Albania Itinerary: 7, 10 or 14 Days and Which Route

A first trip to Albania needs seven days for the southern loop: Tirana, Berat, Gjirokaster, the Blue Eye, Saranda with Ksamil and Butrint, the Riviera, and back north over the Llogara pass. About ten days lets you add one northern leg or slow the coast down. About two weeks runs the north (Shkoder, Komani Lake, Valbona and Theth) and the south as one route. A week suits a first-timer who wants old towns and the coast; two weeks is the length for adding the mountains.

Two forks shape every version: whether to stay in the south or add the north, and whether to drive or ride buses. The route below is given as stop order with nights per stop, so you can stretch or shrink it without rewriting a day-by-day plan.

How many days do you need in Albania?

Seven days covers the southern loop properly, ten days adds one northern leg or a slower coast, and about fourteen days covers north and south together. Pick a week for a coast-and-old-towns first visit, ten days if you want one mountain stop or more beach time, and two weeks if hiking between Valbona and Theth is part of the reason you are going.

A week is south-only for a structural reason. The north is a second loop with its own ferry leg and a mountain hike, not a detour you can bolt onto the coast. Squeezing it into seven days turns both halves into transit.

The extra three days of a ten-day trip buy one choice, not two: Shkoder and Theth, or a slower Riviera with Permet. Stretching the south alone to two weeks only makes sense when beach time is the goal; the inland stops do not need more than two nights each. If you are still deciding whether Albania is the right trip at all, the Albania travel guide covers where else to go and how the country fits together.

What to cut first, and what to add first

With fewer days, drop the Tirana nights first and the Riviera second. Tirana works as a landing night at either end, and the coast between Himare and Vlore is the part of the loop that loses least when you drive it in one go. Berat and Gjirokaster are the last stops to cut, because they are the reason the inland half exists. With more days, add Theth and Valbona first, since they give the trip a landscape the south does not have. After that, Permet and the Vjosa valley, or Korce and Pogradec on the Lake Ohrid shore, are the next additions, both inland and both quieter than the coast.

The 7-day southern loop: Berat, Gjirokaster, the Riviera and back

The base route runs Tirana → Berat → Gjirokaster → Blue Eye → Saranda/Ksamil → Himare → Llogara → Vlore → Tirana, sleeping in several bases for one to three nights each instead of day-tripping from one hotel. The cost of fitting it into a week is short stays and one long driving day, the climb back north over the Llogara pass.

One base will not work. Albanian roads make the loop slow enough that a return trip from any single town eats the day, so the plan moves forward every night or two.

1. Tirana (Tiranë), 1–2 nights. The airport and the start and end of the loop; one night on arrival is enough if the city is not the point. For what to see with more time, read the Tirana guide or the plan for two days in Tirana. Leave south for Berat, a short hop by car or minibus.
2. Berat, 1–2 nights. The UNESCO-listed old town known as the city of a thousand windows, with the castle quarter on the hill above the white Ottoman houses. Leave south for Gjirokaster by car or bus.
3. Gjirokaster (Gjirokastër), 1–2 nights. The second UNESCO-listed old town, a stone-roofed hillside built under Gjirokaster castle. Leave towards the coast, stopping at the Blue Eye on the way.
4. The Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër), a stop, not a night. A deep spring pool in the hills between Gjirokaster and Saranda. It is the stop that most rewards having a car, because you can arrive when the crowds are thin.
5. Saranda (Sarandë) and Ksamil, 2–3 nights. The southern coastal base, with the archaeological site and national park at Butrint close by. This is the longest stay on the loop, and the one to protect if you cut elsewhere.
6. Himare (Himarë) and the Riviera, 1–2 nights. The stretch of coast with Porto Palermo, Gjipe and Dhermi, best reached by car because the beaches sit below the main road. Leave north over the Llogara pass.
7. Llogara and Vlore (Vlorë), driven through. The Llogara pass climbs from the Riviera into the Llogara National Park and drops to Vlore. It is the long driving day of the week, ending back in Tirana.

This loop fits a first visit that wants two UNESCO towns and a few beach days in one week, without a single morning spent backtracking.

Ten days buys one northern leg or a slower coast

With ten days, keep the full southern loop and spend the extra three days on one of two extensions: Shkoder plus Theth by road for the mountains, or a slower Riviera with Permet and the Vjosa valley for the coast and hot springs. The choice is mountains or beach. Trying to add both in ten days rebuilds the rush the extra days were meant to remove.

• Mountains: Shkoder and Theth. Add Shkoder (Shkodër) for one night, with Rozafa Castle above the town and a half-day in Kruje (Krujë) on the way north from Tirana or the airport. Then go up to Theth for two nights, by road from Shkoder, for the Grunas waterfall and the Blue Eye of Theth (a different place from the spring near Saranda). Buses and minibuses cover this leg well, and it only works in the warm months. This is the extension for travelers who want one taste of the Albanian Alps without committing to the full northern loop.
• Coast: a slower south with Permet. Add one more night on the Riviera, then one or two in Permet in the Vjosa valley, with the Langarica canyon and its hot springs nearby. Reach Permet via Gjirokaster; the back road from Berat through the Osum canyon is for a 4×4 only. This needs a car and suits a trip in the shoulder months, when the north may be closed and the coast is calmer.

Theth by road is the easy half of the north: it gives the mountains without the ferry and the hike, which is why it is the ten-day pick and the full loop is not.

Two weeks in Albania: joining the north to the south

About two weeks runs the northern loop first (Shkoder → Komani Lake ferry → Valbona → hike over the pass to Theth → Shkoder), then the full southern loop, with Tirana as the hinge between them. It is the only length where the Albanian Alps and the Riviera both fit without rushing either one.

1. Kruje, a half-day. The castle and old bazaar, on the way from Tirana or the airport to Shkoder.
2. Shkoder, 1 night. The base for the north, and where guesthouses arrange the ferry transfer.
3. Komani Lake ferry, a travel day. From Koman across the reservoir to Fierza, then on to the Valbona valley.
4. Valbona, 1–2 nights. The eastern valley, and the start of the hike.
5. Theth, 1–2 nights, after the hike over the pass. Plan 2–3 nights across Valbona and Theth together. From Theth, ride back down to Shkoder.

Joining the halves is simple. From Shkoder, head back through Tirana, or stop at Kruje if you skipped it, and continue to Berat to start the southern loop in its usual order. Tirana gets its one or two nights at the hinge or at the very end.

Where the Komani Lake ferry fits

The Komani Lake ferry is the scenic way into the Valbona side of the north: it crosses the reservoir from Koman to Fierza one way, and the hike to Theth closes the loop. It runs in season and depends on the operator, so book it through your guesthouse in Shkoder in high season, which usually includes the transfer to the pier.

Is the north worth the extra days?

Yes, if hiking and nights in mountain guesthouses are the point of the trip. No, if the trip is coast-led or falls outside summer and early autumn, when the pass can be snowbound and the ferry may not run. The north asks for three or four extra days and a fixed season; the person it pays off for is the one who would otherwise spend those days on a fourth beach.

Should you rent a car or take the bus?

Rent a car for the southern loop, use buses and minibuses for the main towns and the north, and on a two-week trip combine them: bus north, then hire a car in Tirana for the south. The Riviera beaches, the Blue Eye, the Llogara pass and the back roads need a car; the north is easier without one.

A car sits idle in the north. The Valbona–Theth hike is one-way, so a car left at one end has to be recovered by a long way round, and the Komani ferry route makes more sense on foot. In the south the opposite holds: buses link the towns, but the coves below the Riviera road and the Blue Eye are thin without your own wheels.

• A car gets you the Riviera beaches, the Blue Eye at a quiet hour, stops on the Llogara pass, and Permet or the Osum canyon on the slow-south extension.
• The bus gets you Tirana, Berat, Gjirokaster, Saranda and Shkoder without parking or hire terms, plus the north by minibus and ferry.

Albania drives on the right. Before hiring, check the age, licence and insurance terms with the hirer, and carry cash for fuel outside the cities. Much of the public transport runs on the furgon, a privately run minibus that links towns alongside the larger buses. What each choice adds to the bill (car hire, buses, nights on the road) is set out in the Albania trip cost guide.

Running the route without a car

The car-free version is a towns loop: Tirana, Berat, Gjirokaster and Saranda by bus and minibus, plus the whole north by minibus and the Komani ferry. What you lose is the Riviera coves between Himare and Vlore, the freedom to reach the Blue Eye before the tour groups, and any stop on the Llogara pass. Return from Saranda the way you came, or leave by ferry for Corfu. Check departures locally the day before each leg, because schedules change and are not always posted online.

Which direction to drive, and where to start and finish

Run the loop clockwise from Tirana, inland old towns first and coast last, so the trip ends on the beach and the long Llogara day comes once you are used to the roads. Start and end at Tirana airport, or exit by the Saranda–Corfu ferry if you are continuing to Greece.

Counter-clockwise has one good case: in the hottest weeks, reaching the coast first and doing the inland towns later trades beach time for cooler stone streets at the end. Saranda also works as a starting point if you arrive by ferry from Corfu; run the loop north along the Riviera and finish in Tirana. Kruje fits as a half-day on the airport side of Tirana, on the first or last day.

Entry rules for Albania depend on your nationality, and Albania is outside the Schengen Area, so check the Albanian foreign ministry’s visa-regime table before you book. Corfu is in Greece, inside the Schengen Area, and entry rules there also depend on your nationality.

Clockwise also fixes the hire car problem neatly: pick it up in Tirana after the north, and the return is a single drive back from Vlore.

Which legs are seasonal: Theth, the Valbona pass and the Riviera

The north is a summer-to-early-autumn route: the Valbona pass can be snowbound outside that window, the Komani ferry is seasonal, and the Theth road depends on the weather. The south runs year-round, but the Riviera is crowded in July and August and calmer in late spring and September. A north-and-south trip therefore sits in early summer or September; a south-only trip has the wider window.

• North: in the shoulder months, swap Theth and Valbona for Permet and the Vjosa valley.
• Coast: in July and August, book Saranda and Himare nights early and expect busy beaches at Ksamil.
• Inland: Berat and Gjirokaster work in any season, which is why they carry the loop when the north is closed.

In peak season, ask your Shkoder guesthouse to book the ferry transfer as soon as your dates are fixed.

The Short Version

• A week covers the southern loop of Berat, Gjirokaster, the Blue Eye, Saranda and the Riviera, and adding the north to it turns both halves into transit.
• Ten days buys one extension, either Shkoder and Theth by road for the mountains or a slower Riviera with Permet for the coast, not both.
• About two weeks is the length for the Komani Lake ferry and the Valbona–Theth hike, and that northern loop only works from summer to early autumn.
• Hire a car for the southern loop and ride buses and minibuses in the north; on a two-week trip, go north by bus and pick up a car in Tirana for the south.
• Run the loop clockwise from Tirana so the inland old towns come first and the trip ends on the coast.
• When days are short, cut Tirana nights first and the Riviera second, and keep Berat and Gjirokaster to the end.

How We Built This Route

This page plans the order, pacing and length of one Albania route and its two extensions; it is not a country overview, a list of things to do, a hotel roundup or a cost guide, and it prints no fares or drive times because those change.

Written with AI assistance, this itinerary had its stop order and seasonal legs checked by Alex Perrut, working in tourism since 2015, for the Tripstou editorial team. How that works is in our editorial process.

Official sources consulted: Albanian National Tourism Agency, Albanian Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Albania Itinerary Questions

Is 5 days enough for Albania?

Five days is enough for a shortened south: a night in Tirana, then Berat, Gjirokaster and Saranda with Ksamil, leaving out the Riviera and the north. It works as an old-towns-and-one-beach trip by car or by bus. If you can find two more days, the full southern loop with the Himare coast and the Llogara drive is the better trip.

Can you get from Theth to Valbona without hiking?

Not easily: the hike over the pass is the practical link between the two valleys. Without it, you go back down to Shkoder and reach Valbona the long way round, by road and the Komani Lake ferry. If hiking is not part of the plan, treat Theth and Valbona as two separate out-and-back trips from Shkoder, or pick one of them.

Can you take a rental car from Albania to Montenegro or Greece?

Only with the hire company’s written permission, so confirm it before you book. Not every hirer allows a car to leave Albania, and the cover for the other country is part of the hire terms. Keep the written permission with the car’s documents for the border.

Keep Planning

• Albania travel guide: the country hub, for where else to go and how the trip fits together.
• 2 days in Tirana: the city plan for the nights at the start or end of the route.
• Albania trip cost: what the route costs by car and by bus.