The most overlooked resort in the Med

Clean beaches, quiet hotels, friendly locals and good food. Philip Tibbenham on the holiday delights of a country more often associated with ethnic strife

Twenty-three years ago today, just after eight o'clock in the morning, a taskforce of 31 Turkish warships appeared out of the Mediterranean heat haze and landed the first of 44,000 troops on the shores of northern Cyprus.

Turkey claimed that this action was "unavoidable" after Greek colonels had staged a coup on the island with the aim of imposing Enosis (Union with Greece) by force, allegedly putting at risk the lives of the Turkish Cypriot minority.

What is beyond dispute is that within two weeks, 37 per cent of Cyprus had been overrun, and the resident Greeks were in flight. This area, the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), remains under illegal occupation as far as the UN is concerned. But what is all this to do with travel?

Simply this: that out of the conflict, the north has emerged as a country with clean beaches, no pollution, no high-rise hotels, friendly locals and good food.

It is a place still locked in the pre-tourism world of the 1950s and 1960s. Only a few thousand visitors find their way here, compared with the two million who flock to the southern part of the island.

Why the contrast?

The biggest tour operator to northern Cyprus is President Holidays, a subsidiary of Istanbul Airlines. Their marketing manager, Ms Zekiye Yucel says: "We don't pretend there are no tensions between north and south. But we have been the victims of a very effective propaganda campaign by the Greeks. I spend a good deal of my time convincing people that they are not coming to a war zone. Some people really believe that you can't get here."

Well you can. But because Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey there are no direct flights. My flight from Manchester had to touch down in Istanbul and was on the ground for about 50 minutes, during which time it was transformed into an internal Turkish flight. After our second take off, it was another hour-and-a-half before we stepped out into the warm darkness outside the TRNC's tiny Ercan airport.

Coming through immigration I noticed people with deep tans producing dog-eared pieces of paper from inside their passports. These were in place of the incriminating passport stamps which would prevent people from legally entering Greek Cyprus in the future.

The immigration man smiled and offered me a piece of paper.

The final leg of the journey was in a coach trundling for 45 minutes over Five Fingers Mountain to the hotel and it was midnight by the time I checked in. Early next morning the sun was bright enough to wake me.

Dedeman's Olive Tree Hotel lies at the foot of blue-grey mountains and was once part of Asil Nadir's troubled empire. The new owners have refurbished the attractive bungalows around Nadir's superb monster swimming pool. But even here, it is the familiar story. Of the 105 rooms at the hotel, only 34 are occupied and around the pool 80 or 90 sunbeds lie empty in perfect sunbathing weather. The hotel is four miles from Kyrenia (known to the Turks as Girne) and I am told that I will need a car to explore this beautiful part of the island.

While my hire car was being prepared I walked a hundred yards or so to Kyrenia Harbour which, with its perfect crescent shape, lives up to its reputation of being the jewel of the Mediterranean. The only noticeable sound comes from the flapping of halliards on the masts of the few yachts at anchor. There has been a harbour here for 2,000 years and it is overlooked by a glowering Crusader castle where, it is said, Richard the Lionheart spent his honeymoon. The castle - never taken by invaders - once survived a siege lasting four years, with the occupants living on rats and mice.

You can do rather better than that these days. At night, when the harbour is at its most magical, you can eat well in the small fish restaurants strung around this horseshoe of light. In fact there are over 1,000 restaurants in northern Cyprus, ranging from roadside shacks to establishments which could compete in Provence. In the best you can still eat for as little as pounds 10 with wine - or even less if you want to pay in hard currency. Three miles east of Kyrenia, on the coast road, at the Pegasus Bar you can, for a couple of pounds, try a local speciality called esmay - a sort of gaspacho laced with chilli - so thick that you can spread it on pitta bread. Under the thatched roof you will find Alan Cavinder, writer, historian and sometimes bartender; he has been in Cyprus for over 30 years and at 70 is prepared to offer sound advice on people and places.

You could spend a whole fortnight's holiday here exploring ruins, monasteries, castles and mosques. On the east coast, above a splendid beach, is Salamis, the ancient capital of Cyprus. After it had been destroyed in an earthquake in AD 342, it was rebuilt but then slowly fell into disuse. As you walk around Salamis today, with the scent of jasmine in the air, the mosaics and wonderful columns still speak of the power that was here.

After leaving Salamis I chose to enjoy a half forgotten experience - driving for pleasure. Having suffered the agonies of the M25, motoring in the TRNC seems like being on English country roads between the wars. Driving is on the left; the roads are almost empty; and petrol is cheap.

The car will get you to some of the cleanest beaches in the Mediterranean. Lack of overseas investment has meant that there have been no man-made harbours, monstrous high-rise hotels or sprawling holiday complexes.

Hence, little or no pollution. According to the locals there is hardly any casual street crime and there is a temptation to recall a time when you could leave your car unlocked and find it untouched two hours later. This feeling has prompted at least 1,000 Britons to move here permanently.

In the village of Karaman, near Kyrenia, some have struck a deal with the TRNC authorities to rent and restore houses deserted by Greeks driven out by the invaders.

The British have proved to be enthusiastic tenants. Local lanes have been re-named Mulberry Way, Fig Tree Walk and Acacia Drive, and the whitewashed houses could have stepped out of the pages of Country Living. It is as though Polperro has, like a Brigadoon, been whisked from Cornwall onto a stunning Mediterranean mountainside.

The tiny village shop is run by Tony Stephens. Nine years ago he sold his clothing business in Leicester with its pounds 6m turnover and moved here for good. It has cost him about pounds 18,000 to rebuild a ruined house and he says he has no intention of moving.

While appreciating picturesque renovations however, it is hard not to remember the plight of those Greeks whose homes these were until 1974. The question arises: Is northern Cyprus set to stay sealed in its eery time warp for the next 23 years?

There are powerful forces at work. President Bill Clinton has sent Richard Holbrook to come up with a solution for the island. The governments of Greece and Turkey would like Cyprus to join the EU and this may nudge them towards some sort of compromise.

It is likely that if the problems of a divided Cyprus are solved, the north will slowly succumb to mass tourism.

Try to see the TRNC before that happens.

Getting there

President Holidays (0181 688 7555) flies through Istanbul Airlines from Manchester, Stansted, Gatwick, and Heathrow. Two weeks B&B at the expertly- run Dedeman Olive Tree Hotel costs about pounds 500, including flight, depending on season.

Eating and drinking

The Veranda restaurant, Karaoglanoglu (822 2053), five-star food at water's edge with sunset as a backdrop. The Levant, Karaman (822 2559), authentic Lebanese food on terrace.The best wines include Yakut which is red; and Cancaya (pronounced Chank-eye-yah) which is white.

Car hire

About pounds 17.50 a day plus insurance for an air-conditioned car. Petrol is about 29p a litre.