One Week in Albania: An Offbeat Itinerary
Seven days runs the full interior-to-coast loop without every day being a driving day: Tirana, Berat, Gjirokaster, Saranda, and two Riviera towns instead of one rushed stop. It is still not enough to also add the Accursed Mountains and the Komani Lake ferry in the north, and this itinerary won’t pretend otherwise, that pairing deserves its own 3 to 4 day trip from Shkoder. Pay in lek (ALL), not euros, and rent a car; Tirana International Airport (TIA) is Albania’s only working air gateway in 2026.
This extends the 6-day version with a second Riviera town; shorter options run from the 2-day through 5-day versions of this same route.
Book these before you go
- A Dhermi or Himare guesthouse : peak-season Riviera prices run 2-3x the off-season rate
- A Riviera boat tour covering Gjipe Beach : the canyon beach between Himare and Dhermi
- A rental car at TIA : booked well ahead for a July or August pickup
| Day | Focus | Travel time | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tirana: Bunk’Art 1, Skanderbeg Square, Blloku | none (arrival) | ~€25-35 |
| 2 | Berat: castle, Onufri Museum, Mangalem/Gorica | ~2-2.5h from Tirana | ~€5 transport + ~€4.50 museum |
| 3 | Gjirokaster: castle, Cold War bunker, weapons museum | ~2.5h from Berat | ~€8 castle/bunker/museum |
| 4 | Saranda base, Butrint, Blue Eye, Ksamil | ~1h from Gjirokaster | ~€10 Butrint + ~€0.50 Blue Eye + ~€20 Ksamil boat |
| 5 | Himare, Porto Palermo Castle | ~1h30 from Saranda | ~300 lek castle |
| 6 | Dhermi, Drymades, Gjipe Beach | ~25min from Himare | ~€5-10 sunbed + ~300 lek Gjipe parking |
| 7 | Llogara Pass, a Vlore stop, back to Tirana | ~1h to the summit, ~2h15 Vlore to Tirana | fuel only |
Day 1: Tirana’s bigger, emptier bunker
Land at Tirana International Airport Nene Tereza, named for Mother Teresa, who was ethnic Albanian but was actually born in Skopje, not Albania. The Rinas Express shuttle runs roughly 400 lek into Skanderbeg Square . Skip the queue at Bunk’Art 2 under the square for Bunk’Art 1 on the Linza hillside instead, the larger of Hoxha’s two Cold War bunker museums. Ignore the “750,000 bunkers” figure repeated online, only 173,371 were ever actually documented, in a 1983 count declassified decades later. Close the day in Blloku, and pick up the rental car here rather than waiting until you’re already behind schedule south of the capital.
Day 2: Berat, the castle where people still live
Drive roughly 2 to 2.5 hours south. The general castle fee is reported waived across most 2026 sources, so confirm on arrival; the Onufri Museum inside runs roughly 400-500 lek. Real Berati households still live inside the Ottoman-era window rows of Mangalem, across the Osum from Gorica. Overnight here.
Day 3: Gjirokaster’s second bunker
The drive from Berat runs about 2.5 hours. Gjirokaster’s stone UNESCO old town sits beneath a castle costing roughly 400 lek, plus about 200 lek each for the Cold War bunker and weapons museum inside its grounds, the same 1960s-1980s program that produced Tirana’s Bunk’Art sites. Overnight in the old town.
Day 4: Saranda, Butrint, the Blue Eye, and Ksamil
From Gjirokaster, Saranda is about 55 minutes to 1h20 further. Butrint costs 1,000 lek (500 lek ages 12-18, free under 12), a lagoon site fought over and rebuilt by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Venetians in turn. The Blue Eye , about 22km via Muzine, costs only 50 lek cash to enter, plus 100-200 lek parking. Ksamil’s boat tours run roughly €16-25 per person for an hour on the water, expect genuine July and August crowds around the islets.
Day 5: Himare and Porto Palermo’s overlooked fortress
Saranda to Himare runs roughly 1h30. Most Riviera-bound travelers drive straight past the turnoff 8 to 10km further south on the SH8 to Porto Palermo Castle, a triangular fortress built in 1804 for Ali Pasha, entry only 300 lek cash, open roughly 9am-6pm, a visit runs 30-45 minutes plus longer for the submarine tunnel viewpoint on the bay or a swim off the free parking at the isthmus. Himare itself is the Riviera’s quieter working base, less polished than Dhermi and better for it.
Day 6: Dhermi, Drymades, and Gjipe Beach
Himare to Dhermi is a further 25 minutes. Dhermi is the liveliest Riviera stop, beach clubs and a hillside old village, sunbed hire runs roughly €5-10 for two with an umbrella; nearby Drymades adds DJ-driven beach bars with cocktails around €6-10. Between the two towns sits Gjipe Beach, a dramatic strip of sand at the mouth of a limestone canyon reached by a 30 to 45 minute walk and scramble from the parking area, roughly 300 lek for the day; a boat trip from either town that includes a Gjipe stop runs around €30.
Should you add the Komani Lake ferry to this trip?
No, not on seven days. The Komani Lake ferry runs daily from 9 April to 2 November 2026, roughly €8.80 online or €10 cash, and it is a genuine highlight, a man-made reservoir that reads like a Balkan fjord, but it earns its own dedicated 3 to 4 day northern loop from Shkoder. Bolting it onto a Riviera trip means a full extra day of transfers each way for a detour that deserves better.
Day 7: The Llogara Pass, a Vlore stop, and back to Tirana
The return climbs the Llogara Pass (SH8, summit roughly 1,027m), about an hour up from Dhermi with a dozen-plus hairpin turns; morning and evening fog can cut visibility to 10-20m, so avoid driving it at dawn or dusk, and fuel up in Dhermi or Vlore first since there are no petrol stations on the pass itself. Vlore is also where boats leave for Sazan Island, a former closed Cold War naval base now open to visitors on a roughly six-hour round trip from the waterfront, worth noting for a future visit rather than attempting on a travel day. From Vlore, it is a further 2h15 to Tirana via Fier and Durres.
Himare or Dhermi, which Riviera town wins?
Dhermi wins on nightlife and polish, beach clubs and a livelier old village. Himare wins on quiet and access, it is the practical base for both Porto Palermo Castle and Gjipe Beach without the crowds Dhermi draws in July and August. Seven days gives both towns their own day, so this itinerary doesn’t ask you to pick.
Before you go
Most Western nationalities currently enter Albania visa-free, though the exact allowance varies by passport, so confirm with your embassy before booking. Cards work in Tirana and larger towns; smaller stops and the Blue Eye’s entrance are cash-only. Book the rental car and any Riviera room several weeks ahead for July and August, when prices commonly run 2-3x the off-season rate, and fill the tank before returning the car at the airport.