The plane landing at "Ercan" and the ship sailing from "Taşucu" both set out from the same country — Turkey. Someone asking how to get to North Cyprus has three lines in front of them on the map, simply put: a flight, a ferry, or landing at Larnaca and walking north through a Green Line gate. For a traveller setting out on a Turkish ID card, the third line stays on paper; entry to the South requires a visa, and that visa is issued in Athens. The real decision lies between the first two. Flights dip to just over a thousand lira in winter, and the ship carries your car as well. If your ID card is in your pocket, the choice is between plane and ship — each with its own timetable and its own costs.
A Chipped ID Card Is Enough — No Passport Required
A passport isn't required to enter North Cyprus; the new chipped Turkish ID card is enough. The TRNC Foreign Ministry's visa page exempts Turkish citizens from visa procedures and sets the maximum stay at 90 days within a 180-day period. The old chipless ID booklet, however, hasn't got anyone onto a plane or a ship since 2021. Age creates no exception here — even a baby needs its own card. A driving licence or an e-government printout doesn't count as ID at this desk. If you're going to rent a car, bring your physical driving licence too; a licence loaded onto the ID card isn't recognised in the TRNC (North Cyprus).
The exit fee also depends on the document. Someone leaving on an ID card has nothing to pay at the counter, and no stamp goes into their passport. If the same traveller hands over a passport, they face a 1,250 TL departure fee under the 2026 tariff. On the customs side there's a single number to know, and it's about cash: foreign currency or TL above 10,000 euros doesn't cross without a declaration.
By Air to Ercan
Twelve cities have scheduled flights to Ercan. Nearly all the seats are concentrated in four airlines: Pegasus, Turkish Airlines, AJet and SunExpress. The island's own small carrier, Fly Kıbrıs, also appears on a few routes. Do direct flights land from any other country? Because of the embargo, no; a plane coming from Europe first touches down at a Turkish airport, and passengers disembark with their bags and go through security again. That's why the Ercan route is an international one. Your ID is scanned at the gate, and your baggage allowance is calculated by international, not domestic, standards; baggage drop closes 60-90 minutes before departure. Arrive at the airport two to three hours early — passengers who show up forty-five minutes before departure on domestic-flight instincts find the baggage belt closed. The longest flight is from Istanbul at an hour and a half; from Çukurova it's fifty minutes.
The truly volatile item on the ticket is the calendar. The one-way average from Istanbul is 1,034 TL in January and 4,599 TL in September. Same route, same seat. Promotional fare classes sell out around two weeks before the flight. Past that threshold, you pay whatever's on the screen. Those who want peace of mind buy two months ahead. Typing "Cyprus" into a search engine also brings up Larnaca; your airport is ECN, listed as "Nicosia/Ercan". We've laid out which departure city gets cheap in which month, month by month, in our flight guide. Once you land, the cheapest way onward is the KIBHAS bus: at August 2026 fares, Nicosia is 350 TL, Kyrenia and Famagusta 450 TL, with sixteen departures a day on the main routes. A pre-arranged private transfer to Kyrenia runs 2,000-2,800 TL per vehicle. Because the bus is priced per person and the transfer per vehicle, the two totals converge for groups. The duty free on the arrivals floor operates under the TRNC entry allowance; you'll find the limits in our duty free guide.
By Sea on the Ferry
Most travellers seeking a seaborne answer to "how to get to North Cyprus" look for tickets from Mersin Port — but the Kyrenia ship doesn't sail from that quay. The departure point is Taşucu, a hundred kilometres west of Mersin. The ship that does leave Mersin's own port goes to Famagusta; it sails four nights a week and the crossing exceeds ten hours. Two companies work the Taşucu-Kyrenia route, Akgünler and Filo; we've put their timetables and vehicle fares side by side in our ferry guide. Both run two types of vessel. The fast passenger ship departing in the daytime reaches Kyrenia in two to two and a half hours. The night ferry that takes vehicles leaves around 23.30. Time at sea can be five hours or eight depending on the ship; since TRNC ports don't open before eight in the morning, the hour you step ashore doesn't change. In summer there are near-daily sailings every day except Saturday; in the winter timetable that drops to three or four a week, with weather on top — sailings are cancelled outright in storms. Before buying a ticket, make sure your chosen date actually appears in that week's schedule.
A passenger ticket in 2026 sits in the 1,100-1,700 TL band one way. For a private car the 3,000-3,500 TL band applies, and the driver counts as a passenger on top, paying their own fare. Ticket sales close sixty minutes before departure. Arrive later and you neither board nor get a refund. If you're crossing with your car, the registration document is required, and if the car isn't in your name, a notarised power of attorney too. Turkish traffic insurance and comprehensive cover aren't valid on the island; you buy a temporary TRNC policy at Kyrenia port. The ID card suffices at sea as well, but since some port and rental pages still say passport, toss the passport into the bag too; the full document rules are in our ID-entry guide.
Crossing from the South: Whose Route Is It
This third route belongs to a specific traveller: holders of an EU, British or other passport that enters the South visa-free. They land at Larnaca or Paphos and cross north through a Green Line gate. The best known are the pedestrian gates in Nicosia, Ledra Palace and Ledra Street (Lokmacı), and the Metehan vehicle gate. The TRNC side admits these travellers at the gate — go with your passport, not an ID card; the passport must be valid for at least six months for countries without a representation, and at least two months for EU countries. Finding a direct low-cost flight from mainland Europe to Larnaca is easy, while Ercan requires a Turkish connection — yet for someone travelling from the UK to Kyrenia, Ercan is often still faster.
Trying the same route on a Turkish passport doesn't work in practice. Entry to the South requires a visa, the only address issuing it is the embassy in Athens, and there are no direct flights from Turkey to Larnaca anyway. Any connecting ticket you can find costs four or five times the Ercan ticket for the same day. The reverse is closed too. Ercan isn't among the entry points the South recognises; entering there and walking across the Green Line doesn't count as an open route for Turkish citizens. A car rented in the North can't cross to the other side of the line either — its insurance is invalid there. We've worked through this distinction item by item in our north-south price comparison.
The Options Side by Side
| Route | Duration | One-way passenger fare (2026) | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flight, Ercan | 50 min - 1.5 hours | January ~1,000 TL, September ~4,600 TL (Istanbul avg.) | Travellers from anywhere in Turkey, especially in winter |
| Fast ferry, Taşucu-Kyrenia | 2-2.5 hours | 1,100-1,700 TL | Residents of Mersin, Adana, Hatay, Gaziantep |
| Night car ferry | 5-8 hours, 08.00 arrival | Passenger same band, car 3,000-3,500 TL extra | Anyone using their own car on the island |
| Via the South, Larnaca | Flight + road to the gate | Varies by departure country | Only EU, British or visa-free-country passports |
As you mentally double the figures for the return, don't skip one item: the ferry departing Kyrenia costs about three hundred lira more than the Taşucu departure. For someone leaving Istanbul in January, there's no debate to be had; that month's cheap option is also the fastest. Come September, the ticket climbs to 4,599 TL and the ship suddenly looks reasonable. Just remember, when making that comparison, to write the road journey to Taşucu into the same column. That's why the answer to how to get to North Cyprus starts with where you're setting out from. If you're leaving Istanbul on your own, the answer is most likely the plane. If you live in Adana or Mersin, or you'll be using your own car on the island, the right answer is the ship — Taşucu is right next door. Your foreign-passport guest can land at Larnaca, but you'll only meet them in the North.
