Travel Planning · itineraries
Albania Itinerary: 5, 7, 10 and 14 Days (With and Without a Car)
The most common question we get is some version of 'I have X days, does this plan work?'. Here are four plans that do, each with a car and a bus version, plus the rules for building your own.
In this guide
Advertisement
If you post “I have seven days in Albania, is this plan okay?” in a travel forum, you will get ten answers and they will all be slightly different. That is because the honest answer depends on two things: whether you have a car, and whether you care more about beaches or mountains.
This guide gives you four itineraries that work, tested by driving them and by watching what goes wrong for other people. Each one has a car version and a bus version, realistic travel times, where to sleep, and what to cut when a day disappears. At the end there are the rules we use to sanity-check any plan.
Driving times you can trust
Google Maps is optimistic on Albanian roads. Use these instead. Times are for a normal day in a rental car; add 30 to 60 minutes in August on the coast.
| Route | Driving time | Bus / furgon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tirana → Berat | 2 h | 2.5 h, hourly | Easy road |
| Tirana → Shkodër | 1.5 h | 2 h, hourly | Motorway most of the way |
| Berat → Gjirokastër | 2 h | 2.5 h, 2 to 3 a day | Via Fier and Tepelenë |
| Gjirokastër → Sarandë | 1 h | 1.5 h, several a day | Blue Eye is on the way |
| Sarandë → Ksamil | 20 min | 20 to 30 min, every 30 to 60 min | |
| Sarandë → Himarë | 1 to 1.5 h | 1.5 h, 2 to 3 a day | Coast road, slow but scenic |
| Himarë → Vlorë | 1.5 to 2 h | 2 h, a few a day | Over the Llogara Pass |
| Vlorë → Tirana | 2 to 2.5 h | 2.5 to 3 h, hourly | Motorway from Fier |
| Tirana → Sarandë direct | 4.5 to 5 h | 5 to 6 h, several a day | Via Gjirokastër |
| Shkodër → Theth | 2.5 to 3 h | 3 h, morning minibus | Paved but winding |
5 days in Albania
Five days is a choice, not a tour. Pick one of these; do not try to do both.
Option A: Tirana and the southern coast (the beach version)
- Day 1: Land in Tirana. Afternoon in the centre: Skanderbeg Square, Blloku for dinner. Sleep in Tirana.
- Day 2: Drive or bus south to Gjirokastër (3.5 to 4 h). Castle in the late afternoon, dinner in the bazaar. Sleep in Gjirokastër.
- Day 3: Morning at the Blue Eye, then on to Sarandë or Ksamil (1.5 h). Beach afternoon. Sleep on the coast.
- Day 4: Full beach day: Ksamil in the morning, Butrint ruins in the late afternoon when the heat drops. Sleep on the coast.
- Day 5: Long drive back to Tirana (5 h) for an evening flight, or fly out of Corfu after the ferry from Sarandë.
By bus: identical, just take the morning bus each day and skip the Blue Eye unless you book a taxi from Gjirokastër.
Option B: Tirana, Berat and the mountains (the no-beach version)
- Day 1: Tirana. Bunk’Art 1 and the cable car to Dajti if the weather is clear.
- Day 2: Berat (2 h). Castle, Mangalem quarter, dinner by the river. Sleep in Berat.
- Day 3: Osum Canyon day trip or the Çobo winery, then back towards Tirana or on to Shkodër (3.5 h).
- Day 4: Shkodër: Rozafa Castle, the lake, bikes in the centre. Sleep in Shkodër.
- Day 5: Morning in Shkodër, back to Tirana (1.5 h) for the flight.
This version works in spring and autumn when the coast is dead and the inland towns are at their best.
7 days in Albania: the classic loop
This is the itinerary we recommend to most first-time visitors. It gets you the capital, a UNESCO town, the best coast and the most spectacular road, without a single day that is only driving.
| Day | Where | What | Sleep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tirana | Arrive, centre, Blloku dinner | Tirana |
| 2 | Tirana → Berat | Castle at sunset, old town | Berat |
| 3 | Berat → Gjirokastër | Bazaar, Skenduli House, castle | Gjirokastër |
| 4 | Gjirokastër → Ksamil | Blue Eye, then beach | Sarandë or Ksamil |
| 5 | Ksamil area | Beach morning, Butrint late afternoon | Sarandë or Ksamil |
| 6 | Sarandë → Himarë | Coast road, Borsh and Qeparo stops, Livadhi beach | Himarë |
| 7 | Himarë → Tirana | Llogara Pass viewpoint, Vlorë lunch, flight or last night in Tirana | Tirana / fly |
Where to sleep on the coast: Sarandë if you want restaurants, buses and lower prices; Ksamil if the beach is the point and it is not August. Read Sarandë vs Ksamil before you decide.
By bus: doable, with two changes. Berat to Gjirokastër has only a few direct buses, so check the morning departure the day before. Sleep in Sarandë instead of Ksamil, take the local bus to Ksamil. Sarandë to Himarë buses exist but are infrequent; if you miss them, a taxi is €40 to €60. Day 7 becomes a long bus back to Tirana (Himarë to Tirana is about 5 hours) so consider flying out a day later.
What to cut if you lose a day: Berat. It hurts, but Gjirokastër is on the way south anyway and Berat is a detour.
10 days in Albania: coast plus north
Ten days is the sweet spot. You can do the classic loop at a relaxed pace and add Shkodër plus one night in the mountains, or add two extra nights on the Riviera if hiking is not your thing.
- Day 1: Tirana.
- Day 2: Tirana → Shkodër (1.5 h). Rozafa Castle, pedestrian centre. Sleep in Shkodër.
- Day 3: Shkodër → Theth by car or the morning minibus (3 h). Walk to the Grunas waterfall and the Blue Eye of Theth. Sleep in a Theth guesthouse.
- Day 4: Back to Shkodër and on to Tirana, or drive Theth → Berat in a long day (5 to 6 h). Sleep in Berat.
- Day 5: Berat.
- Day 6: Berat → Gjirokastër. Sleep in Gjirokastër.
- Day 7: Gjirokastër → Blue Eye → Ksamil. Sleep on the coast.
- Day 8: Beach day, Butrint.
- Day 9: Coast road to Himarë, stopping at Borsh and Qeparo. Sleep in Himarë.
- Day 10: Himarë → Llogara → Tirana. Fly out in the evening or add a night.
Swap for beach lovers: replace Days 2 to 4 with Ksamil earlier and add Dhërmi and Gjipe beach between Himarë and Vlorë.
By bus: drop Theth (the minibus timings make Day 4 impossible without a car) and give the extra day to the Riviera. Everything else works.
14 days in Albania: the whole country, including the hike
Two weeks lets you do the Theth to Valbona trek properly, see both UNESCO towns and spend five nights on the coast. This is the trip people come home raving about.
| Days | Where | Highlights | Sleep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Tirana | Centre, Bunk'Art, Dajti cable car, day trip to Krujë | Tirana |
| 3 | Shkodër | Rozafa Castle, lake, arrange Theth and Valbona transport | Shkodër |
| 4 | Theth | Minibus in, waterfall and Blue Eye of Theth | Theth |
| 5 | Theth → Valbona | The pass hike, 6 to 8 h. Bags go by car if you arrange it | Valbona |
| 6 | Valbona → Shkodër | Komani Lake ferry (book ahead), minibus back | Shkodër or Tirana |
| 7 | Berat | Old town, castle, wine | Berat |
| 8 | Gjirokastër | Bazaar, houses, castle | Gjirokastër |
| 9 to 10 | Ksamil / Sarandë | Beaches, Butrint, Blue Eye on the way in | Sarandë or Ksamil |
| 11 to 12 | Himarë | Livadhi, Gjipe by boat or hike, Qeparo village | Himarë |
| 13 | Dhërmi or Vlorë | Dhërmi beach clubs or quieter Radhimë, Llogara viewpoint | Dhërmi / Vlorë |
| 14 | Tirana | Drive back, fly out | Fly |
Practical notes for the trek: the Theth to Valbona (or Valbona to Theth) hike is about 17 km with 1,000 m of climbing and takes most people 6 to 8 hours. Guesthouses in Shkodër arrange the minibus, the Komani ferry and luggage transfer between the two valleys, so you walk with a day pack. Book the ferry and the guesthouses in advance in July and August. The loop is only reliable mid-May to October.
By bus: this whole itinerary works without a car, because the northern loop is minibus-based anyway. The only weak link is Berat to Gjirokastër (check bus times) and Sarandë to Himarë (few buses, or a taxi).
Where to base yourself if you hate packing
Not everyone wants a new hotel every night. Two-base version of a week: 3 nights in Tirana (day trips to Berat, Krujë and Durrës) and 4 nights in Sarandë or Himarë (day trips to Ksamil, Butrint, Blue Eye, Gjirokastër). Drive or take the direct bus between the two. You lose the road trip feeling but gain a lot of afternoons.
Rules for building your own itinerary
These are the checks we run on every plan people send us. If yours passes all six, it is a good plan.
- No more than one long drive (over 3 hours) per two days. Albania’s roads are slower than the distances suggest, and the driving is tiring.
- Two nights minimum on the coast, three is better. One beach day always gets eaten by arrival.
- One night is enough for Berat and for Gjirokastër. Two is a treat, three is too many.
- Do not sleep in Ksamil in August. Sarandë or Himarë instead, with Ksamil as a day trip.
- Arrive in Tirana in the evening, leave in the morning. A night on arrival is worth it; a full last day in Tirana usually is not. With a late flight in or an early flight out, Golem (45 minutes from the airport, on a sandy beach) is a calmer first or last night than the city, especially with kids.
- Without a car, cut one stop per five days and stay in the towns with bus stations: Tirana, Shkodër, Berat, Gjirokastër, Sarandë, Vlorë.
What to book in advance
- Accommodation on the Riviera in July and August: 4 to 8 weeks ahead.
- Rental car in summer: 2 to 4 weeks ahead, especially automatics. See our car rental guide.
- Komani Lake ferry: a few days ahead in season.
- Theth and Valbona guesthouses: a week or two ahead in summer.
- Everything else: a day or two, or walk in. Albania is still that kind of place outside August.
For what all of this will cost, see how much Albania costs. For the first day, Tirana Airport transport covers the bus, taxis and transfers.
Advertisement
