10 independent reviews for Northern Cyprus walking holiday
Reviews for Northern Cyprus walking holiday
Barbara Barton review 26 Apr 2026
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Seeing lots of native orchid's, learning about the history (ancient and recent) of Cyprus and learning about local culture. The visit to two local homes to understand their cottage industries for halloumi and baking was v enjoyable.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Bring proper walking boots. Come with curiosity and a bit of background fitness.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
We had a local guide who was very engaged in protecting the natural habitat of Cyprus and took great pride in sharing it with us. He took us to local homes to understand the culture.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
ExcellentKaren McCann review 13 Apr 2026
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
It was all good - the hotel, the walking and the historic sites and my fellow travellers, the food - very good week2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
I think they should understand the elevation of the walks is quite hilly and some paths rocky - I was glad I took a stick3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes definitely - our guide was very Green and is a well known activist in North Cyprus. I was great seeing the recycling centre and how the lunch food came from a local lady etc. North Cyprus is trailing behind on green issues and there is some litter but this is very much a journey4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
It was excellent- quite sad to be back at workRoderick Walker review 15 Feb 2026
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
St Hilarion castle2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Some local cash needed. Local Dolmus buses are easy and very useful once you know how.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
North Cyprus needs tourism. Our guide was active on local conservation.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Very goid.Julie Williamson review 5 Jan 2026
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Day 5, which was listed as “left free to relax or explore more at your own pace”… with an “option to visit Famagusta” was in fact the most memorable and one of most enjoyable. Tour organisers should consider adding this into the itinerary. This would give participants an option to rest on one of the other days – I say this particularly because most of our group of 15 found the walking TOO much of a challenge most days. We most enjoyed the walking to/around Incirli cave, and walking the Tunnel Trail (unfortunately, many of the group could not cope with the distances and ascent so missed bits of these walks) and we enjoyed all the climbs up to the castles for culture and architecture (again, very slow progress ascending which made it tiresome for us) For us, the walking was rather too limited – even though we knew the walking itinerary on this trip was far tamer than we are used to, we had to go so slow and climb less because so many participants were not up to the physicality.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Beware of poor trip information – final documentation was lacking in detail and some participants were taken aback by amount of walking & ascent (goodness knows what they were looking at when they booked – but, as far as we know, almost everyone else had booked directly with Explore!) Beware of potentially poorly maintained trails – many routes were up to castles / viewpoints on vehicular tracks of mud and stone which some participants struggled with and had to take extra-long to both climb and descend. There had been heavy rain in weeks leading up to the trip and track were visibly affected – further rain during our trip would have made the going even worse (OK for us, hardened mountain walkers, but not for at least 12 other participants who did not enjoy the terrain on most walks) If the tour operator are to book flights, ensure you do sufficient research yourself about flights and transfers – we were given different information to other participants, some of whom complained of lack of consistency in both the information received and service provided.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Overall, it did benefit local people and we enjoyed the interaction with them, especially the hosts at two homesteads visited. Also, the charismatic guide Memhet went the extra mile to introduce us to locals, authentic restaurants etc., We, and several other participants, felt uncomfortable with the frequent changes of towels when not requested or needed. Also, overuse of drinking water in small plastic bottles – The Ship Inn should invest in a water fountain so guests can refill their water carriers as required.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
We are pleased we chose to visit Northern Cyprus at this time of year – as is the case in most places in the world these days, we imagine some of the places of interest would be far less enjoyable during busy tourist season. We are less pleased that it was an Explore trip however – I think that if discerning travellers feel like doing an Explore trip, they can go on-line to book/ look through their brochure, though I’m sure the tour operator benefit greatly by being recommended by Responsible Travel, and vice-versa! The accommodation on this trip was OK and perfectly adequate, but other Responsible Travel trips have been far more interesting overall, and I would avoid any trip Responsible Travel pointed me to which is managed via Explore.Read the operator's response here:
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review from this recent walking holiday to Northern Cyprus!
I am glad to see you enjoyed some of the walks including Incirli Cave and the Tunnel Trail, although were sorry to see that they may have been a bit slower than what you’re typically used to. With small group adventures, sometimes there may be customers with different fitness levels however our expert Tour Leaders will always try and manage the pace appropriately to make an enjoyable experience for all.
Within our trip notes, which we do advise all our customers to read, there are detailed times and distances for daily walks so it is disappointing to see some customers felt uninformed of the details, we are currently reviewing this to see if there are any changes we can make to our descriptions to help make this clearer.
I am sorry if you were disappointed in any elements of this trip. I assure you that all your feedback has been carefully reviewed by our team, and we appreciate you leaving us a review to allow us to continue improving our trips and provide the high standard adventure holidays we strive for!
Mary Tuohy review 14 Oct 2025
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Visiting Saint Hilarion Castle. The climb was worth it, it's awesome.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
This is not totally a hiking trip. Every day has several different activities/walks but no really long trek. Also do the 'optional' tour to Famagusta as it's one of the highlights3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Possibly benefitted locals as all tourism does4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
5/10Caroline Langley review 30 Dec 2025
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
That my luggage never arrived2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Don't3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Maybe, but without my luggage it was difficult to be involved4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Terrible. I've only given it one star because there is no option to give it none. And the food was poor too.Read the operator's response here:
We’re sorry to see you did not enjoy this recent trip with us to Northern Cyprus.
It was incredibly disappointing to see this feedback from your holiday. We know how frustrating and upsetting it can be when your luggage does not arrive on a holiday and how this may have impacted your overall time away. When you contacted us on tour, we did attempt to make contact with the airline, however they were unable to provide us any update, and I know our Local Partners were too in contact with the local airport also trying to assist with locating your luggage, and I am sorry this was unsuccessful and we could not become further involved.
Most feedback from your fellow travellers on your tour has suggested that it ran as we would expect of a walking adventure. We are looking to contact you directly regarding your experience and our proposed next steps as we would greatly appreciate the opportunity to understand what occurred to impact your trip so poorly and what we can do to manage this moving forward.
Again, we are sorry for your experience, and we look forward to speaking with you soon.
Jeff Rowell review 17 Oct 2024
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Hiking up to visit the castles in the mountains. I particularly enjoyed visiting Buffavento Castle.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
If you are interested in history, it would be a good idea to plan your time at Salamis in advance. The time there was limited (about an hour) and the map provided at the site only showed the main area that is visited by most tourists. The tour included a guided exploration of the main area, but I would have liked to have explored other areas of the site. Not having a good map made this difficult.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
It certainly benefited local restaurants and shop owners.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Excellent. The trip was well run and our guide (Engin) was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. We learned a great deal about Norther Cyprus from him.Nelly Clark review 20 May 2024
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Some of the views were stunning. Interesting history.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Go at a cooler time of year. The walking was timed during hottest part of the day as we didn’t leave particularly early maybe because breakfast didn’t start till late3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Local guide used.A local bakery was used for the picnic lunches. A giant bottle of water bought to refill our bottles as and when we needed. Visited a turtle beach to see how the eggs are protected till they hatch.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
It was tough and I was one of the fittest on tour. It’s graded low to moderate activity level but it took us far longer than it ought every day. Even the days the person that really struggled with the walking didn’t join the walks. This meant we didn’t have much time sightseeing and this was very rushedRosemary Morle review 5 Jan 2023
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The great guide. Stunning scenery. Great choice of walks. Good flora and fauna.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Take a small kettle so you can make a decent brew. Make sure that Bert from Holland is your guide! He was excellent.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Hard to ascertain. But eating in local restaurants at night meant money was going in locally. As a group we drank quite well in different bars so that would’ve helped.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Great walking. Although the walks were relatively short they were quite tough ascents and descents. I was fine with with this but I know some people found the ascents and descents trickyKaren Chua review 15 Oct 2023
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Varied itinerary with plenty of opportunities to get upclose to nature2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Bring along a walking stick for the hikes3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
We stayed at some local establishments and had chances to dine at local restaurants of our choice4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Lovely, would like to discover more of the Balkans in futureHoliday Reviews
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