Day-by-day programme of this 10-day itinerary across Ottoman cities and the southern Riviera.
Day 1 â Arrival in Tirana
Landing in Tirana, the young and lively capital of Albania, among painted buildings, mosques, communist bunkers and trendy cafes. A first stroll in the centre.
- âïļ Tirana â Aeroporto di Tirana (TIA)
- ð Skanderbeg Square â The heart of Tirana is Skanderbeg Square, vast and pedestrian, dominated by the equestrian statue of the national hero and surrounded by the Et'hem Bey mosque, the clock tower and the buildings of power. Around it, colourful skyscrapers and murals tell of the city's rebirth. Don't miss Bunk'Art, Hoxha's huge nuclear bunker turned into a museum on the dictatorship. In the evening you dine in the Blloku district, once reserved for the communist elite. Tomorrow you head down to Berat.
- ðĻ Mondial Hotel â Centro, Tirana
Day 2 â Berat, the city of a thousand windows
A journey south to Berat, a UNESCO site, with its Ottoman quarters of white houses with large windows climbing the castle hill.
- âïļ Tirana â Berat â Centro storico, Berat
- ð Berat Castle â Berat castle (Kala) is not an empty museum: it is a still-inhabited citadel, where people live among the ancient walls, Byzantine churches and the remains of mosques. From the walls the view sweeps over the Osum valley and the roofs of Mangalem. Inside you visit the Onufri museum, dedicated to the 16th-century icon painter. At sunset the windows of the houses light up one by one. You dine on the flavours of the interior. Tomorrow you continue to the spectacular Gjirokaster.
- ðĻ Hotel Mangalemi â Mangalem, Berat
Day 3 â Gjirokaster, the stone city
A road south to Gjirokaster, a UNESCO site: a stone museum-city, with its tower-houses, the great bazaar and the imposing castle dominating the valley.
- âïļ Berat â Gjirokaster â Centro storico, Argirocastro
- ð Gjirokaster Castle â Gjirokaster castle is one of the largest in the Balkans: within its walls are a weapons museum, an American spy plane shot down during the Cold War, and ramparts with a magnificent view over the Drino valley. Below, the old Ottoman bazaar is a maze of cobbled alleys with artisan workshops, where you can buy carpets and copper objects. You can also visit a traditional tower-house (the Zekate House). Tomorrow you reach the sea, at the Blue Eye and Saranda.
- ðĻ Hotel Argjiro â Centro storico, Argirocastro
Day 4 â The Blue Eye and Saranda
A descent to the sea with a stop at the Syri i Kalter, the Blue Eye, a spring of impossible blue, down to Saranda, a lively seaside town on the Ionian coast.
- ð Blue Eye (Syri i Kalter) â The Syri i Kalter, the Blue Eye, is a karst spring where the water gushes from a still-unknown depth: at the centre an intense cobalt blue, fading to turquoise at the edges, like a pupil staring at the sky. A short forest path leads to the platform above the spring; the bravest dive into the icy water. It is one of the most photographed places in Albania. You continue towards the coast and Saranda. In the afternoon, a first swim in the Ionian.
- ð Saranda â Saranda is the capital of the south coast, overlooking a horseshoe bay facing the Greek island of Corfu, so close it seems within reach. The lively seafront fills in the evening with strolling crowds, fish restaurants and ice-cream parlours. It is the perfect base to explore Butrint and the beaches of Ksamil. At sunset you climb to the Lekuresi castle for the view over the bay. Tomorrow the archaeological site of Butrint and the islands of Ksamil.
- ðĻ Hotel Magllara â Saranda / Ksamil
Day 5 â Butrint and Ksamil
The archaeological park of Butrint, a UNESCO site immersed in nature, and then the beaches and little islands with Caribbean-like sea of Ksamil.
- ð Butrint â Butrint is an exceptional UNESCO archaeological site, immersed in a lagoon and Mediterranean scrub: in a single place you cross over 2,500 years of history, from the Greeks to the Romans to the Venetians, among an ancient theatre, baths, mosaics, a basilica and the baptistery. The ruins emerge from the vegetation, populated by turtles and waterbirds. From the top of the Venetian castle the view embraces the channel and the island of Corfu. In the afternoon you head to the sea, at Ksamil.
- ðŊ Ksamil â Ksamil is the pearl of the Albanian coast: small bays of white sand and transparent, turquoise water, with three little islands a few strokes from the shore, reachable by swimming or pedalo. You spend the afternoon between a swim, some snorkelling and a plate of mussels and sea urchins freshly caught in a little restaurant on the water. It feels like the Caribbean, a stone's throw from Italy. You return to Saranda for the evening. Tomorrow you head up the spectacular Albanian Riviera.
Day 6 â The Albanian Riviera
Up the Albanian Riviera, the country's most beautiful Ionian coast: beaches of white pebbles, hidden coves and the stone villages of Borsh and Himara.
- ð Borsh â You leave Saranda and head up the Riviera, where the road runs sheer above the sea among olive and citrus groves. First stop at Borsh, which boasts the longest beach on the Riviera, dominated by a castle and lapped by a crystal-clear sea, still little crowded. You stop for a swim and a fish lunch in one of the beach restaurants. Then you continue to the most famous village on the coast, Himara.
- ð Himara â Himara is a charming Riviera town, with a small harbour, an old village on the hill and a series of beaches and coves all around, some reachable only by boat or on foot (like the splendid Llamani). It is a good base to enjoy the Ionian sea in a more relaxed atmosphere. In the evening, a fish dinner on the seafront with a view of the sunset. Tomorrow you continue among the beaches of Dhermi and up to the Llogara pass.
- ðĻ Geo & Art Boutique Hotel Himara â Himara, Riviera albanese
Day 7 â Dhermi, Llogara and Vlore
The beaches of Dhermi, then the scenic climb to the Llogara pass, where the mountains plunge to the sea, and the descent to Vlore, where the Ionian meets the Adriatic.
- ð Dhermi â Dhermi is one of the most beloved beaches on the Riviera: long, of white pebbles and transparent water, with an old village clinging to the mountain above. Nearby hide spectacular coves like Gjipe beach, at the mouth of a canyon, reachable on foot or by boat. After a last swim in the Ionian, you tackle the climb towards the sky: the Llogara pass.
- ð Llogara Pass â The Llogara pass is one of the most spectacular stretches of road in Albania: in a few hairpins you climb to 1,000 metres, inside a national park of pines, with the coast plunging vertically into the turquoise sea below. The view over the bay is breathtaking and paragliders wheel above the gulf. You then descend towards Vlore, the city where the Ionian meets the Adriatic and where Albanian independence was proclaimed. You dine and sleep in town.
- ðĻ Valza Boutique Hotel â Lungomare, Valona
Day 8 â Apollonia and Durres
Heading north with a stop at ancient Apollonia, a Greco-Roman city set in the hills, and arrival in Durres, a millenary port with a great Roman amphitheatre.
- ð Apollonia â Apollonia was one of the most important cities of ancient Greece on Albanian soil, where the future emperor Augustus also studied. Its ruins, scattered among hills and olive trees, are silent and little visited: the monumental Bouleuterion (the colonnaded facade that symbolises the site), the odeon, the walls and a small Byzantine monastery with a museum. A place of bucolic charm, far from the crowds. You continue towards the Adriatic coast, to Durres.
- ð Durres Amphitheatre â Durres is Albania's main port and one of the oldest cities in the Balkans, founded 2,600 years ago. In the centre hides a great Roman amphitheatre, among the largest in the Balkans, which could hold 20,000 spectators and preserves a small early-Christian chapel with mosaics. All around, the modern seaside city lives on its long sandy shore. You dine on fish by the sea. Tomorrow you close the loop with Kruja and the return to Tirana.
- ðĻ Hotel Saly â Lungomare, Durazzo
Day 9 â Kruja and back to Tirana
A last stop in Kruja, a hilltop town linked to the national hero Skanderbeg, with its castle and old bazaar, before returning to Tirana.
- ð Kruja Castle â Kruja is perched on a mountainside and guards the heart of Albanian identity: from here Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, the national hero, resisted the Ottomans for years in the 15th century. In the castle stands the museum dedicated to him, and outside the walls winds the old Ottoman bazaar, a covered alley of shops where you can buy carpets, copper and antiques. The view stretches to the sea. It is the best way to close the trip. In the afternoon you return to Tirana.
- ðĻ Mondial Hotel â Centro, Tirana
Day 10 â Departure from Tirana
Return flight from Tirana. The end of a journey among Ottoman cities, turquoise seas, ancient ruins and the surprising hospitality of the Albanians.
- âïļ Tirana â Aeroporto di Milano Malpensa (MXP)
