Seven days is the length at which the Albanian Riviera stops being a beach holiday and starts being a coast. It is also the length at which the wrong structure costs you a full day: the SH8 runs 130 km from Vlora to Saranda in a little under three hours of moving time, and travellers who keep one base for the whole week end up driving the middle of it twice. The version below moves base twice, north to south, so no leg is ever repeated. Every drive time, toll, ticket and sunbed price in it comes from a route guide or data record on this site, linked where the figure lives.
The week at a glance
| Day | Sleep in | Main legs | Driving | Fixed costs that day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dhërmi / Palasë | Vlora → Llogara → Palasë | Tunnel transit ~7 min vs ~30 min over the pass | Llogara Tunnel 250 ALL (car) |
| 2 | Dhërmi / Palasë | Palasë, Drymades, Gjipe | Short hops, one 30-min walk | Gjipe parking 300 ALL; sunbed set €8–15 |
| 3 | Himara | Dhërmi → Jale → Himara | 16 km, ~30 min plus the Jale detour | Jale parking 200–300 ALL; sunbeds 800–1,500 ALL |
| 4 | Himara | Boat day from Himara harbour | None | Half-day boat from €30 |
| 5 | Himara | Porto Palermo, Qeparo, Borsh | 20 km south, 30–45 min | Porto Palermo Castle 300 ALL, cash in lek |
| 6 | Saranda | Himara → Saranda → Blue Eye | 53 km, 1h 15m–2h | Blue Eye 50 lek + 100–200 ALL parking |
| 7 | Saranda | Butrint, then Ksamil | 18 km + 14 km | Butrint 1,000 ALL adult |
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Day 1: Coming over Llogara into Palasë
The Riviera begins where the SH8 drops off the Ceraunian ridge. There are two ways down and they are not interchangeable. The Llogara Tunnel is 5.9 km long, opened 5 July 2024, closed that November for finishing works and reopened 24 May 2025; it cuts the Dukat-to-Palasë section from roughly 30 minutes to about seven, at a published car toll of 250 ALL one-way, with motorcycles at 100 ALL and a car plus trailer at 500 ALL. The old pass tops out at 1,027 m and keeps the viewpoint and the summit grill restaurants, Panorama and Alberti among them. Full rate card and the cases where the pass still wins are in the Llogara Tunnel price guide.
Whichever you take, the first beach below is Palasë: over a kilometre of pale pebble, water measured at 24–27°C in July and August, and the Green Coast stretch behind it, the first beach in Albania to hold Blue Flag certification. Sunbed sets here run around €8–15. Arriving late in the day is fine: this is the only day of the week with no second destination.
Day 2: Drymades, and the walk into Gjipe
Stay put and work the northern cluster. Drymades and Dhërmi are both white-pebble beaches with drive-up access and beach clubs along the shore, and both price higher than anything around Himara. Aloni sits on a wooden deck running down to the Dhërmi sand.
Gjipe is the day's actual objective and the one part of this week that is not drive-up. Parking is 300 ALL, and from the lot it is a 30-minute walk down to a pebble-and-sand beach at the mouth of a canyon. Small caves open at low tide. The access track itself is unpaved and washboarded, so a standard hatchback belongs in the lot, not on the descent. There is more detail in the Gjipe parking guide. Go in the morning; the canyon setting keeps it from feeling crowded but the light and the walk both favour early.
Day 3: Moving south, with Jale on the way
Himara sits 16 km and about 30 minutes south of Dhërmi on the SH8, and the local bus covers it for 2–3€ (route detail). Break the transfer at Jale, 12 km north of Himara down a switchback side road past Vuno: 300–400 m of pebble, parking 200–300 ALL where it is charged, sunbeds 800–1,500 ALL a day, and campgrounds behind the bars. It is quiet on June and September weekdays and a party on July and August weekends, which is worth knowing before you commit an afternoon. See the Jale Beach guide.
Check into Himara in time for the evening. The town's beach, Spile, runs about 500 m straight off the promenade with restaurants behind it, so the first night needs no plan beyond walking out of the hotel.
Day 4: A boat out of Himara harbour
This is the day that justifies basing in Himara rather than Dhërmi. Boats leave from the mini dock at the south end of Spile, with tour activity typically running 08:00–19:00. Three shapes of trip leave from this coast:
| Trip | Listed price | What it reaches |
|---|---|---|
| Porto Palermo half-day | €20 | Filikuri, Llamani, Porto Palermo bay, the castle, the submarine tunnel mouth |
| Pirate's Cave half-day (Himara Sea Escapes) | €30 | Akuarium, Jale, Crystal Beach, Couples Bay, the cave chain, Gjipe |
| Grama Bay full day (Aqua & Terra Drymades) | €58 | Everything above plus Palasë, Blue Cave, Grama Bay, Karaburun |
Prices are the per-person figures carried on the operators' GetYourGuide listings. The half-day at €30 is the right default for a seven-day week, because it reaches Filikuri and Akuarium, two coves that are hard to get to any other way. Filikuri no longer has a safe walk-in: two cliff falls during 2025, the first of them fatal, ended the route, and the overlook above it is now signed against entry with the securing rope removed. The clifftop viewpoint walk is still fine; the drop to the sand is not.
Day 5: The southern run to castle, village and waterfall
Head south on the SH8 with three stops, all inside 20 km. Porto Palermo Castle sits on the peninsula in the bay 8 km out; entry is 300 ALL, cash, Albanian lek only, with no cards and no euros at the gate, and the nearest ATMs are back in Himara. The 650-metre Cold War submarine tunnel at the northern end of the bay is visible from a roadside pullout but sealed. It is still a restricted military zone.
Qeparo, 14 km from Himara, has a stone-paved promenade with old-style lanterns, a pebble shore over a sandy seabed, and stays low-key even in high season. Borsh is 20 km out, 30–45 minutes by road and 3–5€ by furgon; the beach runs about 7 km, which is why it never fills. The waterfall above the village has free parking directly off the SH8 and no ticket, and Restaurant Ujvara has its tables on stone platforms beside the cascade.
Day 6: Transfer to Saranda, with the Blue Eye
Himara to Saranda is about 53 km and 1h 15m to 2h, with direct local services daily at 6–10€ (full options). The SH8 south of Borsh has two narrow cliff-cut sections, so the published time is realistic rather than pessimistic.
Drop bags in Saranda and run inland to the Blue Eye: entry is 50 lek per adult, cash, bought at the car-park entrance, with parking 100–200 lek for a car and 800 lek for a camper. It is one of the cheapest major sites in the country; the cost of the visit is the driving, not the ticket. Saranda is a working town of around 22,000 people with a port, a national bus station and the infrastructure the resort villages lack, which is exactly why it works as the second half's base even though its own beaches are narrow and busy.
Day 7: Butrint at opening, Ksamil after
Butrint is 18 km from Saranda, about 45 minutes by bus at 150–250 ALL, with departures roughly every 30 minutes in high season. Adult entry is 1,000 lek; 12–18s pay 500 lek and under-12s are free, with an 800 lek per-head rate for groups of ten or more, per the current visitor guides. Treat it as the morning, not a photo stop.
Ksamil is then 14 km back north-east of Butrint and 100 ALL from Saranda by bus, 15–20 minutes. Its beaches are the best sand in Albania and they fill by about 09:00 in July and August, so an afternoon arrival means paying club rates for whatever is left: 2,000–4,000 ALL a set in the centre against 1,000–2,000 ALL off the main strip, per the Riviera sunbed price guide. The four islets are roughly 70 m offshore and swimmable.
What the fixed costs add up to
Everything below is a published figure, not an estimate; food, beds and fuel volume depend on you.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Llogara Tunnel, one car, one way | 250 ALL |
| Gjipe parking | 300 ALL |
| Jale parking + one sunbed set | 1,000–1,800 ALL |
| Half-day boat tour, per person | €30 |
| Porto Palermo Castle | 300 ALL |
| Blue Eye entry + car parking | 150–250 lek |
| Butrint, one adult | 1,000 ALL |
| Petrol, per litre | 240–280 ALL |
Two of those deserve a note. Sunbed operators along this coast are cash-only in lek almost without exception, and the Porto Palermo gate will not take euros at all. And fuel is thin in two places: there is essentially nothing for about 40 km between Vlora and the descent to Palasë, and stations are sparse between Borsh and Saranda (where to fill).
Doing the same week without a car
Every base change above has a scheduled service. Vlora to Himara runs 8–10€ in 1h 15m to 2h 30m; Himara to Dhërmi is 2–3€; Himara to Borsh is 3–5€ by direct furgon; Himara to Saranda is 6–10€; Saranda to Ksamil is 100 ALL. What you lose is Gjipe and the Jale descent, both of which drop you on the SH8 above the beach for a steep 20–30 minute walk down, and Porto Palermo, which has no useful service. Budget a taxi for those three or accept the boat day as your substitute. The furgon guide covers how the minibuses actually operate.
FAQ
Is seven days enough for the Albanian Riviera?
Seven days covers the coast from Palasë to Ksamil at a workable pace with two base changes and no repeated legs. It does not stretch to Berat, Gjirokastër or the Vjosa valley. Those need a longer trip, which is what the 10-day extension is for.
Should I drive the Riviera north to south or south to north?
North to south, starting at Vlora and ending in Saranda. The scenery escalates, the descent from Llogara is the better direction for a first impression, and Saranda has the ferry to Corfu and the bus links out. Reversing it means finishing on the emptiest stretch.
How much driving is in a 7-day Riviera itinerary?
The full Vlora-to-Saranda SH8 run is 130 km and 2h 45m to 3h of moving time, spread here across four transfer days. The longest single day is Himara to Saranda at 53 km and up to two hours. Nothing else exceeds 40 minutes.
Which base should I pick if I only want one?
Himara. It sits mid-coast with Dhërmi 16 km north and Saranda 53 km south, has the boat-tour harbour, and puts Porto Palermo nine kilometres away. See where to stay in Himara for the property-level detail.
Do I need to book the boat tour in advance?
In July and August, yes. The named half-day departures sell through their listings, and the harbour runs on fixed morning and afternoon slots. In June and September the dock at the south end of Spile Beach generally has capacity on the day.
