2018 Albania revisted - the coast

After a wonderful holiday exploring the south and east of Albania last year, we felt we had unfinished business and decided to return to find out more about the famed Riviera and the capital, Tirana.

Once again we landed in Corfu and took the 13.00 ferry to Saranda  (remember ferry tickets, 23€ one way, can be bought online or in the shops outside the terminal but not in the actual terminal).  We hired a car from Saranda Holiday Cars and set off for the Riviera.  Car hire is around 35€ a day in Albania!  Although accommodation can be as cheap as 25€ for a double room, eating out is pricier on the Riviera than the rest of Albania, although cheap compared to other Eurpoean countries. Saranda is noticeably expensive due to the influx of daytrippers from Corfu and cruiseships.

Day 1 - 3  Qeparo, Borsh, Himara

Qeparo is surrounded by mountains

view from Villa Panorma apartment

Our first 3 nights were spent in the small village of Qeparo (pron. tchéparoo) staying in the great Villa Panorma apartments, only a few, very steep steps from the beach.  It is a sleepy kind of place, two or three restaurants, a couple of bars and few tourists, mainly families.   The beach is pebble but the water is crystal clear.  Qeparo makes a good base for exploring neighbouring Borsh and Himara.

Borsh is a long, mostly pebble beach

Not much remains of Borsh castle but the views are great

Like most of the Riviera villages, Borsh and Himara consist of the main nucleus on the main road half way up the mountain, the old village higher up, and the lower village on the beach.  There's not much to Borsh, but I must recommend the Ojivara restaurant, on the righthand side of the main road as you enter, magnificently built on top of a waterfall.  The beach is huge but not very attractive in my opinion.  However, for that reason it is a lot quieter than many of the other beaches.

Himara

Himara is a sizeable Greek- speaking town. There are 3 main beaches lined with hotels and restaurants as you would expect.  Scenic Old Himara is a couple of kms north, perched high up on a hill.  We parked on the main road and walked up to explore the semi-abandoned village, which includes a lovely crumbling church with some faded frescoes inside.  Be sure to pop your head inside the bar on the main road.

Porto Palermo is a pretty peninsula will a lovely little pebble beach, and the impressive Ali Pasha fortress. For 200 lek you can wander around a warren of empty but atmospheric rooms including the prison, and enjoy great views from the roof.

 

Day 4  Dhermi, Llogara, Orikum, Vlore, Apollonia

The drive north along the coast is tiring but lovely.  The road is twisty, narrow, up and down, an often blocked by various farm animals.  We stopped at quaint Dhermi to hunt out St Mary's church, which is signposted as Krisha Panagia and accessed by a narrow road near the beginning of the village.  You can drive about half way up and then you can climb the steps for the 100 metres.  The church is delightful, although crumbling, and covered with fascinating frescoes. 

Driving through the Llogara Pass was an unexpected experience.  In a short space of time we travelled from sun-soaked baking coast to 1000m cloud-enveloped Alpine style mountains.  The National Park is very popular with those seeking to escape the summer heat and there are a couple of large hotels inside the park.  

From there you descend down to Orikum, which I had been told is nice, but in fact is a very unattractive modern town with windswept gravelly beaches. 

Next up is Vlore, a modern city, which has recently revamped the coast, building a wide palm-lined promenade on the beach.  We didnt stop as we were headed for Zvernec Monastery on the island in the Narta Lagoon, a few kms north of Vlore.  

The lagoon is lovely, and walking across the boardwalk is quite exciting.  Only the church is open to the public and although it is pretty, it is only mildly interesting.

Finally, having navigated the busy and ugly streets of Fier, we reached the ancient Greek city of Apollonia. 

There is a small entrance fee, but we were there for a couple of hours.  The site is extensive but, with the exception of the monument, and the amphitheatre, much of it is ruins.  There is a good museum housing the artefacts from the site.  The monastery and church of St Mary were built on top of the Greek city and some small mosaics can be seen.  There are frescoes but in poor condition.  The guard will allow you to go up the tower for a small tip. 

There are 2 restaurants on the site.  We had a drink in Leon Rey taverna which has a gorgeous garden with wonderful views over the valley. Note that the bars and the museum close at 6pm.

Finally, exhausted, we arrived at Hotel Natyra, Kolonje, which is difficult to find; we had to ask for help, and a kind man led us through the village, up the hill where there is a signpost.  This large, family owned hotel has very basic rooms, but is in a lovely setting.  Dinner was dry chicken and rice and fried/burnt mixed vegetables.  Breakfast is served in the garden; the norm in Albania: a huge plate of eggs, cheese, fried bread, tomatoes, cucumber and fruit, together with  coffee and water. The owners are lovely but don't speak any English at all, so communication was via Google Translate and phoning their son when we got into difficulties. (BTW although booking.com said there was only one room vacant, in fact there were only us and one other couple in the hotel.)

view from breakfast table

Next stop Tirana!  
https://albaniawow.blogspot.com/2018/08/2018-albania-revisted-part-2-tirana.html

check out my other blog Dawn's Bag, in which I record my travels:
https://dawnsbag.blogspot.com/2019/07/road-trip-in-romania-2019.html