7 Days in Albania: The Ultimate Road Trip Itinerary for 2027

Albania is small enough to cross in a day and varied enough that you never want to. In one week you can wake up in a capital full of espresso bars, sleep in an Ottoman stone house, swim over seagrass in water the colour of a swimming pool, and drive a mountain pass with the Ionian 1,000 metres below you.

This is the route we recommend most often to first-time visitors for 2027: a loop from Tirana south through the UNESCO towns, down to Ksamil, back up the Riviera and over the Llogara Pass. It is roughly 950–1,050 km of driving spread over seven days, and no single day is longer than about three and a half hours behind the wheel.

Route at a glance

Should you rent a car for this itinerary?

Yes — this specific route is built for a car. Buses connect the big towns, but the parts people remember (Porto Palermo castle, the Llogara switchbacks, an empty cove at 7 pm) are the parts buses skip.

A small hatchback is enough for the whole loop; the SH8 coastal road and the Tirana–Fier motorway are paved and fine for a normal car. You only need a 4x4 if you plan to add the Theth or Valbona mountain roads. Book early for July and August, when the Tirana airport fleet sells out and prices roughly double.

If you are comparing suppliers, deposits and insurance rules, start with our Albania car rental guide — it explains the cross-border rules, the deposit trap and what "full insurance" actually covers here.

Day 1 — Land in Tirana and ease in

Pick the car up at the airport or, if you land late, on your second morning — parking in central Tirana is the most annoying part of the trip.

Walk Skanderbeg Square, ride the Dajti Ekspres cable car for the view over the city at golden hour, then eat in Pazari i Ri. Order fërgesë (peppers, tomato and cottage cheese baked in a clay dish) and a glass of Kallmet.

Stay: Blloku or near the Pyramid, both walkable at night. More ideas: things to do in Tirana.

Day 1 tip

Buy a local SIM at the airport. Offline maps help, but live traffic around Tirana genuinely saves you 30 minutes.

Day 2 — Tirana to Berat, the town of a thousand windows

120 km, about 2 hours on the SH4 via Lushnjë.

Berat's Mangalem and Gorica quarters stare at each other across the Osum river, white Ottoman houses stacked like theatre seating. Walk up to the kala — it is a living castle with families still inside — and see the Onufri icon museum for the 16th-century red pigment nobody has been able to reproduce.

Detour worth 40 minutes: the Bogovë waterfall turnoff, 30 km east, if you fancy a cold swim.

Stay: a guesthouse in Gorica for the view back across the river at night, when the windows light up. Read more: Berat travel guide.

Day 3 — Berat to Gjirokastër through the Vjosa valley

165 km, about 2 h 45 via Tepelenë, following Europe's last wild river.

Break the drive at the Ura e Kadiut area near Këlcyrë or the Vjosa viewpoints past Memaliaj — the gorge here is the best free scenery on the route.

Gjirokastër is grey stone instead of Berat's white: slate roofs, a huge castle with a US spy plane parked in it, and the Zekate House, an 1811 merchant mansion you can still walk through. Eat qifqi (rice and mint balls) — it exists basically nowhere else.

Stay: inside the old town, but note the cobbles; ask your guesthouse where to park before you arrive.

Day 4 — Butrint, then your first swim in Ksamil

80 km, about 1 h 30 down to the coast.

Do Butrint in the morning before the tour buses from Corfu: a Greek, Roman, Venetian and Byzantine city layered inside a lagoon forest. Two hours is enough. Then take the cable ferry across the Vivari channel — a two-minute crossing that feels like 1962.

Ksamil is the postcard: shallow turquoise water and small islands you can swim to. It is also busy, so go late afternoon when the day-trippers leave, or use the quieter beaches toward Pulëbardha.

Stay: Ksamil for beach access, Saranda for restaurants and nightlife. More: Ksamil and Saranda guide.

Day 5 — Up the Riviera to Himara

75 km, about 1 h 30, but plan a whole day of stopping.

Stops in order: the Blue Eye spring (go at opening), Porto Palermo castle on its causeway, and Livadhi or Filikuri beach outside Himara. Himara itself is the most liveable Riviera base — a real town with a promenade rather than a resort strip.

Food: grilled fish by the kilo at the old port. Ask the price per kilo before it hits the grill.

Day 6 — Dhërmi, Gjipe and the Llogara Pass

90 km, about 2 hours — the best driving day in the country.

Gjipe beach sits where a canyon meets the sea; you park above and walk down 25–30 minutes, so bring water and leave before dark. Dhërmi and Jale are the party-adjacent beaches; Drymades is calmer.

Then climb the Llogara Pass to 1,027 m through pine forest, with the Karaburun peninsula spread out below. The lay-bys near the top are the single best viewpoint in Albania. Try roast lamb at one of the pass restaurants.

Stay: Vlora for a hotel and a proper dinner, or stay another night in Dhërmi if you would rather not move.

Day 7 — Vlora to Tirana, the slow way

150 km, about 2 h 30 via the SH8 and SH4.

If you have time, stop at Apollonia, a ruined Greek city with a monastery in the middle of farmland and almost no crowds — a far better last stop than a mall. Durrës has the Roman amphitheatre and a long sandy beach if you want one more swim before the flight.

Return the car at the airport with a full tank; fuel there is priced accordingly, so fill up in Vorë or Kamëz instead.

Practical driving tips for Albania

• Drive defensively, not fast. Overtaking on blind bends is common. Assume the other car will pull out.
• Speed cameras and police checks are real. Carry your licence, rental papers and green card. Fines are payable at a bank, not roadside.
• Fuel is easy. Stations are frequent, most take cards, many are full-service.
• Avoid mountain roads after dark. Unlit, unfenced, and livestock happens.
• Parking: in Berat, Gjirokastër and Ksamil use paid lots rather than squeezing into the old town.
• Alcohol limit is effectively zero tolerance for practical purposes — don't.
• An EU/UK/US licence is accepted; an IDP is only needed for some non-EU licences, so check with your supplier.

More detail: driving and safety in Albania.

What a week costs in 2027

Per person, mid-range, sharing a room: roughly €65–95 a day, made up of €35–55 for accommodation, €20–25 for food, €10–15 for fuel and parking, plus car rental of €35–70 per day in high season and €20–30 in shoulder months. Cash still rules in villages; cards are normal in Tirana, Saranda and Vlora.

The cheapest upgrade you can make: travel in June or September instead of August. Same sea, half the traffic, noticeably lower prices.

FAQ

Is 7 days enough for Albania? Enough for the south loop in this guide, yes. It is not enough to add the Albanian Alps — for Theth and Valbona plan 10 days.

Which direction should I drive the loop? Clockwise as written (inland south first, coast back north) so the Riviera and Llogara Pass come at the end and you drive the coast on the sea side.

Do I need a 4x4? No, not for this route. A compact car handles all of it.

Can I do this itinerary without a car? Partly. Furgons and buses link Tirana–Berat–Gjirokastër–Saranda, but the Riviera beaches and Llogara are hard without your own wheels.

When is the best time for this road trip? Late May to mid-June, or September. July and August are hot, full and expensive on the coast.

Is it safe to drive in Albania? Yes, with attention. The roads on this route are paved and the risk is other drivers' overtaking, not crime.

Plan your route

If this itinerary looks like your kind of week, keep going: compare 7-day and 10-day itineraries, check when to visit, and sort the car early with our Albania car rental guide. See you on the Llogara Pass.