Green Heights Botanical Gardens, North Cyprus
September 25, 2009 by Essential Ed
Filed under Leisure & Entertainment, See & Do
Now that the full blown summer heat has dissipated to a rather more bearable level, we thought we would make a long awaited visit to Green Heights Botanical Gardens in Yeşiltepe, just to the west of Kyrenia. However, writing this article has made it clear that Green Heights is also a great place to go when it is boiling hot or chilly, as you will see if you continue reading!
Finding it is easy too, being about 10 minutes drive on the main coastal road, past the Escape Beach Club, restaurants and shops and just opposite the Mambo Bar a turning to the left is signed for Green Heights and Yeşiltepe. A few hundred metres further and you will come across it with ample parking spaces available.
Opened to the public in 2007, it has taken owner Mustafa Emin Ağa around 12 years to reach the stage of maturity he desired for the gardens species featuring indigenous North Cyprus flora, with many varieties from Turkey and other parts of the world. It’s one of those places where you actually really do feel a sense of the botanic it being so green and lush compared to most of North Cyprus in summer!
The entrance to Green Heights Botanical Gardens gives you a feeling of walking into a forest with a long straight walkway flanked by wonderfully majestic Cypress trees. There are lots of shaded paved walkways to get lost in, leading you into little pockets of more green and some interesting specimens such as Pineapple Guava, Pride of India, Myrtle, Hazelnut, Firethorn and Norfolk Island Fir Tree. This 
writer in no way professes to know many of these plants, shrubs and trees, so it is useful that many of them are tagged with their common names as well as Turkish and Latin! Some are very recognisable though, and it being Pomegranate season the café was doing a swift trade in fresh juice.
You can get quite lost and not see many people at all if you wish, and if you explore the perimeters of this 7.5 donum site, you will come across the Lavender Path, and a section dedicated to topiary, with several parts of the site being developed into special interest sections for the future. The sounds of the running water from fountains and ponds as well as the birds are rather calming and miles away from your normal perceptions of a Mediterranean garden – there are some cacti and palms but so much more besides. You will find the odd shaded seating area dotted around too, and if you ever feel like getting away from the hub-bub of life then come here with a 
book and chill!
There is also an abundance of wildlife too, albeit kept for visitor viewing which all add to the atmosphere of a botanical garden. There is one path dedicated to Love Birds in all their wonderful colour variations, Parrots, Budgies, and rather fluffy Pigeons that look like they’ve all had recent perms! A rather stroppy Turkey tried to peck our eyeballs out and we befriended some Bantam chickens whilst the giant rabbits just looked at us with bored curiosity! This is great for kids though, and being of the large variety we went back twice to entertain ourselves. We found a donkey and several other breeds of bird such as Peacock and Quail around the site too. There are little activity touches added around the site, with a dart board and the rabbits being free to play 
with the children on certain days of the week!
Besides the gardens there is a well staffed café/restaurant located around a rather delicious looking pool. The pool was busy as visitors are welcome to use the facilities and you can lounge around the pool all day with waiters on hand to supply you with drinks and food should you wish. We noticed that there was also a Jacuzzi/bubble pool set within the main pool – we wish we had known in advance!
What was also nice was that you didn’t have to sit within the main restaurant area, as several little 
pathways leading away from the pool led to seating areas within the shrubbery making it more secluded and private – very tasteful. Two toasted sandwiches with chips and salad, two Ayran yoghurt drinks and turkish coffee came to 38TL, but you could have a full blown meal with dishes such as Kleftiko, Kebabs and pasta on the menu. In addition there is also a pavilion which can cater for winter dining too which can seat around 40-45 people.
Our visit to Green Heights Botanical Gardens of North Cyprus, the only one of its kind here, was indeed very pleasant and a place which can be visited at any time of year. Entrance is entirely free and so is use of the pool, but it would be 
polite we guess to have a drink and/or a bite to eat (a notice on entry states that no food or drink are allowed from outside anyway). Disabled access has also been taken into consideration.
It’s open daily from 09.30 to 23.00 so you can also visit in the evenings, taking in the soft music wafting from speakers set within the trees and have a meal under a Yellow Guava tree if you fancy. To book in advance they can be contacted on Tel +90 (0)533 8627656 or +90 (0)542 8517557.
hi, i just moved back to trnc, and live in girne… we just came back from the gardens having a lovely lunch, with beautiful music and even a friendly kitty visitor. i very much recommend the gardens as a nice get away and the staff was pleasant and attentive.
Hi there Laurie,
It is a lovely place isn’t it – just perfect for feeling like you are at a little version of Kew Gardens! We loved the little benches and seating areas which are set up in little nooks and crannies so that you can actually just get a good book to read, or have a little sleep perhaps!