North Cyprus Forest Parks & Picnic Spots

A picnic in North Cyprus means a forest park — and one safety rule that overrides everything else: from 1 May to 31 October, open fires are banned in the forests, and barbecues are permitted only in designated picnic areas at any time of year. Within those rules there are some genuinely lovely spots: Alevkaya with its botanical herbarium, Salamis as the easiest from an east-coast base, and the wilder grounds at Kantara, Karpaz and Taşkent. Get the fire rule right first, then pick a site.

Can you have a barbecue in a North Cyprus forest?

Only in a designated picnic area, and never during the fire season. The rule has two parts and both matter:

• Fire season — 1 May to 31 October (as reported for recent years): lighting a fire for any purpose is prohibited in the forests during this window — barbecues, stoves and burning rubbish all included.
• The rest of the year: barbecues are allowed only in the official designated picnic areas, never in open forest.

The issuing authority is the Forestry Department (under the Ministry of Agriculture). The emergency numbers to keep on your phone: forest fire 177, general fire 199. These belong in any forest day and are published by the TRNC authorities; the wider set of TRNC emergency numbers is in the emergency numbers and hospitals guide.

The penalties are not symbolic. As reported in 2019, lighting a fire in breach of the rules carried a standard penalty of ten minimum wages and up to five years’ imprisonment, rising to one hundred minimum wages and up to fifteen years for a fire that burns more than one hectare. Treat those figures as an indication of how seriously the offence is taken rather than a current schedule — and as one more reason to keep flames inside a designated grill, in season or not.

Where are the forest parks and picnic grounds?

The popular designated picnic grounds run along the Kyrenia mountain ridge and out to the quieter corners of the island. The published list includes the following — but because the official source is no longer current, confirm any specific site against the latest Forestry Department notice before you set out:

Picnic ground	Why go	Note (2026)
Salamis	Closest to an east-coast base	Pairs with the ancient ruins
Alevkaya	Forest station + Cyprus Herbarium	Daily 09:00-16:00, free, has tables
Kantara	Mountain forest near the castle	Castle itself closed weekends
Karpaz	Wild, remote, on the way to the tip	Minimal facilities
Taşkent	Below the painted hillside flag	Forest-edge grounds

For an east-coast base, Salamis is the obvious default — close enough to combine with the ruins and a beach morning. Alevkaya is the standout for a forest day: per Visit North Cyprus, its Cyprus Herbarium holds 1,250 plant species, 17 of them endemic to the island, a collection established in 1989, and the station is open daily 09:00-16:00 with no entry fee and picnic tables on site. It doubles as a trailhead — the hiking trails guide covers the Beşparmak Mountain Trail stages that start nearby, and the Five Finger Mountains scenic drive is the scenic way to reach the ridge grounds.

Are the picnic areas good for families and what should you bring?

They work well for families, with the honest caveat that facilities vary by site and are not guaranteed. A per-site inventory of water, toilets and shade is not published, so plan as if there is nothing laid on: bring your own water, sun cover, food and rubbish bags, and take everything out with you. Alevkaya’s tables and the Salamis grounds are among the more equipped; the Karpaz and Taşkent grounds are wilder and more basic. A few practical notes:

• Carry water and shade. Summer heat is the real hazard, and shade is patchy — the same season-and-water honesty applies as on the hiking trails.
• Take your rubbish home. Bins are unreliable; leaving litter in a fire-season forest is both antisocial and a fire risk.
• No open flames in the 1 May-31 October window — pack food that needs no cooking if you are travelling in summer.

When is the best time for a forest picnic?

Spring and autumn — March to May and October to November — when the forests are green, the temperature is comfortable, and the heaviest fire-risk weeks are behind or ahead of you. The grounds are busiest at weekends and during holidays; according to the TRNC Tourism Planning Department, North Cyprus drew 2,589,729 visitors in 2025, up 17.2% on the year, and the accessible ridge parks like Alevkaya and Salamis feel it on a fine Sunday. Religious-holiday weekends are the peak — the public holidays calendar for North Cyprus flags the 2026 bayram dates if you would rather have the forest to yourself.

A car is the only practical way to reach these grounds — they sit on forest roads with no useful public transport, so you load the boot and drive out. On a fuller trip, the one-week North Cyprus itinerary shows where a forest morning fits between the beach and culture days from a single east-coast base.

Kipra Rent A Car is a Famagusta-based local rental company with unlimited mileage and VAT and third-party insurance included in every displayed price — the drive out to a remote forest ground and back adds nothing to the bill. The all-automatic, air-conditioned fleet keeps the cool-box company on a hot day; see up-to-date prices at kiprarent.com.

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Load the boot and drive out: book a car · WhatsApp +90 546 996 1004 — English spoken.