8-Day Albania Tour: Tirana, Berat & Butrint with Guide

Three UNESCO sites, five ancient cities, one coastline: eight days moving through Albania's layers

An 8-day guided tour of Albania covering Tirana, Berat, Butrint, Gjirokastra and the Albanian Riviera with an English-speaking guide, air-conditioned transport and seven nights in 3- to 4-star hotels. Pickup is included from Tirana airport; the itinerary moves through three UNESCO World Heritage sites, Illyrian and Roman archaeological zones, Ottoman-era towns and a stretch of coast where the Adriatic and Ionian seas meet. Lunches and dinners are not included.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Arrival and Tirana city tour

• Meet guide at airport
• Transfer to hotel
• Visit Scanderbej Square and Et’hem Bej mosque
• See Scanderbeg monument, Opera house, Clock tower
• Visit Pyramid monument and Bunk Art museum
• Walk along Government building and main boulevard
• Visit Mother Teresa Square
• Overnight in Tirana

Day 2 — Kruja, Lezha and Shkodra exploration

• Breakfast at hotel
• Visit medieval city of Kruja and Skanderbeg Museum
• Explore Kruja Ethnographic Museum and Dollma Tekke
• Shop at Kruja old bazaar
• Stop in Lezha to see memorial tomb of Skanderbeg
• Visit Rozafa Castle in Shkodra
• Walk in Shkodra pedestrian area
• Visit Viennese mask factory
• Overnight in Shkodra

Day 3 — Durrës and Berat UNESCO sites

• Breakfast at hotel
• Visit Durrës ancient archaeological sites and amphitheater
• See Durrës Archaeological Museum
• Travel to Berat
• Visit Berat Castle and museums inside
• Explore Cathedral of St Maria and icon museum
• Walk in Berat old town, Gorica bridge, King Mosque
• Visit Halveti Tekke and Mangalem quarter
• Overnight in Berat

Day 4 — Ardenica, Apollonia and Vlora

• Breakfast at hotel
• Visit Ardenica Monastery and St. Mary’s Church
• Explore ancient city of Apollonia
• Arrive in Vlora
• Visit Museum of Independence
• Visit Zvernec Monastery
• Overnight in Vlora

Day 5 — Albanian Riviera and Saranda

• Breakfast at hotel
• Visit Ali Pasha Castle
• Explore Albanian Riviera coastline
• Arrive in Saranda
• Visit Pasqyra Beach
• Visit Lekursi Castle
• Overnight in Saranda

Day 6 — Butrint, Blue Eye and Gjirokastra

• Breakfast at hotel
• Visit ancient ruins of Butrint
• Stop at Blue Eye spring
• Arrive in Gjirokastra
• Explore Gjirokastra old town and castle
• Overnight in Gjirokastra

Day 7 — Return to Tirana with local food stop

• Breakfast at hotel
• Stop for Albanian pies fast food
• Travel to Tirana
• Free afternoon in Tirana
• Overnight in Tirana

Day 8 — Departure from Tirana

• Breakfast at hotel
• Drive to Tirana airport
• End of service

The Experience

The tour opens at Tirana airport, where your guide meets you and drives 17 kilometers into the capital. After settling in, you walk Scanderbej Square—the largest in Europe—and move through the Et'hem Bej mosque, the Opera house, the Clock tower, then the Pyramid monument and Bunk Art museum. The city reads as layers: Ottoman architecture, communist-era structures, and the modern boulevard pushing through. You spend the first night in Tirana and return here on day eight, giving you two separate encounters with the capital.

Days two through six take you outward in a loop: north to Shkodra through Kruja and Lezha, where you stand in Rozafa Castle looking down at the Illyrian capital; south through Durrës (home to Hadrian's amphitheater, the second largest in the Balkans) and into Berat, the UNESCO site of a thousand windows built on steep slopes where stone houses stack on top of one another. From Berat you move to Vlora on the coast, stopping at Ardenica Monastery—where Skanderbeg was married in 1451—and the ancient city of Apollonia. Then east along the Albanian Riviera to Saranda, where Ali Pasha Castle sits on an island connected by a narrow strip of land, and the next morning you reach Butrint, the first Albanian site UNESCO inscribed, with ruins from prehistoric times through the Roman period. On the way inland to Gjirokastra, you stop at the Blue Eye, a natural spring where turquoise water wells up beneath a metal balcony. Gjirokastra itself is another UNESCO site, built on a mountainside with limestone-paved roads and the castle of Gjirokastra rising above it.

An air-conditioned vehicle and the same guide carry you through all eight days, which means the stops accumulate—you are not starting fresh each morning with new people and new explanations. The pace is built around driving distances (125 kilometers one day, 200 the next, 235 on the return), so you see the country move beneath you, not just the highlights. Accommodation is in 3- to 4-star hotels in each town, and the tour is wheelchair accessible throughout, with all areas and surfaces suitable for mobility devices. Infants sit on an adult's lap during transport.

What’s included

• Seven nights in 3- to 4-star hotels across Tirana, Shkodra, Berat, Vlora, Saranda and Gjirokastra.
• an English-speaking guide and driver for all eight days.
• air-conditioned transport throughout.
• airport pickup on day one.
• breakfasts at each hotel.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessiblePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Albania Express Travel

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you want to move through Albania's history without arranging transport, guides or hotels yourself—the fixed itinerary and included vehicle mean the eight days hold together as a single journey, not a series of separate decisions. If you prefer to linger in one place or build your own route, a self-guided trip or shorter regional tour would suit you better.

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Top questions

What is Berat like, and why is it called the city of a thousand windows?

Berat is a UNESCO World Heritage site built on steep slopes where traditional stone-roofed houses are stacked so densely they appear to sit on top of one another, creating the visual effect of a thousand windows facing outward. The city began as an Illyrian settlement in the 6th–5th century BC and later became the castle city Antipatrea. Inside Berat Castle, residents still live today, and the Cathedral of St Maria houses an icon museum with over 100 works by 16th-century iconographers including Onufri and his son Nikolla, alongside pieces by other known and anonymous artists.

What will I see at Butrint, and how old are the ruins?

Butrint was the first Albanian site inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list, in 1992. The ruins span from prehistoric times through the Roman period—the most ancient objects found there are a stone hammer and shaft from the second half of the second millennium BC. The site includes a theater where archaeologists discovered the statue of Apollo, marble heads of Zeus, and portraits of Roman figures including Agrippina and Livia, along with Latin and Greek inscriptions. Parts of the city were rebuilt in the fifth century BC.

How much driving is involved each day, and will I have the same guide throughout?

Daily driving ranges from 110 to 235 kilometers depending on the route—the longest day is the return to Tirana on day eight. The same English-speaking guide and driver accompany you for all eight days in an air-conditioned vehicle, so you build context as you move through the country rather than starting fresh with new people each morning.

What is the Blue Eye, and can you swim in it?

The Blue Eye is a natural spring in southern Albania where turquoise water wells up beneath a small metal balcony built for viewing. The water is ice-cold and swimming is officially prohibited by signs, though the restriction is not always observed. It is a popular stop on the route between Butrint and Gjirokastra.

Are meals included in the tour price?

Breakfasts are included as part of the hotel accommodation, but lunches and dinners are not included in the tour price, so you choose where and what to eat in each town.

What is Skanderbeg, and why does he appear in so many stops?

Skanderbeg (Gjergj Kastrioti) was Albania's national hero who led 25 years of resistance against Ottoman rule in the 15th century, making the medieval city of Kruja a fortress stronghold. His memorial tomb is in Lezha, marked by 25 shields symbolizing his victories. He was married at Ardenica Monastery in 1451, and his legacy appears throughout the itinerary as a defining figure in Albanian independence and identity.