Alsancak

Alsancak Northern Cyprus | Alsancak — pros for living, moving, and buying real estate

Alsancak is a suburb of Kyrenia where foreigners willingly buy property. We talk about how life goes on in Alsancak.

We give you insight into life in Alsancak, its transport infrastructure, medical care, education, cost of living, and housing. This article is advisable to those who consider the suburb of Kyrenia as a place for making investments in the real estate of Alsancak or moving for permanent residence.  

Alsancak is located 9 km west of Kyrenia.

This is a beautiful resort village with a traditional Cypriot flavor, which combines a mild climate with an average annual temperature of +19 ° C, the friendliness of the locals, and the measured rhythm of life.

Not surprisingly, Alsancak is increasingly becoming the place that Europeans choose for comfortable wintering and real estate investment. Other overseas visitors do not lag behind them.

Because Cyprus was a British colony until the 1960s, British pounds sterling is still in use here, and property prices are also indicated in this currency.

Sea and Beaches in Alsancak

The distances in Northern Cyprus are not so great, so most tourists calmly move along almost the entire coast in search of the best beaches.

And those who live in Alsancak permanently or come every summer choose several places for themselves, which they then visit constantly.

Some people like wild pebble beaches where there are not a large number of visitors, while others enjoy ennobled areas of beaches at hotels, with sun lounge chairs, sun umbrellas, bars, and water activities.

We would recommend visiting such beaches of Alsancak as:

Camelot Beach is at GAU University. For students, the price is reduced, and other visitors have to pay the full price, except for children - admission is free for them.

The beach is sandy, with a wooden deck, on which there are sun lounge chairs. The entrance to the water is regularly cleared of stones, and an artificial fence protects swimmers from the waves. "Camelot" is ideal for families with children, as it is not very deep, and the depth increases gradually.

Beach Escape. This paid beach has a completely closed area and all amenities: showers, toilets, cafes, and shops.

There is free Wi-Fi on the territory, there are spots where you can lie down not only on the sand but also on the green grass lawns. On weekends, the beach is very crowded, and waiters constantly rush around among the sun lounge chairs and take orders for drinks.

There are several municipal beaches if you want to rent a sun lounge chair. You will have to pay a purely symbolic amount, but you can use your towel or mat.

Transport Infrastructure of Alsancak

The easiest way to get to Alsancak is from Turkey. Most foreigners choose Turkish airline flights from Istanbul, Antalya, Ankara, Izmir, and other cities to Ercan Airport.

Another option is to arrive at Larnaca airport and then cross the border, but this can be a problem later on if you want to get a residence permit for Northern Cyprus. 

The road from Ercan Airport to Alsancak takes about an hour if you take a taxi, and it is one and a half times longer by public transport.

The bus stop is located right next to the airport, and the buses run every one and a half to two hours to major cities: Kyrenia, Famagusta, and Nicosia. Passengers usually get off at the bus station, so you need to calculate the further route from there.

Taxis can be ordered in advance on the website of the selected company. The cost of the service (about 100-120 euros) includes waiting for 90 minutes (if the flight is delayed) and a meeting in the arrivals area with a sign.

In Alsancak itself, you will have the opportunity to choose between a taxi, a rented car, and public transport - dolmush. These are minibusses running their routes. Large buses are used here for intercity passenger transportation.

Education Establishments in Alsancak

There are public and private educational establishments in Alsancak: kindergartens, and schools, including international ones.

Education in a public school is free, but the cost of private ones starts from 200 pounds per semester and tends to infinity - it all depends on the complexity of the program, the equipment provided for schooling, and the prestige of the educational establishment.

Private schools have a waiting list - you have to be signed up in advance, after which you need to make an entrance fee (150-200 pounds). If you change your mind, the fee will not be refunded.

In public schools, everything is simpler: for admission, the child needs a residence permit, as well as translated documents from the old school.

Children of foreigners are willingly accepted, but there are no special adaptation programs, most often they offer to go to a lower class to improve their language skills in a year.

Among the private schools in Alsancak, Necat British College is worth highlighting - it is a school with a full cycle of education, including a preparatory course for kids from the age of two.

The school is not cheap, the cost of education starts from 3200 pounds per year - payments can be made once every 1-2 months. Lessons are held in English, and once a week there are Turkish lessons.

Every year the cost grows by 20-30 pounds per month, school buses and textbooks are paid separately, as well as the uniform, except for one set - it is included in the price of training.

At the end of school, children receive an international certificate, with which they can enter almost any university in the world.

As for higher education, the residents of Alsancak receive it in neighboring Kyrenia. The famous Girne American University operates there with many faculties, almost 18 thousand students study there every year.

Medical Care in Alsancak

You can call an ambulance in Alsancak by dialing 112.

But keep in mind that the team of doctors leaves only in emergency cases: strokes, heart attacks, electrical injuries, accidents, and so on. In other cases, they turn to emergency departments, which are both public and private hospitals.

In the summer of 2022, the Varış Tıp Merkezi Medical Center was opened in Alsancak, where you can get a check-up, get tests done, and get help from a cardiologist, traumatologist, surgeon, and other specialists.

There is also a dental office at the clinic. Dentistry, as in mainland Turkey, is not covered by insurance here, but the prices are very affordable, and the cost of treatment is given in advance.

Tourist Attractions in Alsancak

For the attractions, it is worth driving a little away from Alsancak, for example, to see the museum complex in the Kyrenia fortress, where the shipwreck museum is located with amazing exhibits raised from the seabed. Other places worth visiting near Kyrenia are Bellapais Abbey and the old port of Girne.

Real Estate in Alsancak

Prices for real estate in Alsancak depend, as elsewhere, on the location of the property, the area, the year the building was built, the infrastructure of the area, and the availability of furniture and equipment in housing.

Alsancak is a good choice if you want to move to Northern Cyprus. The area is not very suitable for investment.

The investment has to pay off for a long time, but for your living in a warm climate by the sea, this is the best solution.

There is a developed infrastructure, many shops, beaches, and amazing nature, there is no winter as such - what else is needed for happiness?