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Enter Northern Nicosia (see Northern Nicosia) at the Kyrenia gate and walk south down Girne Caddesi to Ataturk Meydan, the hub of the old town. South of here, the city’s historic buildings tower above a maze of narrow streets.

Walk down Asmaali Sok to the fortress-like Büyük Han, a 16th-century caravanserai with an arcaded courtyard which now houses boutiques and a pleasant café, then turn left towards the soaring Gothic front of the Selimiye Camii. This 700-year-old cathedral of Agia Sofia (Holy Wisdom) turned mosque is Northern Nicosia’s greatest glory. Behind it, signs lead you to a small square, Selimiye Meydan, and the Sultan Mahmut Library, an eight-sided building with a domed roof containing a collection of Islamic manuscripts and ancient Korans. On the opposite side of the square, a haphazard collection of stonework in the Lapidary Museum includes medieval crests, Turkish tombstones and gargoyles stripped from the Gothic cathedral.

Immediately south of the Selimiye is another Gothic relic, the church of St Nicholas, which became a storehouse under the Ottomans. Across the road, the Belidiye Pazari is the town’s central market, with a colourful mix of produce stands and arts and crafts sellers.

Walk back through the Arabahmet quarter, and enjoy lunch at the Boghjalian Konak Restaurant (see Boghjalian Konak Restaurant, Nicosia).

Endangered loggerhead and green turtles lay their eggs on this undeveloped crescent of sand and shingle. The Society for Protection of Turtles (SPOT) operates a small information centre and takes visitors on turtle-watching walks from May to October, during the nesting season, as well as doing its best to protect eggs and hatchlings.

A painted Pantokrator (Christ) gazes down from the dome of this 12th-century church.

Favoured by Northern Cyprus’s movers and shakers, Avcilar favours game and other hearty traditional dishes. Prepare for a feast.

Perched above the sea, Bellapais would be worth the journey into the mountains just for the view. But the abbey, built by the Augustinian order in 1200, is also the most spectacular piece of Gothic architecture in Cyprus, with vaulted stonework decorated with elaborate carving.

The only restaurant in the still being restored Arabahmet district serves lavish meze in an old courtyard, a private dining room, or an Ottoman-style banquet room upstairs.

Almost 1,000 m (3,300 ft) above sea level, Buffavento’s dilapidated square tower and keep were built by the Byzantines to watch for Saracen raiders and alert the defenders of Kyrenia. Long abandoned, its windy battlements offer breathtaking views of the coast – even with no pirate sails in sight.

With tables beneath white umbrellas in a calm, cloistered courtyard, this is the best place in the old town for a rest and cold drink.

Cheap and plentiful meze and kebabs are the mainstays of this eating-place, in a vault within the ramparts – a good place to escape the midday sun.