The Albanian Riviera: the back story

Albania’s Riviera runs south from the Bay of Vlorë over a mountain pass to the coves and castles of the Ionian. It is a coast of pebble beaches, island chapels and old fortresses, best explored slowly.

Over the mountain

North-west of Vlorë, a wooden footbridge leads across the Narta Lagoon to Zvërnec, a 13th-century church among pines. Boats leave Vlorë in summer for the Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park, all cliffs and sea caves. Then the coast road climbs through pine forest to the Llogara Pass at 1,027 metres, and drops in hairpins with the whole Riviera laid out below.

Coves and castles

Dhërmi has long pebble beaches and an old village on the hill; next door, Gjipe sits at the mouth of a limestone canyon, reached on foot or by boat. South of Himarë, the triangular fortress of Porto Palermo, built by Ali Pasha of Tepelena, guards a calm bay that invites a swim after the visit.

Down to Ksamil

Sarandë faces Corfu across the water, and on the hill above it Lëkurësi Castle, a 16th-century Ottoman fort, now serves dinner at sunset. Inland, the Blue Eye spring wells up in the woods near Muzinë. Further south, Ksamil’s four islets float in turquoise water inside Butrint National Park.

Divers at the Blue Eye spring have gone down fifty metres without finding the bottom.

Our advice: Drive the Llogara Pass in daylight, and come to Ksamil in June or September, when the sunbeds are easier to find.