Bellapais Gardens

Top choice in Cyprus


Just beneath Bellapais Abbey, this lovely resort amid lush gardens is a tranquil hideaway well worth the splurge. Rooms ooze casual luxury with fresh, modern decor in classic neutral tones. The split-level cottages, with expansive sea views from the balcony, are particularly inviting. Sip your drink poolside, while admiring the abbey’s architecture above, and you may decide to never leave.

This is a wonderfully peaceful place to come for dinner as well, particularly in summer when you dine on a terrace beside the pool. On our last visit the proprietors were busy restoring an old building opposite the hotel entrance, to become a new wine bar.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Cyprus attractions

1. Bellapais Abbey

0.16 MILES

The exquisite ruins of this Augustinian monastery are reason enough to drive up the mountain to Bellapais. It was built in the 12th century by monks…

2. Home of Lawrence Durrell

0.26 MILES

A yellow plaque above the door marks the house where British writer Lawrence Durrell lived in the early 1950s, marking Bellapais on the literary map with…

3. St Andrew's Anglican Church

2.87 MILES

Built in 1913, this unassuming, whitewashed church still holds Sunday services for Kyrenia's small Anglican community of foreign residents.

4. Kyrenia Castle

2.88 MILES

If the grand fortifications of Kyrenia Castle could talk, they could sure tell some tales. The castle was first built by the Byzantines – possibly over…

6. Old Town

2.93 MILES

Wrapping around the Old Harbour, the diminutive Old Town is an atmospheric area for a wander. Its winding alleyways hold a jumble of abandoned stone…

7. Chysopolitissa Church

2.95 MILES

This small roofless ruin is Kyrenia's oldest church, dating back to the 1500s. It's usually kept open so you can check out the two intricately carved wood…

8. Cyprus House

2.97 MILES

This lovingly restored old carob warehouse on the harbour contains interesting ethnographic exhibits of traditional clothing, furniture and Cypriot…