7 Best Places to Visit in Albania

Albania spent decades closed off from mass tourism, which is part of why its coastline, mountains, and Ottoman-era towns still feel undiscovered compared to its Mediterranean neighbors. From a UNESCO-listed hill town to ancient ruins and alpine villages, here are seven of the country's best-known destinations.

1. Tirana

Albania's capital and largest city is known for the brightly painted apartment blocks from a 2000s beautification campaign led by then-mayor (and artist) Edi Rama, a striking contrast to the city's communist-era architecture. Skanderbeg Square, one of the largest public squares in the Balkans, sits at the city center, and the Dajti Ekspres cable car climbs Mount Dajti just outside town for views over the whole Tirana plain.

2. Berat

Berat is a UNESCO World Heritage town nicknamed "the city of a thousand windows" for the tiers of white Ottoman-era houses stacked up the hillside above the Osum River. Berat Castle, still inhabited today, crowns the hill and encloses several Byzantine-era churches within its walls.

3. Gjirokastër

Gjirokastër shares Berat's 2008 UNESCO listing and is known as "the city of stone" for its distinctive stone-roofed Ottoman houses. It's the birthplace of writer Ismail Kadare, and its hilltop castle houses a museum that includes a downed US Air Force jet from the Cold War era.

4. Saranda and Ksamil

Saranda is the main town on the Albanian Riviera, sitting on a bay that faces the Greek island of Corfu across a narrow strait. A short drive south, Ksamil is known for small islets close enough to the shore to wade or swim to, and some of the clearest water on the coast.

5. Butrint

A UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site a short drive from Saranda, Butrint layers Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian ruins — including a well-preserved amphitheater — inside a quiet lagoon-side national park.

6. Theth and the Albanian Alps

Theth is a village deep in the Albanian Alps, known locally as the "Accursed Mountains," reached by a scenic mountain road through Thethi National Park. The area is known for waterfall and canyon hikes and for its traditional stone "kulla" tower houses.

7. Krujë

Krujë is the hilltop town from which national hero Skanderbeg led Albanian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. Its castle houses the Skanderbeg Museum, and the old bazaar below still sells traditional crafts like copperwork and textiles.

Staying connected while you travel

Albania's mobile networks reach its main cities and the coastal Riviera reliably, with coverage thinning out in the more remote parts of the Alps around Theth. An eSIM lets you land with data already active instead of hunting for airport Wi-Fi — compare current Albania eSIM plans below.

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For more on how eSIMs work before your trip, see our beginner's guide to eSIMs. You can also browse the full list of Albania eSIM plans sorted by price.