAATLER%C4%B0 --- Kipra Rent A Car — Famagusta, North Cyprus. No-deposit, no-credit-card car rental; VAT + insurance included. Rezervasyon / Booking: https://app.kiprarent.com/book/cars · WhatsApp: +90 546 996 1004