Saranda

Commercial port and main town in the south. It is built directly over a Roman town which surfaces here and there.

Butrint

Ancient Buthrotum. Important and impressive Greco-Roman city, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, south of Saranda on a bluff of land half-circled by a large lake. Inhabited continuously from the 7th C BC until abandoned in 18th C. Impressive cyclopean walls and deep well within the gate, reminiscent of Mycenae – but most excavated remains are Roman. Of special interest is the circular baptistry of the 6th C., paved with fine mosaics.

Gjirokastra

This fascinating and historic small town is also on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Largely medieval, with some lovely architecture to admire reflecting the town’s wealthy past, it is built on a hill overlooking valley and mountains. Excellent views from the large castle above, which houses a weapons museum! Some good restaurants in the narrow cobbled lanes of the old town.­

Berat

Another member of the UNESCO club, Berat is called ‘the town of a thousand eyes’ because of the many-windowed old houses that crowd above the river Osrum and up the hill. High along the ridge is a 14th C citadel, its walls enclosing no fewer that fourteen small painted churches (hence the presence of the famous Onufri icon museum). The Turkish influence may be seen in the town’s three mosques and tekke, also worth visiting.

Ardenica

12th C monastery converted into an inn, it occupies the whole of a rocky outcrop amid pine and cypress trees and is a landmark visible for miles across the plain. The church, dedicated to the Virgin, is characteristically Greek, and has a magnificent iconostasis and high-quality wall-paintings.

Apollonia

Another most important archaeological site. Founded in 588 BC by Greeks from Corinth, it rose to become a renowned cultural centre in the Roman period. Memorable are the elegant façade of the Bouleuterion and the great Stoa. Below stands the beautiful 13th C church of Shenmari, built out of the antique stone.

See where these towns and sites are located on our map of Albania >