What To Expect
Day 1: TIRANA
Upon arrival in Albania, meet your tour guide and transfer to the hotel in the Tirana area. Overnight stay.
Day 2: TIRANA / KRUJA / TIRANA
After breakfast, departure for Tirana and city tour. You will discover a lively and welcoming city, filled with colorful buildings brightening the urban landscape in recent years. Walk through Tirana’s most famous square, Skanderbeg Square. Around this vast marble area, you will see iconic buildings: the opera house, the national museum, the mosque, and the clock tower. Then, visit the House of Leaves Museum, dedicated to the communist dictatorship. Built in 1931, this discreet building served as a torture and surveillance center for the Sigurimi, the State Security Directorate. Transformed into a museum in 2017, the exhibition gathers many objects used by these services to monitor the population.
Continue to Kruja, the city of Albanian resistance against the Ottoman Empire and homeland of the national hero Skanderbeg. Lunch in a local restaurant. Discover Kruja with your guide. You will travel back in time while visiting the fortress, an enduring symbol of resistance. Then stroll through its bazaar and visit the country’s most popular museum dedicated to the national hero. Return to Tirana. Hotel check-in and dinner.
Day 3: DURRES / BERAT
After breakfast, departure for Durres. Located on the Adriatic coast, Durres is one of Albania’s oldest cities, founded in the 7th century BC by the Greeks. During the visit, you will discover the city’s rich historical and cultural heritage. You will start with the Roman amphitheater, one of the largest in the Balkans, built in the 2nd century and able to host up to 20,000 spectators. As you walk through the city center, you will see remnants of the ancient walls, the Venetian Tower, as well as charming squares and lively streets.
Continue to Berat. Visit the Berat fortress known as “Kala” (shuttle included). Then visit the Onufri Museum, where you will learn more about Byzantine art and discover major iconographic works. Continue the day with a guided tour of the city, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city stretches along both sides of the Osum River. Gorica, the Christian neighborhood, lies on the left bank, while Mangalem, the Muslim quarter, and the fortress stand on the right bank. Its white houses, thick walls, and the castle overlooking the city will transport you to another era. Known as the city of a thousand windows, Berat is famous for its typical houses with almost flat tile roofs, white arches, and especially, façades filled with windows. Lunch. After the meal, enjoy local coffee in a family home, followed by free time to explore the city. Dinner and overnight stay in Berat.
Day 4: BERAT / APOLLONIA / VLORE
After breakfast, continue to Apollonia for a guided tour of the site, home to precious ruins set in a Mediterranean landscape, where marble blocks lie under olive trees. Apollonia was an ancient Greek city founded in the 4th century BC on the banks of the Vjosa River in Albania. It quickly became an important commercial and cultural center, thanks to its strategic position on trade routes between Illyria and the Mediterranean. Under Roman rule, Apollonia flourished even more and became an administrative and intellectual center, hosting renowned philosophical schools. The city gradually declined from the 3rd century AD due to political changes and the silting of its port. Then depart for Vlore, hotel check-in, dinner, and overnight stay.
Day 5: VLORE / PORTO PALERMO / SARANDA
Breakfast, then pass by Vlora’s main square, where a monument to Albania’s independence stands, followed by a visit to the Muradie Mosque.
Departure for Saranda with a stop at Ali Pasha’s Castle. Lunch during the excursion.
Arrival in Saranda, dinner, and overnight stay.
Day 6: SARANDA / BUTRINT / SARANDA
Breakfast. Guided tour of the archaeological site of Butrint, with its unique atmosphere created by a blend of archaeology, monuments, and nature in a Mediterranean setting. Butrint is both a splendid historic town and a beautiful archaeological site, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Founded by the Greeks, it was occupied by different civilizations and empires before being completely abandoned in the late Middle Ages. Discover its rich array of monuments: dwellings, Roman baths, its lake, and chapels.
Lunch in Ksamil, once a small fishing village and now a renowned tourist destination. Return to Saranda. Free time. At the end of the day, hotel check-in in the Saranda region. Enjoy an aperitif at Lekures Castle overlooking Saranda for a panoramic view. Dinner at a restaurant and overnight stay.
Day 7: SARANDA / CORFU
Breakfast and departure to discover the island of Corfu, the largest of the Ionian Islands. Bordered by the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea, it is both Greek and cosmopolitan. After a ferry crossing, arrival on the island and guided tour of the Corfu citadel. Visit Saint Spyridon Church dedicated to the island’s patron saint, Spyridon. It is famous for its tall red bell tower and magnificent Byzantine icons. Inside are the saint’s relics and remarkable examples of Orthodox religious art. It is an important pilgrimage site and a central symbol of the island’s culture and history.
Dinner and overnight stay.
Day 8: CORFU
Breakfast. Departure for Paleokastritsa. On the way, visit a kumquat factory and taste their traditional liqueur. Visit the Corfu Aquarium, then continue to the Paleokastritsa Monastery. The monastery, located on a hill overlooking the Ionian Sea, is an important historical and spiritual site in Corfu. Founded in the 13th century, it is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and holds beautiful Byzantine icons, frescoes, and a small chapel. The site also offers spectacular views of the surrounding coves and turquoise waters. It is a peaceful place where visitors can explore the island’s religious history and enjoy an exceptional natural setting. Return to Corfu. Lunch. Free time for a stroll through the center, filled with many shops and traditional boutiques. Dinner and overnight stay.
Day 8: DEPARTURE
Breakfast and transfer to Corfu Airport.
