Albania Meridionale
In 48 BC, fleeing from Pompey across a storm-tossed Adriatic, Julius Caesar's legions came ashore near Palaeste, a fishing harbour...
Updated 8 July 2026
Albania Meridionale
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The story
The story of Albania Meridionale
Overlapping histories: from the Illyrians to independence
Before the Romans came the Illyrians, herders and seafarers who from the 1st millennium BC controlled the routes between the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea; their dry-stone hilltop fortresses, known as kalaja, still dot the heights above Himarë and Vlorë. In the 8th century BC, Greek settlers from Corcyra and Elis founded trading posts along the coast, including ancient Onchesmos, today's Sarandë. Rome absorbed the region in the 2nd century BC, folding it into the Via Egnatia that linked the Adriatic to Byzantium; Byzantine rule followed, along with Norman raids, the brief Despotate of Epirus and, finally, from the 15th century, four centuries of Ottoman power that left behind mosques, covered bazaars and fortified tower-houses. Albanian independence was proclaimed right here, in Vlorë, on 28 November 1912; the twentieth century then brought Italian occupation, war, and forty years of communist rule that sealed the region off from the world, paradoxically freezing its architecture and landscape until the turning point of the 1990s.
Butrint, the city time has not finished telling
In Butrint National Park, wedged onto a peninsula between the lake of the same name and the Corfu Channel, twenty-five centuries of history are layered within less than a square kilometre: a 4th-century BC Greek theatre still used for summer performances, baths and an early Christian basilica with mosaic floors, a round baptistery among the largest in the Byzantine world, cyclopean walls and, finally, a small Venetian castle guarding the channel's mouth. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, Butrint deserves an unhurried visit, ideally in the cooler morning hours, letting the subtropical vegetation that has reclaimed the ruins — without smothering them — guide the way. The castle museum, set within the acropolis, traces the site's full chronology through the most significant finds from Italian and Albanian excavation campaigns.
Gjirokastër, the city of stone
Perched on a rocky spur above the Drino valley, Gjirokastër is known as the city of stone for the grey limestone-slab roofs that cover its kule, the fortified tower-houses typical of Balkan Ottoman architecture. The historic centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005, is explored along cobbled lanes climbing toward the imposing castle — one of the largest in the Balkans — today a weapons museum and, curiously, home to an American aircraft shot down during the Cold War and displayed as a trophy of the regime. In the still-active Ottoman bazaar, vendors sell carpets, silver filigree and the town's famous qifqi, rice-and-herb balls typical of the local cuisine. Gjirokastër was the birthplace of both the writer Ismail Kadare and the dictator Enver Hoxha, and its ethnographic house-museum recreates the daily life of a well-to-do 19th-century family through original furnishings and tools.
Sarandë, gateway to the Riviera
Sarandë is the largest town on the southern coast, an amphitheatre of white houses sloping down to a bay facing Corfu, visible to the naked eye on clear days. Its seafront promenade, lively late into summer nights, is lined with fish restaurants and a small harbour from which daily ferries depart for the Greek island, making the town a practical base for combining Albania and Greece in a single trip. The name comes from the monastery of Agii Saranda, the forty saints, whose archaeological traces survive in the upper part of town. From here, both Butrint to the south and the beaches of Ksamil are just minutes away, making Sarandë the region's natural logistical hub.
Ksamil and the islands of the Corfu Channel
A little south of Sarandë, Ksamil is a small village that in recent years has become synonymous with the clearest waters on the entire Riviera: four wooded islets reachable by swimming or small boats enclose shallow lagoons of an almost Caribbean colour. Part of Butrint National Park, it holds, just inland, the remains of Roman villas and ancient fish ponds that show this stretch of coast was already prized for fishing two thousand years ago. It is the ideal spot for a relaxed day at the sea, best enjoyed in the morning before the arrival of organised groups from Sarandë, or in the low season when the village returns to the rhythm of a fishing hamlet.
Himarë, Dhërmi and Vuno: the suspended villages of the Riviera
Heading north along the coast, the road turns scenic and the settlements climb the buttresses of the Ceraunian Mountains. Himarë, home to an ancient Greek-Albanian population, preserves a Byzantine castle and a stone old town above the modern bay; its white pebble beaches, such as Livadhi and Jala, are among the most photographed in the region. A little further north, Dhërmi is split between the historic hillside village, with its Orthodox church and stone houses, and the coastal strip below, now lively with summer beach clubs and bars. Vuno, smaller and quieter still, remains the starting point for the trail climbing to the abandoned monastery of Ilias, with a view over the Corfu Channel that rewards every step of the climb.
Llogara Pass and the Ceraunian Mountains
Llogara National Park guards one of the most spectacular landscapes in the Balkans: the main road climbs through black pine forests to over a thousand metres before winding back down toward the sea, delivering within a few kilometres a sharp climatic and visual leap between mountain and coast. From the pass — an almost obligatory stop for anyone driving the Riviera — the view takes in the whole bay of Palasë and, on clear days, the Greek coast of Corfu. The Ceraunian Mountains, which lend this range its classical name, sharply divide the mild climate of the Ionian strip from the more continental hinterland around Vlorë, and are still home to wolves, bears, and vegetation shifting from Mediterranean scrub to beech forest within less than an hour's walk.
Vlorë, the city of independence
Vlorë closes off the region to the north and is, by administrative history, its most important city: it was here that on 28 November 1912 Ismail Qemali proclaimed Albanian independence from the Ottoman Empire, in the building now preserved as the Independence Museum on the seafront. The city combines a modern urban centre, rebuilt after twentieth-century war damage, with a port still active toward Italy, and the Karaburun Peninsula stretching out opposite it — a marine nature reserve reachable only by boat, with isolated coves and the Haxhi Alia cave carved into the limestone rock. Just outside town, the Vlorë salt pans host one of the largest flocks of pink flamingos in the Balkans.
Traditions, flavours and folk music
Riviera cuisine reflects its dual Mediterranean and Balkan soul: olive oil from the hills of Himarë and Vlorë, grilled fish served with lemon and wild oregano, byrek filled with cheese or vegetables, qifqi in Gjirokastër, and gliko, candied fruit in syrup from Greek Orthodox tradition prepared in homes along the southern coast. No meal is complete without raki, a grape spirit distilled at home in nearly every family. A piece of intangible heritage recognised by UNESCO is Lëbë iso-polyphony, the multi-part choral singing typical of this part of southern Albania, still performed at village festivals and communal gatherings, with a solo voice weaving over a continuous drone of great emotional intensity.
When to go and how to experience the region
The beach season runs from May to October, with the peak in visitors and temperatures in July and August, when the best-known beaches such as Ksamil and Jala can fill with Balkan and Italian tourists. May, June and September offer the same warm sea with far fewer people, lower prices and ideal temperatures for walking the coastal trails or exploring Gjirokastër and Butrint without the height of summer heat. Winter stays mild along the coast but shuts down almost all tourist activity; Llogara Pass can close due to snow on the coldest days. Renting a car remains the most practical way to link Vlorë, the Riviera and Sarandë, while shared minivans connect the main towns on regular schedules in summer.
- Swimming in the lagoons of Ksamil at dawn, before the tourist boats arrive
- Wandering among the ruins of Butrint amid Mediterranean greenery
- Getting lost in the stone lanes of Gjirokastër's Ottoman bazaar
- Stopping at Llogara Pass for the view over sea and mountains
- Swimming at the pebble beaches of Himarë and Jala
- Climbing to the abandoned monastery above Vuno for the view over the Corfu Channel
- Dining on grilled fish and raki at a seafront restaurant in Sarandë
- Visiting the Independence Museum in Vlorë and the nearby salt pans with flamingos
- Exploring the wild Karaburun Peninsula by boat
FAQ
Qual è il modo migliore per raggiungere l'Albania Meridionale?
Qual è il periodo migliore per visitare la Riviera Albanese?
Cosa vedere in un solo giorno tra Sarandë e Butrinto?
Gjirokastër e Sarandë si possono visitare nello stesso viaggio?
La regione è adatta a famiglie con bambini?
Si trova parcheggio facilmente nei centri storici?
Getting there
- Aeroporto di Corfù (Grecia), a circa 30 minuti di traghetto da Sarandë
- Aeroporto Internazionale di Tirana Nënë Tereza, a circa 4 ore d'auto
- La SH8 collega Vlorë a Sarandë lungo l'intera Riviera, attraversando il Passo di Llogara; da Tirana si scende lungo la SH4 e la SH8 in circa 3-4 ore d'auto.
- In alta stagione affrontare il Passo di Llogara nelle prime ore del mattino evita sia il traffico sia il caldo più intenso; il traghetto da Corfù resta il modo più rapido per arrivare direttamente a Sarandë.
Perfect for
Acque cristalline da Ksamil a Himarë, tra lagune poco profonde e spiagge di ciottoli bianchi incorniciate dai monti.
Duemilacinquecento anni stratificati a Butrinto, tra teatro greco, terme romane e basilica bizantina.
Le case-torre in pietra di Gjirokastër e i bazar ottomani ancora vivi, patrimonio UNESCO.
I sentieri dei Monti Ceraunia, il valico di Llogara e la penisola selvaggia di Karaburun.
Pesce alla griglia, olio d'oliva locale, byrek e raki fatto in casa, da assaporare senza fretta sul lungomare.
To see
