Cyprus
 

I will be traveling to the Greek islands for a couple of weeks later this spring.

For those who have had the opportunity to travel to Cyprus via the Alitalia deal (or other means), is it worth the hassle to get there? I would either have to fly from Athens or Crete; or travel overland through Turkey, and ferry to Cyprus from the Turkish Mediterranean Sea coast.

My intuition tells me that the Greek side is largely a "package tour" version of the Greek islands, and probably not unique enough to justify all the trouble to get there. But, if I am wrong, I hope somebody can educate me.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and insights.

I had two weekends in Cyprus and spent a few months in Athens during the Olympics. In a family of nations, Cyprus is Greece's autistic younger brother. Everything looks normal, but something's just not quite right, just a little too slow.

There are many historical sites and some nice beaches, but those are the norm for the region. Given the choice, I'd visit the Greek islands, especially if time is limited.

I am considering, however, using Cyprus as a hub from which to make several regional excursions next year during a three-week stay.

I have not been to any of the Greek Islands, but I've been to mainland Greece
and Cyprus several times.

Its a bit slow paced place, but its well worth a visit. Its beautiful,
food is great and you can visit both parts of the Island now. I'd recommend
that you fly there instead of taking a boat... and once you are there
try to go around the Island. I wouldn't spend too much time in/around Larnaca.

If you can fit in a week, it's worth a trip. Also depends on what you want to see. There are some wonderful off-the-tourist-path on either side of the line dividing the island.

I'm not sure if current south Cyprus (Republic of Cyprus) allows you entry if you enter into the north (Turkish Republic of North Cyprus) from Turkey so you might want to consider heading from south to north then to Turkey.

Yes they do. Last time I crossed, they had one crossing open near Nicosia...
and they freely allowed people to cross to/from south/north.

Just make sure you have insurance coverage & permission
from your rental car company before you cross.

(This was before Cyprus Joined EU - Many changes happened after that)

For info on travelling to and from the North, http://wikitravel.org/en/Cyprus#Trav...from_the_north