Now is the perfect time for Cyprus!

But Cyprus is by no means limited to its casinos. In fact, Cyprus actually rivals popular seaside vacation spots such as Antalya in terms of the beauty of its villages and seashores, some of which are said to be even more beautiful than those of Antalya. What's more, when it comes to hotels, there are many options in Cyprus, and the prices make Cyprus even more attractive -- the island is around 30 percent cheaper than Turkey. The completion of the Bafra Holiday Village, which lies on a nine-kilometer piece of shoreline between Çayırova and Bafra, is expected to transform Cyprus into a real tourism hot spot.

Despite Cyprus' inherent beauty, Cypriot tourism promoters complain that they are unable to attract the expected level of interest from Turkey. One of Turkey's largest tourism firms, Prontotour, has decided to start up its own Cyprus tour operation in an effort to brighten the island's image and help increase its popularity as a vacation destination. Ali Onaran, the CEO of Prontotour, has also added cultural tours of Cyprus to his company's lineup of sun, sea and sand tours of this holiday paradise.  

These autumnal days are the ideal time to make a getaway to Cyprus. The searing heat of summer is behind us, and these days the average daily temperature is a more bearable 30 Celsius or so. So it is the perfect time to go for a swim in the Mediterranean and then fill the rest of your time with tours of the many historical and cultural treasures the island has to offer.

Cyprus is full of historical structures. Two of the top spots on visitors' must-see lists are Girne Castle and the Shipwreck Museum. The castle was built in the seventh century in order to protect the surrounding shores from Arabs attacking by ship. Venetians took control of the castle in 1489, rebuilding and adding on to this structure to fend off Ottoman attempts to take the island. The Shipwreck Museum, located within the Girne Castle, hosts the remains of a shipwreck belonging to the Hellenistic kingdoms. Carbon testing dates the ship to 389 B.C.

Beylerbeyi Village/Bellapais Monastery: Bellapais -- or “Beylerbeyi,” as it's called in Turkish -- is a small Mediterranean village surrounded by lemon and pomegranate trees. The first residents of this village were actually Premonstratensians who fled Jerusalem when Saladin took control of that city in 1187. When the Ottomans took control of the island, they gave the monastery to the Greek Orthodox Church.

Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque: The St. Nicolas Cathedral was built in the 14th century and was one of the Mediterranean's best examples of Gothic architecture until 1571, when it was turned into a mosque with the Ottoman conquest of the island. There is a historic sycamore fig tree at the entrance to the structure, and with its 700-year-old past, this tree is the island's oldest living thing. It's said that this tree was planted in 1298, when the cathedral was first built. Its trunk divides into seven branches after rising 2.70 meters into the air. This extraordinary tree bears fruit seven times a year, but most agree that the shade it gives is even better than its fruit.  

Namık Kemal Dungeon and Museum: The poet and playwright Namık Kemal was exiled to the island and imprisoned in a small room here in 1873 after his play “Vatan or Silistre” (The Motherland or Silistra) opened in İstanbul that year. Later, the famous poet was moved to a better room upstairs in the structure and, after the Ottoman pasha had officially forgiven him, eventually returned to İstanbul.

The Mavi (Blue) Köşk (or Smugglers' Köşk): On the mountain road between Girne and Güzelyurt near Middle East Technical University's northern Cyprus campus, in the village of Çamlıbel, lies the Mavi Köşk, built in 1956 by one of the Middle East's biggest alleged arms traders, the ethnically Italian Cypriot Paulo Paulides. Stories say Paulides escaped from his home through a secret tunnel during the 1974 Cyprus intervention. These days, the Mavi Köşk is a popular spot for visitors and has been turned into a museum, telling the story of its history. There are all sorts of fine paintings, interior décor, chandeliers and ornate furniture to be seen here. Visitors also enjoy learning about the secret passageways and drawer compartments hidden in the köşk.