Himarë · Vlorë County · Albania
The road up
ELÉA is not on the coast road. It is above it, on the inland side. You turn off, you climb a switchback of asphalt, and the last stretch to the door is unsurfaced. Come by car.
- Coordinates
- 40.09469° N, 19.76660° E
- Elevation
- 128 m above sea level
- To the shore
- about 1 km in a straight line
- To the centre of Himarë
- about 1.8 km in a straight line, west-north-west
- To the coast road
- about 330 m, and some 70 m of descent
- To the nearest beach
- about 1 km, due west and downhill
Straight-line distances. By road every one of them is longer, because the road climbs.
The beach straight down the hill is Potami Beach, and the coast as a whole is covered in Getting to Himarë.
What the climb buys you.
A hundred and twenty-eight metres of height, and with it the whole bay: the olive slope below the terrace, the Ionian past it, and the coast running out under the mountains. It is the reason the tables face the way they do.
It is also why walking up is a poor idea: those distances are short on paper and steep in practice.
Questions
Where exactly is ELÉA?+
On the hillside behind Himarë, in Vlorë County on the Ionian coast of southern Albania, at 40.0947° N, 19.7666° E. It sits 128 metres above sea level, roughly a kilometre inland of the shore and about 1.8 kilometres from the centre of Himarë in a straight line — further by road, because the road climbs.
Is it on the coast road?+
No. The coast road runs about 330 metres away and some 70 metres below, and the turning is on its inland side. You leave it and climb a switchback, and the last stretch to the door is an unsurfaced spur.
Can I walk up from Himarë or from the beach?+
It is not a walk most people would want to make. Drive, or arrange a lift.
What kind of food is it?+
Modern Mediterranean cuisine unified with the traditional local food culture — a Greek kitchen, eaten outside under the vine.
What is the view?+
West and downhill: the olive slope, the town along the shore, the Ionian, and the coast running out under the mountains. The sun goes down across the bay in front of you.
Is this the same place as the guesthouse of the same name?+
Yes. The restaurant and ELÉA Guesthouse Himarë share this hillside and this address; the restaurant is the one on site. These pages are about the restaurant only, so nothing here describes the rooms.
Where to point the car.
ELÉAHimarë, Vlorë County
Albania
The turning is easier to find by the point than by the name. Both links below go to the same place.
