A Week in Albania: What to See, Where to Go, and the Day That Surprised Me Most

Albania keeps showing up on “underrated Europe” lists, and for once the hype is accurate. The country has Ottoman old towns, Ionian coastline, Byzantine ruins, and mountain landscapes that feel genuinely remote. A week gives you enough time to cover the highlights without rushing any of them.

Here’s how to spend it.

The Capital, Tirana: Start Here

One or two days in the capital is the right amount. Skanderbeg Square is larger than expected and worth an hour. The Blloku neighbourhood – sealed off under communism and now the city’s best area for food and coffee – rewards slow walking more than directed sightseeing. The National History Museum is dense but worthwhile if you want context for everything that follows.

Eat well here. Albanian food in Tirana is good and cheap, and the standard only gets better as you go north.

Shkoder and the Road North

Shkoder is two hours from Tirana and the practical base for northern Albania. The city itself is pleasant rather than unmissable – Rozafa Castle above the lake offers the best panoramic view in the region, and the old bazaar area has enough good restaurants to justify an evening.

The reason to come north, though, is what’s beyond Shkoder. The Albanian Alps start an hour from the city and the landscapes shift completely – narrower roads, deeper valleys, a colour of green that doesn’t appear anywhere further south.

The Komani Lake to Shala River Boat Tour

This was the day of the trip that I kept coming back to afterwards.

From Komani Lake port, North Albania Boat runs full-day 6-hour bout tours through Komani Lake and into the Shala River canyon. The boat departs at 9:30 AM and the canyon starts almost immediately – cliffs rising up to 200 metres above turquoise water, no roads along the shoreline, complete silence apart from the engine. The comparison to Norwegian fjords gets made a lot and it isn’t wrong, though the light here is warmer and the whole thing feels less visited.

The boat arrives at Shala River around 10:15 AM. You have until 3:00 PM – time to swim in water that is absurdly clear and cold even in July, rent a kayak and paddle into the inner canyon, or simply sit on the pebble beach and look at the walls. There’s a floating bar. There’s a zipline for those who want one. The return cruise is back at Koman by 3:30 PM.

Tickets start from €25 per person and the whole thing is bookable at northalbaniaboat.com. Book a couple of days ahead in summer – it fills up.

Theth and the Alps

If the itinerary allows, one night in Theth is worth the mountain road it takes to get there. The village sits in a valley ringed by peaks and has a waterfall, a lock-in tower dating from the blood feud era, and guesthouses serving home-cooked food at long communal tables. The walking here is serious and the views justify every uphill section.

Theth isn’t easy to reach without a car, but the drive through the Kiri valley is itself part of the experience.

Head South: Berat

From Shkoder, Berat is a four-hour drive south and a completely different Albania. The UNESCO-listed city climbs a hillside above the Osum River, Ottoman houses stacked with their characteristic large-windowed facades, a castle at the top containing several working Byzantine churches. It’s the kind of place that looks like a film set and turns out to be real.

One night is enough to walk the old neighbourhoods properly. Two nights means you can slow down.

The Riviera to Finish

The southern coast between Himara and Sarandë is where the trip changes register entirely — from mountains and history to Ionian sea and long lunches. The beaches are genuinely excellent: clear water, dramatic cliffs, and (outside July and August) uncrowded enough that you can find a patch of rock to yourself.

Butrint, near Sarande, is the archaeological site that rounds the trip off properly – a layered ancient city inside a national park, Greek and Roman and Byzantine and Venetian, sitting at the edge of a lagoon. Half a day there before a flight from Tirana makes for a better final memory than the airport lounge.

Practical Notes

A week covers this comfortably if you have a car. Without one, the north – including the boat tour – is still doable via organised transfers, but Theth becomes harder. Albanian roads are better than their reputation. Fuel is cheap. Parking is rarely a problem outside Tirana.

Cash matters outside the cities. Bring more than you think you need.

The best months are May, June, and September. July and August is the peak season everywhere — the coast gets crowded, but the north, including the Komani–Shala route, is manageable and the water is at its warmest.

Albania rewards the people who make the effort to get there. The boat tour through Komani and Shala is the day that most people talk about when they come back. Everything else on this list is genuinely worth doing – but that one tends to stay.