4-Day Albania Itinerary: Discover the Best of the Country in a Short Time

Welcome to Albania, a land of stunning nature, rich history and genuine hospitality. Although it may be a lesser-known destination among tourists, Albania is a treasure trove of unforgettable experiences waiting to be discovered. This undiscovered pearl of the Balkans is often overlooked, but it is so close to us. To make planning your trip to Albania as easy as possible, I’ve written our itinerary, which we covered in 4 days, but you can of course extend it to more days to enjoy each city and experience even more of what this beautiful destination has to offer.

Please note that the itinerary involves a lot of driving, as we wanted to see most of it in just a few days, which may be exhausting.

We wanted to see everything, but unfortunately you can’t do it all in 4 days, so we chose the south instead. The south prevailed because we wanted to see the beaches, in case we might be tempted by a summer holiday in Albania. Besides, there are a few places where we felt the real Albania. But I definitely believe that the north is also great, which I think is a great treasure trove of mountains and you can use this part of the country for a more active holiday in the mountains.

In the morning we landed at Tirana airport, which is also the capital. Our first stop was the BunkArt museum, located in Tirana. It is a network of underground bunkers built between 1950 and 1980 during the communist dictatorship under the leadership of Enver Hoxha. For more than two hours, we explored the underground corridors, which are decorated with paintings, exhibitions and videos showing the political background, social life and everyday experiences of the Albanian people during the communist regime. BunkArt not only sheds light on the history of the country, but also encourages reflection on the importance of democracy, freedom of speech and respect for human rights. If you are a history buff and would like to see and read everything in even more detail, take more time for this visit.

The Dajti Ekspres cable car is in the immediate vicinity of the BunkArt and provides access to Dajti Mountain Park, located on Dajti Mountain. The cable car is a popular tourist attraction, allowing visitors to enjoy the beautiful nature and panoramic views of the city of Tirana. We didn’t visit it ourselves, as we had to drive for more than 2 hours to the seaside town of Vlora, where we stayed overnight and enjoyed the hotel’s SPA.

In between, we made a stop in Borsh for lunch and arrived at Butrint National Archaeological Park in the mid-afternoon. Since we were running a bit late and had a few more activities lined up, we didn’t get to explore the park fully. However, we did catch a glimpse of the famous raft that ferries cars and other vehicles across the bay. This raft is an essential part of the main road from Ksamil to Greece, as the alternative is to detour back to Saranda and around the Butrint lagoon. The raft might look familiar to many, especially to men, as it was featured in a scene from the popular BBC program Top Gear, where the hosts famously loaded luxury cars like Rolls-Royce and Bentley onto it, despite its rather untrustworthy appearance.

From there we took one short walk along the sea to Forgotten house and then slowly started our way back to Ksamil, where we walked along some of the most beautiful beaches. Due to the wind we couldn’t enjoy the beach and see the true colour of the sky-blue sea, but at least we saw the well-kept beaches and many of the restaurants, still closed in this spring time.

We finished the day in Sarande, where we spent the night.

The next town was Gjirokaster. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it offers visitors a wonderful insight into traditional Albanian culture and life. A medieval fortress, cobbled streets, stone houses with slate roofs, a bazaar, a Cold War bunker… A city where you can explore a lot or simply sit in one of the tavernas in the street where the bazaar is and watch the action. If you order a delicious lunch on the side, you’re in for a treat. We chose Vojsava restaurant, where we had the best lunch of the trip. I would definitely like to spend more time in this city and enjoy everything it has to offer. Gjirokaster we’ll meet again. :-)

The drive through the hills and valleys of Albania’s interior was quite long that day, as it took us more than 3 hours to reach the next town, Berat. Berat, known as the “City of a Thousand Windows”, is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When night falls, a walk around the city is romantic. The stone houses, illuminated by warm lights, create a magical play of light and shadow that give the city a fairy-tale appearance. The medieval fortress, the stone houses and the churches that line the banks of the river Osum create a magical backdrop that will leave you spellbound.

Zadnje popoldne smo preživeli v Tirani. Živahno in barvito mesto, ki ponuja edinstveno mešanico kulture, zgodovine in sodobnosti. Središče mesta se ponaša z živahnimi trgi, parki in raznoliko arhitekturo. Na voljo so številne restavracije in kavarne, muzeji in galerije, ki predstavljajo kulturno dediščino mesta ter nakupovalna središča.

Naše raziskovanje Tirane se je začelo na Skanderbegovem trgu, kjer smo občudovali veličasten kip nacionalnega heroja in se sprehodili po slikovitem trgu, ki je središče mesta. Občudovali Et’hem Bejove mošejo in nadaljevali pot čez park Rinia do ikonične Piramide. Si ogledali mogočno mošejo Namazgah. Se sprehodili čez Tirana Castle in zaključili v nakupovalnem središču Toptani.

When I was making the plan, I played with the idea that we should start our journey by exploring the capital and then continue south. I am glad we did it the other way round. For city lovers, Tirana is certainly an interesting city, but it has everything that big cities have.

Our trip to Albania was short but sweet. We met hospitable people, tasted delicious Albanian cuisine and immersed ourselves in a rich history and culture. I hope this blog was helpful for you in planning your trip or you just enjoyed reading it and getting to know it through my eyes.