Albania 7 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps)

Seven days is enough to run the full interior-to-coast loop, Tirana, Berat, Gjirokaster, Saranda, and two Riviera towns, without every day being a driving day. It is still not enough to also add the Accursed Mountains in the north, and this itinerary won’t pretend otherwise: the Theth and Valbona hike plus the Komani Lake ferry deserve their own 3 to 4 day trip from Shkoder, not a bolted-on detour that turns this loop into a week of transfers. Pay in lek, not euros, since euro payments typically cost about 5% more once a business rounds its own conversion, and rent a car for the whole route; furgons and the Llogara Pass do not mix well on a schedule.

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:

Day Focus Travel time Rough cost
1 Tirana: Skanderbeg Square, Blloku, Bunk’Art none (arrival) ~€25-35
2 Berat: castle, Onufri Museum, Mangalem/Gorica ~2-2.5h from Tirana ~€5 transport + ~€4.50 museum
3 Gjirokaster: castle, 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 Riviera stop one: Himare, Gjipe Beach ~1h30 from Saranda ~€5-10 sunbed + ~€30 Gjipe boat (optional)
6 Riviera stop two: Dhermi, Drymades ~25min from Himare ~€5-10 sunbed
7 Llogara Pass, back to Tirana ~1h to the summit, ~2h15 Vlore to Tirana fuel only

Day 1: Tirana

Land at Tirana International Airport; the Rinas Express shuttle runs into the center for roughly 400 lek, the official fixed-rate taxi closer to €23-28. Spend the day around Skanderbeg Square and Blloku, and pick up your rental car here rather than waiting until you’re already behind schedule south of the capital.

Day 2: Berat

Drive roughly two hours south to Berat. The general castle fee is reported waived across most 2026 sources, though this remains genuinely in flux, so confirm on arrival; the Onufri Museum inside the castle grounds runs roughly 400-500 lek. Overnight in Mangalem or Gorica, the two quarters that give Berat its City of a Thousand Windows nickname.

Day 3: Gjirokaster

The drive from Berat to Gjirokaster runs about 2.5 hours. Gjirokaster’s UNESCO-listed stone old town sits beneath a castle costing roughly 400 lek, plus about 200 lek each for the Cold War bunker and weapons museum inside. Overnight in the old town, and give the bunker section a full hour if Cold War history interests you at all.

Is a week enough to also reach the Accursed Mountains? No, and this itinerary deliberately doesn’t try. Theth, Valbona, and the Komani Lake ferry sit at the opposite end of the country from the Riviera, with a full day’s transfer between them; combining both in under 10 to 12 days means spending the trip in transit rather than anywhere worth stopping.

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), open 08:30-20:00 with last entry 18:00 from April through October. The Blue Eye , about 22km away via Muzine, costs 50 lek cash plus parking; swimming is banned in the main pool but fine in the river below it. Ksamil’s boat tours run roughly €16-25 per person for an hour on the water, up to €60-140 for a private trip.

Ksamil in July and August is genuinely overcrowded; sunbeds pack the shoreline and free sand is scarce. May, June, and September deliver the actual paradise the marketing promises, with far fewer people fighting for the same stretch of turquoise water.

Day 5: Himare and Gjipe Beach

Saranda to Himare runs roughly 1h30. Himare is the Riviera’s quieter working base, and the practical jumping-off point for 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 Himare that includes a Gjipe stop runs around €30.

Day 6: Dhermi and Drymades

Himare to Dhermi is a further 25 minutes. Dhermi is the liveliest Riviera stop, beach clubs and a hillside old village, with sunbed hire running roughly €5-10 for two with an umbrella; nearby Drymades adds DJ-driven beach bars and cocktails around €6-10 for those who want more than a quiet swim. This is the day the extra time over the 6-day version actually buys: two distinct coastal towns instead of one rushed evening.

Should you book the Komani Lake ferry onto this trip? No, not on seven days. The ferry runs daily April through early November, costs roughly €8.80 online or €10 cash, and genuinely earns a dedicated 3 to 4 day northern loop from Shkoder, but 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, back to Tirana

The return climbs the Llogara Pass (SH8, summit roughly 1,027m), about an hour up from Vlore 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. From Vlore, it’s a further 2h15 to Tirana via Fier and Durres. Fill the rental car’s tank before returning it at the airport; return desks routinely charge inflated refueling rates for a car handed back empty.

Before you go

Cards work in Tirana and larger towns; smaller stops and the Blue Eye’s entrance are cash-only. Most Western nationalities, EU, UK, US, and Canadian citizens included, currently enter Albania visa-free, though the exact allowance depends on passport and has shifted before, so confirm ahead of booking. Peak-season car rental and Riviera rooms should both be booked several weeks out for July and August, when prices commonly run 2-3x the off-season rate.