Ercan Duty Free or an Off Licence in North Cyprus? Where to Buy Your Drinks

For drinks to enjoy on holiday, an off licence usually makes more sense; for a single bottle to pack for home, duty free can work. The duty free shops at Ercan Airport only let you shop at the airport, when you're flying. With an off licence such as Jastin Off Licence in the Bafra Tourism Zone (İskele, North Cyprus) and Famagusta (Gazimağusa), you can shop whenever you like during your stay and have your order delivered to your hotel. Below we compare the two in practical terms, without quoting prices.

It depends on what you need:

• To drink during your holiday: the shop. You don't have to carry bottles from the airport to the hotel, you can get them cold, and if you run short you can top up the same evening.
• For a particular gift bottle: look at both. Duty free may have a special edition you're after, while a shop has a wider selection.
• For last-minute shopping: if you've got time before your flight, duty free is easy. But think about liquids rules if you have a connecting flight.

Airport shops have limited shelf space and focus on the best-selling brands. Jastin Off Licence stocks around 855 products, including about 220 whiskies: Scotch single malts and blends, Irish, American and Japanese. On top of that there's gin, vodka, rum, tequila, raki, brandy, liqueurs, wine, champagne, beer, cider, mixers and snacks. Browse whisky, wine and raki and liqueurs.

You can only use duty free while you're at the airport. On day three of your holiday, when the wine runs out, you're not going back to Ercan. Our Bafra branch is open Tuesday–Sunday 09:00–02:00 (until midnight on Mondays) and our Famagusta branch every day 09:00–00:00. You can even order after the hotel bar has closed. Details on our late-night off licence page.

Bottles bought at arrivals duty free have to go with your luggage onto the transfer and then up to your room. The Bafra hotels are a long way from Ercan, and that's a tiresome trip with a box of bottles. When you order from a shop, the drinks come to your hotel, villa or home. Anything served cold is carried with care to keep it cold.

The biggest difference with an off licence is delivery. We deliver to hotel rooms, villas and addresses across North Cyprus. Delivery times and charges vary by area and how busy the day is; we only deliver once your order has been confirmed by WhatsApp or phone, and that's when the time and any charge are agreed. For Bafra hotels, see alcohol delivery to Bafra hotels; for other areas, see hotel delivery.

If you land at Ercan in the evening and reach your hotel late, it can be easiest to pick up a couple of bottles at arrivals duty free to see you through the first night. From the next day on, you can use the shop or delivery. If you message us on WhatsApp during your transfer and we can make it in time, your order may reach the lobby shortly after you do. We'll plan that with you when you order.

Wherever you buy, your destination country's customs allowances are the same. We've listed the current limits for the UK, the Green Line, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Russia, with official source links, in our guide to duty-free allowances from North Cyprus.

Flights to and from North Cyprus usually connect in Turkey. Liquids bought at departure duty free and carried in your hand luggage can cause problems at security at the connecting airport. Keeping the sealed duty free bag and receipt may help, but the rules vary by airport and airline. Packing bottles from the shop well in your hold luggage avoids the risk altogether.

• Range: wider in the shop. Duty free may have airport-exclusive editions.
• Timing: Bafra branch open until 2am Tuesday–Sunday, Famagusta until midnight every day. Duty free only when you're flying.
• Cold drinks: available in the shop.
• Delivery: yes from the shop (hotel, villa, address). Not from duty free.
• Carrying: we bring it to you from the shop; at duty free you carry it.
• Price: varies by product. Our current prices are shown when you log in to the site.