Varosha experience tour by the Original Red Bus

Excursions & day trips

Protaras, Cyprus

from 21 reviews

4.6/5

Free Cancellation

Language: English

Mobile voucher accepted

Duration: 4 Hours

Instant Confirmation

Guided Tour

e-Voucher

Group Tour

Do this because

Visit the forgotten resort of Varosha

Open-top bus tour and free time

Recently reopened to the public

What to expect

Once a thriving holiday resort, Varosha has lain abandoned in the northern part of Cyprus for over 50 years. This open-top bus tour takes you to the heart of this forgotten town, where you'll have around two-hours of free time. Desolate hotels line the beach where you can grab a drink and relax on the sands – it's a real touristic time capsule.

What's included

Transport

Driver/ Guide

What to remember

Drinks are available to purchase from the vendors near the beach but only card payments are accepted

Just so you know, because of local restrictions at Strovillia checkpoint, only passport holders from EU member states, the UK, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland can travel to and from the northern part of Cyprus

Children must be supervised by an adult (over 18 years) at all time

Bring a hat

Bring suitable footwear

Bring money for extras or gratuities

Bring your passport or official EU identification

Food and drinks not included

English-speaking guide for all nationalities

Please note that all times are approximate and subject to change

Bring bathing gear and sunblock

Bring a towel

This experience doesn't follow our general cancellation policy. If you need to cancel, you must do so at least 24 hours in advance to receive a full refund

Provider

TUI CYPRUS LTD

Booking Fee

Good news! No extra fees are applied to this booking.

Cancellation Fee

Receive a 100% refund if you cancel up to 1 day before the experience begins

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Only available in English

from $41.00

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Reviews

Excellent

4.6/5

Based on 21 reviews from verified customers

All ratings (21)

Excellent (14)

67%

Great (7)

33%

Average (0)

Poor (0)

Bad (0)

Sue Gray

August 2024

From United States of America

Traveled as As a couple - 39 years old

Excellent

We only wanted a short trip and this was perfect for us. The guides were very informative. An extra half hour in Varosha would have been better.

Anonymous

August 2024

From United Kingdom

Excellent

Very well organised tour, would highly recommend. Great value for money.

Liz

July 2024

From United States of America

Traveled as With family - 41 years old

Excellent

Loved every minute (except going over speedboats,however slow!). Guide and driver excellent, having water available to purchase was invaluable, fans on the bus inside a blessing.

Andy

July 2024

From United States of America

Traveled as Alone - 29 years old

Excellent

Clive, the driver and Paul, the tour guide were very welcoming and gave a lot of fantastic information about Varosha along with some handy maps for the two hours of our own time. The two were also very funny and you could tell they enjoyed working together. They were also very knowledgable. Just a couple of points of info that could be given beforehand; if you are on the 02 network, you leave their free roaming 'Europe Zone' when you visit as you are in 'Turkey'. Also only card payments in Lira

Lauren

June 2024

From United Kingdom

Traveled as As a couple - 15 years old

Excellent

A tad on the expensive side, but a very good and interesting experience and day out. The guide and driver, Hayley and Clive were fantastic and knowledgeable! We rented scooters when we got there as it was so hot, which were about €12pp, but there was options for buggys with guides too.

Anne & Stewart

June 2024

From United Kingdom

Traveled as As a couple - 29 years old

Excellent

Overall we had an amazing experience. Paul the guide was fantastic very knowledgeable and entertaining. Just the right amount of time spent in varosha with plenty to see and learn of the history, also very sad seeing all the empty buildings. Plenty of cafes to cool down in as it gets extremely hot walking around the town. We would highly recommend this trip, thank you Paul and Clive.

Cabman

June 2024

From United States of America

Traveled as As a couple - 45 years old

Excellent

Great trip, excellent tour guide, fascinating visit to see the ghost town

Will & Katie

September 2023

From United States of America

Traveled as As a couple - 10 years old

Excellent

Thoroughly enjoyable experience, well worth a day out you holiday. The tour takes you into the deserted city and really goes into detail regarding the history of the 1974 invasion and really puts things into perspective. The journey to Famagusta can take a while so i would recommend lots of suncream, towels for the seats and plenty of fluids - although they do have water available to buy on the bus.

Thomson ??

September 2023

From United States of America

Traveled as As a couple - 43 years old

Excellent

From the moment the bus picked us up the staff were SO friendly and helpful very informative and interested in what we had to say as well ??the whole experience was really great and I would highly recommend to see the history of Varosha

Steve byatt

September 2023

From United States of America

Traveled as As a couple - 42 years old

Excellent

Lovely people

Linda

September 2023

From United States of America

Traveled as With friends - 42 years old

Excellent

The Varosha trip was excellent .Paul was our host and was a wealth of information and lots of fun also .We did the trip on foot once inside Varosha but would advise using the little golf carts or bikes as it was so hot

Nicky

July 2023

From United States of America

Traveled as As a couple

Great

We loved going into Varosha. However as it was only a half day tour we had just two hours there. We would have paid a little more for more time there.

Mrs F

June 2023

From United States of America

Traveled as As a couple - 36 years old

Great

Very interesting tour. Would like to hear more from the guide whilst on the bus as to the history of why the situation arose.

Juliet

June 2023

From United States of America

Traveled as As a couple - 46 years old

Excellent

The whole experience was amazing staff very friendly and knowledgeable. Would have liked some kind of guided tour we listened in on someone else's and it made it more interesting.Also I think we should have been told sooner about the one hour work to the famous hotel so we could have done that first.

Neil F

June 2023

From United States of America

Traveled as With family - 22 years old

Great

Was a really good trip and definately worth going on. The kids and us were interested in the history and sights. Only down alide was they did keep teying to upwelling some of gifts a little but weren't pushy with it though, and would have like slightly more time in Varosha to explore the ghost town further as didn't quite seem long enough esp. with kids in tow. Otherwise definately worth going on and would recommend to others.

Kate

June 2023

From United Kingdom

Traveled as As a couple - 15 years old

Great

The staff were friendly and explained everything that was needed for the day. The bus was comfortable and water was available for us to buy. Overall the experience was very enlightening however I would suggest the times of the trip be updated what was suggested as 2 - 4 hours turned out to be more likely 7 to 8 hours.

Mrs Ben

October 2022

From United Kingdom

Traveled as As a couple - 40 years old

Great

Great tour so interesting to see a resort frozen in time. Would have liked a bit more time there to explore. Friendly and informative tour guides.The bikes were a great idea, but were very shoddy and not maintained to even a basic safety standard, seat heights could not be adjusted which ruled me out as I have a recent knee injury. Suggestion would be to charge more to hire and get new stock that is lovingly maintained. Trikes/buggy’s would also be a good idea for the less physically able.

Jen/richard

September 2022

From United Kingdom

Traveled as As a couple - 46 years old

Excellent

Weather was fantastic, sitting on top of the bus with wind blowing a bonus. The driver and guide very knowledgeable. Scenery fantastic. Very sad to see such what was a thriving village and area turn into a ghost town, beach area is beautiful. Experience was long enough to wander round and enjoy the beach, there is a cafe on beach, and at entrance to the town. Well worth the money. We highly recommend booking this trip.

Robin

August 2022

From United Kingdom

Traveled as With family - 27 years old

Excellent

Tour guide was very good. I wish we had long time so I you could spend more time on the beach before walking around.

Claire

August 2022

From United Kingdom

Traveled as With family - 29 years old

Great

An enjoyable experience to be able to go within Varosha walls. So much to see.

KarenT

June 2022

From United Kingdom

Traveled as With friends - 35 years old

Great

A box tick trip. The area has only opened after 47 years in the last 6 months. Our guide was friendly but we had to Google why the area is uninhabited and actually got more info on a different trip the day after. Warning, it took 40 minutes to walk to the beach through the town. Issue, we were told to give our passports to the guide for the border. He had a contact who would get them checked and returned to us on the way back but this contact has gone home and was asleep with our passports?

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