Albania fits in a week. Deciding what to skip is the hard part.
Which canyon run is worth the early minibus, what the Grama Bay speedboat costs, whether Berat or Gjirokastër earns your one stone-town day. Reviews of every tour you can book here.
The Rivierafrom $43
Tiranafrom $13
Beratfrom $13
The canyonsfrom $13
The Alpsfrom $63
A mountain lake, a stone town, a speedboat and the road north.
Four bookings a first Albanian week tends to hang off. What each one costs, and what the people who took it say.
01The cheap morningHike Gamti Mountain with Bovilla lake view & canyon- From TiranaUp to the Gamti ridge for the drop onto Bovilla reservoir, back in Tirana for a late lunch. The best twelve dollars in the country.- 02The stone dayBerat city UNESCO tour, the Castle & Belshi lake- From TiranaBerat by daylight, the castle quarter that is still lived in, and Belsh lake on the way home.
03The boat daySpeed Boat Tour to National Park and Grama BayOut of Vlore under the Karaburun cliffs to Grama Bay, where the only way in is the water.- 04The road northShala river & Komani lake -Day trip departure from Tirana/ShkodraKoman reservoir by ferry, then up the Shala river. The day that talks people into coming back for Theth.
Albania keeps its best days an hour behind the beach.
Three quarters of this country stands on end. Pick the kind of day you want out of the mountains, what it costs to get on it, and which town it leaves from.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · The Stone City & Blue Eye- The monument of Nature.
Springs and gorgesThe Blue Eye, then Gjirokastër's slate roofs on the way back.
Rafting and canyonsOsumi in spring meltwater, the Vjosa when it drops.
The Accursed MountainsKoman ferry, Shala river, the pass between Theth and Valbona.
UndergroundPellumbas and the Haxhi Ali cave, reached by boat.
All 26 days inland →
The Albanian days out more travellers take than any other.
Every Albanian tour we have reviewed →Most-booked across the whole country, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Hike Gamti Mountain with Bovilla lake view & canyon- From Tirana
Leave Tirana by air-conditioned van, cross rough rural roads to turquoise Bovilla Lake, then climb Gamti Mountain on a short but steep trail. Guides such as Paola, Bledjan, Noel, and Arber add Albanian history, humor, music, and practical help. Free time, a possible riverside swim, and canyon views round out this affordable day trip.
From · $12
Read our review →
2
Day Trip to Saranda and Butrint National Park from Corfu
from $68
3
Berat city UNESCO tour, the Castle & Belshi lake- From Tirana
from $12
4
Walking Tour of Tirana
from $18
5
Kruja castle, the old Bazaar & Sarisalltik- Departure from Tirana
from $24
6
Albanian Night Show: Traditional Music, Dance & Dinner in Tirana
from $53
7
Hiking Tour to Bovilla Lake & Gamti Mountain
from $12
8
Berat Rafting, Kayaking & River Tubing – Osumi Canyons
from $54
Two UNESCO towns, a hill fort over the sea, and a Roman city in a field.
Berat stacks its windows up a hillside, Gjirokastër roofs everything in slate, Kruja guards the pass Skanderbeg held, and Butrint sinks quietly into its lagoon. Albania wears its history outdoors.
Tirana for the north, Saranda for the south, Vlore for the boats.
Almost everything runs out of four towns. The capital with the mountains behind it, the two coastal bases at either end of the Riviera, and the stone city in the hills. Here is the best day out of each.
The Ionian coast is still half-built, and that is the point.
Ksamil's islets sit a swim from the shore, Grama Bay has no road at all, and the water off Karaburun turns the colour people assume is a filter. Take the boat. The coast road in August is a car park.
Every day on the water →
What a day out in Albania actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. Albania is the cheapest country on this coastline and the numbers show it.
City walks, the Bovilla hike, Berat and Kruja by minibus out of Tirana.
The full-day standards: Osumi rafting, the Vlore speedboats, Ksamil and the Blue Eye.
Private drivers, multi-day runs into the Alps and the cross-border days.
Three things that only happen in Albania.
Beaches and old towns exist all along this sea. Concrete mushrooms in every field, a working ferry through a drowned canyon, and a glass of raki you did not order do not.
The Bunkers
Hoxha put up bunkers by the hundred thousand, on beaches, in gardens, halfway up mountains, against an invasion that never came. Two of the biggest in Tirana are now museums you walk down into, tunnel by tunnel, and the small domed ones are still sitting in the fields where the farmers work around them.
- 1A Communist Manifesto: Tirana before and after★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 50 reviews
- 2The truest face of Communism★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 18 reviews
- 3Full-Day Tour of Albania’s Bunkers and Beaches, from Tirana★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 16 reviews
The Koman Ferry
The Drin was dammed in the seventies and the valley filled, so the only road between the villages upstream is a boat. The ferry takes cars, sheep and everybody else through a gorge with walls straight out of the water, and the tourist boats now run the same line to the Shala river.
- 1Shala river & Komani lake -Day trip departure from Tirana/Shkodra★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 309 reviews
- 2Albanian Alps and Theth Village Day Tour from Tirana★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 116 reviews
- 3Hiking Tour of Valbona, Theth & Blue Eye in 3 Days from Tirana★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 73 reviews
Raki
Every family distils its own from grapes, plums or mulberries, and the glass arrives whether or not you asked. Strength is a matter of household pride and nobody labels anything. The tastings pair it with cheese and honey, which is the only sensible way to meet it.
- 1Traditional Albanian Cooking Class in Tirana with Raki Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 125 reviews
- 2Vineyards, Albanian Wine Tasting & Boat Tour from Tirana/Durres★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 64 reviews
- 3Berat wine Tour Guided Winery Tour with Transfers and Tastings★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 44 reviews
Four Albanian days that run on somebody else's calendar.
Most of this country can be arranged the night before over a coffee. These four run on water levels, ferry timetables and mountain passes that take no interest in when you land.
- 01Albanian Alps and Theth Village Day Tour from TiranaThe Theth road and the pass are a summer thing. Snow closes the high route and the guesthouses empty out with it.
- 02Shala river & Komani lake -Day trip departure from Tirana/ShkodraOne ferry line through the gorge, one timetable, and the boats fill in July and August well before the morning.
- 03Berat Rafting, Kayaking & River Tubing – Osumi CanyonsThe Osumi canyons run on snowmelt. The big water is spring, and by late summer parts of it are a walk.
- 04Speed Boat Tour to National Park and Grama BayGrama Bay has no road in, so the wind decides. A choppy morning cancels the speedboats outright.
When Ksamil is shoulder to shoulder and the coast road stops moving.
Late July and August do two things to the south. Every beach between Vlore and Ksamil fills, and the single coast road over Llogara turns into a queue. The answer is to go up instead of along: canyon water is cold all summer, caves sit at fifteen degrees, and the mountain lakes are an hour from anywhere.
Byrek at eight, a two-hour lunch, raki whether you asked or not.
Food here is mountain cooking with a Greek accent and an Ottoman memory. Book the class that ends as lunch, the tasting that explains what is in the unlabelled bottle, and the walk through Tirana's Pazari i Ri before the heat.
By place — the four bases
By kind of day — water, rock, road or table
Tirana, Berat, Gjirokastër, Ksamil, then north to the Alps.
Tirana
Berat
Gjirokastër
Saranda
ThethThe newest Albanian tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Panoramic Tour & Snorkeling in Haxhi Ali Cave & Karaburun
Read our review →
Semi-Private Day Tour from Tirana; Shkoder & Mrizi i Zanave
Read our review →
Peaks of the Balkans Tour: Theth, Valbona & Koman Lake in 5 days
Read our review →
Full-Day Tour of Albania’s Bunkers and Beaches, from Tirana
Read our review →
Small Group Tour of Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo & N. Macedonia
Read our review →
Snorkeling Expedition to Grama Bay,Smugglers Canyon & Blue Cave
Read our review →
Discover Sazan Island, Haxhi Ali Cave, and Karaburun Hidden Gems
Read our review →
Private Day Tour of Montenegro , Budva and Kotor from Tirana
Read our review →
