Varosha (Varosia in Greek, Kapalı Maraş in Turkish) is the southern beachfront quarter of Famagusta, in the Turkish occupied north; a visit means crossing at one of the official checkpoints with a passport or ID. Its residents fled when the second Turkish offensive began on 14 August 1974, Turkish tanks reached Famagusta's old city on the evening of 15 August according to UN situation reports, and after the town was looted Turkish troops sealed it off. The Famagusta Municipality puts the fenced area at 6.4 km² and its 1974 population at about 15,000, an unofficial estimate.
Before 1974 the fenced quarter was the most developed tourist area in Cyprus and held most of Famagusta's hotel beds: according to the municipality, in 1973 the town had 33 hotels with 4,859 beds, 45% of all hotel beds on the island, and took 53.5% of Cyprus' foreign tourist nights. The seafront hotels along John F. Kennedy Avenue included the King George, which the municipality now calls a complete ruin; the BBC reported in 2014 that the Argo Hotel on the same avenue was said to be Elizabeth Taylor's favourite.
Varosha's status is set by the UN Security Council. Resolution 550 (1984) calls attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants inadmissible and calls for the area's transfer to UN administration, and Resolution 789 (1992) asks for the UN-controlled area to be extended to include Varosha. On 8 October 2020 the Turkish Cypriot side opened a stretch of the beach and two avenues, Demokratias and John F. Kennedy, to visitors, and on 20 July 2021 it announced the lifting of military status from about 3.5% of the area. The Security Council condemned that announcement on 23 July 2021 and called for the reversal of all steps taken since October 2020; the Republic's National Council called the change a clear violation of those resolutions, the EU has condemned it, and the UN holds Türkiye responsible for the situation in Varosha.
You can see Varosha without crossing. The Famagusta Municipality Cultural Centre in Deryneia (Evagorou 35), known until 2010 as the Cultural Centre of Occupied Famagusta and a few hundred metres from the Deryneia checkpoint, has an observatory with binoculars looking across to the fenced town, photo exhibitions, film screenings about occupied Famagusta, a small library, a cafeteria and wheelchair access. Entry is free. It opens Monday to Friday 07:30 to 17:00 and Saturday 07:30 to 15:00 in summer, and Monday to Saturday 07:30 to 15:00 in winter; ring +357 23 740860 to check.
If you choose to cross, the nearest checkpoint is at Deryneia, opened on 12 November 2018. EU and Schengen citizens can show a national ID card; everyone else needs a passport. Hire cars from the Republic often have no insurance cover in the north, and UK travel advice warns that you will not be let through a crossing without the correct insurance documents, so check with your hire company first. From the checkpoint it is about 7 km by road, roughly 10 minutes' drive, to the Varosha visitor gate on Iras Street beside the Dr Fazıl Küçük stadium.
Only a small part of Varosha is open: marked streets, chiefly Demokratias Avenue and John F. Kennedy Avenue, and two beach areas. Every building is off limits, many carry signs warning that they may collapse, and the rest of the quarter is closed. The rules posted when it opened ask visitors to stay on the roads and marked areas, keep out of the undergrowth, take nothing away and fly no drones; photographs are allowed from the open areas. By the gate there are kiosks, toilets, bike and scooter hire and buggy tours, and in summer 2026 the two beach points had 150 and 300 sunbeds (150 TL a set) and an hourly minibus. The Turkish Cypriot municipality gave the summer 2026 entry hours as 08:00 to 19:30; hours have been shorter in winter, so check before you go.
Organised tours do run inside. The Original Red Bus spends about 2 hours 30 minutes in Varosha on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, at 35 EUR for adults and 15 EUR for children aged 3 to 11, and only takes passport or ID holders from the 27 EU countries, the UK, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland. Other operators sell day trips that combine Varosha with Famagusta's walled old town, covered in our Famagusta day trips guide.
Whether to cross is a personal choice; plenty of visitors keep to the Deryneia viewpoint. The situation can also change: in January 2026 the Security Council warned that any further unilateral action on Varosha may prompt a response from it, and Republic of Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides told the UN General Assembly on 23 September 2026 that Varosha remains sealed off. In the north the Turkish lira is the currency, and roaming on a Republic SIM card may not work there, so check with your provider before relying on your phone.
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