The south-east corner of Cyprus is compact enough that one day can hold a lot: a morning swim at a Blue Flag beach, lunch in a village square, and an afternoon looking at one of the strangest sights in the Mediterranean. The trick is knowing the running order.
Start at Deryneia
Deryneia is the last town before the Green Line, and its rooftop viewpoints look straight across farmland to Famagusta and the sealed-off district of Varosha. In the early 1970s Varosha was the most glamorous beach resort on the island; since 1974 its hotel towers have stood empty, and from the viewing platforms you look at a skyline frozen in time. The Deryneia Cultural Centre of Occupied Famagusta has telescopes, photographs and staff who explain what you are seeing. It is quiet, moving and genuinely unlike anywhere else you will visit, and it deserves an unhurried hour.
Crossing over, if you choose to
Since 2003 it has been possible to cross the Green Line at designated checkpoints, and the Deryneia crossing sits right here. Take your passport, sort car insurance for the north at the crossing if driving, and allow time for queues in summer. Over the line, the walled old city of Famagusta is the draw: the Gothic shell of St Nicholas Cathedral, now the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque, Othello's Tower of Shakespeare fame, and some of the best-preserved Venetian walls anywhere. Part of Varosha's seafront has been opened for visits in recent years. Whether to cross is a personal choice, and plenty of visitors do the viewpoints only; both are legitimate ways to engage with the east's complicated story.
Then back to the blue
Balance the history with the coastline, because this corner has the best swimming water in Cyprus. Cape Greco National Forest Park gives you sea caves, juniper headlands, the much-photographed Kamara tou Koraka rock arch and the blindingly blue water of Konnos Bay. Ayia Napa adds Nissi Beach, the marina and the excellent Thalassa sea museum; Protaras adds Fig Tree Bay and a sunset from the Profitis Ilias chapel steps. For lunch, skip the strip and eat in a village: the squares of Deryneia, Sotira and Liopetri all keep tavernas where the souvla is priced for locals.
Done in that order, viewpoint, crossing or coast path, beach, village dinner, you get the whole east end in a day: its beauty and its scar tissue together. Few day trips anywhere teach you more about an island this quickly.
