Famagusta and Salamis From Ayia Napa: Guided Tour or Cross the Border Yourself?
Updated October 19, 2026 · 6 min read
For most visitors the guided day trip is the better way to see Famagusta from Ayia Napa: the Famagusta and Salamis day trip costs €55 per person, lasts 8 hours and is rated 4.8 from 810 reviews on GetYourGuide. Hotel pickup, the border and a licensed guide are handled for you. Going alone is possible, but the part that catches people out is not the crossing. It is the car.
The trip crosses the UN buffer zone into the north of Cyprus, an area that is not under the control of the Republic of Cyprus. For the crossing you need your passport or, if you are an EU citizen, your national ID card. The tour listing states it as a requirement, and the 10-hour and half-day listings repeat it.
What the day looks like
The listing gives times for each stop, which is rare and useful. After about an hour on the coach to the crossing at Deryneia, which it lists as a pass-by of around 10 minutes, the day runs like this:
- St Barnabas Monastery: about 30 minutes
- Salamis: the ancient city, about 40 minutes with a guide
- Famagusta old town: about 1.5 hours of free time, including lunch
- Varosha: about 45 minutes on a guided walk
So Varosha, the part most people come for, gets 45 minutes, half of what the old town gets. The old-town hour and a half is free time: Othello Castle and the Gothic church of Saint Nicolas are optional extras that are not in the price, and lunch is extra too. You also pass the crossing again on the way back, for about 15 minutes.
The four Famagusta tours compared
| Tour | Duration | From | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Famagusta and Salamis day trip | 8 hours | €55 per person | 4.8 from 810 reviews | Salamis, Famagusta and Varosha in one day |
| Famagusta and Salamis guided tour | 10 hours | €49 per person | 4.5 from 101 reviews | The lowest price with Salamis, a longer day |
| Red Bus Famagusta 3-in-1 with ghost town and swim | 7 hours | €35 per person | 4.7 from 321 reviews | Varosha plus a swim on the beach |
| Famagusta half-day tour | 5 hours | €60 per person | 4.5 from 85 reviews | A shorter day, Polish-speaking guide |
Prices and ratings are those shown on GetYourGuide.
The cheaper, longer alternative
The 10-hour tour is €6 cheaper and adds two hours; the listing does not say how they are used. One reviewer wrote that the wait at the border was a bit boring and that the rest was worth it. The same listing carries two notes. The first is worth reading wherever you book: parents travelling alone, or without the other parent, need extra papers for anyone under 18, a letter of authorisation from the missing parent, plus the child’s birth certificate and a passport copy. The second is specific to this tour: because of local restrictions at the Strovillia checkpoint, only passport holders from EU states, the UK, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland can make the trip. The other listings name different exclusions instead. The 8-hour tour says citizens of India, Armenia, Syria, Nigeria, Turkmenistan, Bangladesh and Nepal cannot join unless they obtain a special visa in advance, and that Ukrainians living in Cyprus under refugee status cannot join either. Whichever tour you book, if your passport is not from the EU, ask the operator before you pay.
Doing it on your own
You can cross at Deryneia yourself, and you would set your own pace in Famagusta, which the guided slots do not allow. But the car comes first. The UK government’s travel advice says that cars hired in the Republic of Cyprus often have no insurance cover in the north, and that you will not be let through a crossing without the right insurance documents. Many rental agreements do not cover travel to the north at all. Whether your hire car may cross is a question for the rental company, in writing, before you book, and the safe assumption is no until they say yes. Some crossings sell insurance for the north on the spot, but the UK advice names a different crossing, so ask whether Deryneia does.
If you do not want the car for anything else, it is not worth the paperwork. If you want one for the rest of your stay anyway, for Cape Greco, the beaches and the villages inland, you can compare car hire for Ayia Napa and read the cross-border terms of the specific offer. Cyprus drives on the left, which is the other thing to settle before collecting the car.
Without a car, the alternatives are a taxi arranged for the day or a tour, and the tour already includes the crossing logistics.
Which one to book
- Most people: the 8-hour tour with Salamis, Famagusta and Varosha, €55.
- The lowest price with Salamis, and you do not mind 10 hours: the guided tour at €49.
- Varosha and a swim rather than Salamis: the Red Bus tour at €35.
- Short on time, or you want a Polish-speaking guide: the half-day tour at €60.
Make sure the passport is in your bag the night before. The tours cannot take you across without it. For the wider choice, see Famagusta day trips from Ayia Napa and day trips across Cyprus. If you want the Troodos mountains the same way, read jeep safaris from Ayia Napa.
