How far is Filikuri Beach?

The cove is about 370 metres from the door in a straight line, and the house sits roughly sixty metres above it. There is no road down and no path we would send you down — the fixed rope that used to be on the last pitch has been removed and a warning sign stands at the top of it. Reach the water by boat or by kayak instead.

Can I walk to the beach?

Yes, to Potami — about 600 metres, downhill on the way there. Spile and Himarë town are 1.7 km north along the coast road.

No. The listing carries no parking at all. Most guests leave the car down at Potami or in town and walk the last stretch up.

How hard is the walk up?

The climb is about sixty metres of height, and most of it arrives in the last few hundred metres of track. With a full pack, in August, it is a real effort. It is also the single thing guests mention most often, in both directions.

A bed. Three mixed dormitories — one of twelve bunks at fifty-eight square metres, and two of six bunks at twenty-eight. Each has a private bathroom, air conditioning, free WiFi and a balcony.

Is breakfast included?

No. Breakfast is made in the house and charged separately — eggs, bread fried on the stove, tomato and cucumber, jam. Ask for it the night before.

Cash on arrival. Credit cards are not accepted at the property.

What time can I check in?

From 15:00 until 22:00. Check-out is by 11:00 on Booking.com and by 10:00 on Hostelworld, so work to the earlier one if you booked through Hostelworld.

No. Pets are not allowed, and cots and extra beds are not available either.

Above Filikuri · Himarë · Albanian Riviera

Hostel on the Hill

Sixty metres up, on the last terrace before the ground drops into Filikuri. Twelve beds, six, six — every one of them behind a door that opens onto a balcony.

Check availability Start at the bottom of the hill

60 mWhere this is

The hill is the address

The house stands about sixty metres above the sea on the slope south of Himarë, on the last terrace before the ground turns over and drops into Filikuri. From the balconies the whole bay opens northwards: Potami below, then Prinos, then the long curve of Spile with the town along the back of it and the Ceraunian range behind that.

Sixty metres is not much on paper. It arrives almost entirely in the last few hundred metres of track, which is why nearly every guest who writes about this place writes about the walk. Carry less than you think. Then sit down.

A white two-storey house with a red tiled roof and balconies, standing on a stone-walled terrace among olive trees on a dry hillside — The house from above: two storeys, red tile, balconies front and side, stone terracing under it.

Filikuri
370 m
The cove directly below the house — white limestone, a short pebble strip, no road in and no bar on it.
Potami Beach
620 m
The nearest beach you can simply walk onto: shingle, loungers, a bar, and the last stretch of road before the hill starts climbing.
Prinos Beach
980 m
A small stony bay on the way into town, quieter than Spile and rarely full.
Spile and Himarë town
1.7 km
The town beach, the promenade, the supermarkets and the bus stops on the national road. Downhill going, uphill coming back.

A wide view over green hillside terraces to a blue bay, a wooded headland and the Ceraunian mountains under clear sky — The slope the house stands on, and the whole bay laid out to the north of it.

01What people come for

The terrace, and the hour before dark

The terrace runs along the north face of the house under a timber roof, with a hanging wicker chair at the open end and a long table under the covered part. Nothing about it is designed. It faces the bay, it is out of the sun by mid-afternoon, and it is where the day here ends.

Below the wall the ground goes down in stone terraces — olives, vines, a vegetable patch, chickens somewhere, sheep on the track above. This is a working piece of hillside that happens to have bunks in the house on it.

All the photographs

A wicker hanging chair on a tiled balcony under a timber roof, looking down over a curved bay, a town and the mountains behind it — The hanging chair on the balcony, and the reason nobody moves out of it before dark.

02The only thing you book

Three dormitories, all with a balcony

A dormitory with white bunk beds along both walls, a wooden ceiling, a wooden floor, numbered white lockers and an arched doorway at the far end — A dormitory mid-stay. The lockers are numbered to the bed; the arch at the end goes through to the bathroom.

There is no private room here. Everything is a mixed dormitory and every bed is sold one at a time — which is also why the house fills with people who talk to each other. All three rooms have their own bathroom, air conditioning, WiFi and a door onto a balcony.

Mixed Dormitory Room
12 beds · 58 m²
The big room: twelve beds in bunks down two walls of fifty-eight square metres, a private bathroom off it and a door at the end that opens onto the balcony. Wooden ceiling, wooden floor, whitewash between them.
6-Bed Mixed Dormitory Room
6 beds · 28 m²
Twenty-eight square metres, six beds, its own bathroom and its own balcony. There are two of these, and between them they are the quieter half of the house.

What the rooms are like Check availability

0 mStraight down from the terrace

Filikuri is below you, and it is not a stroll

Filikuri is the cove under this hillside: white limestone walls straight out of the water, a short pebble strip, no road, no bar, nothing to rent. From the terrace you look almost directly down onto it.

Being able to see it is not the same as being able to reach it. The ridge path is easy enough; the last pitch onto the shingle is a bare rock slab, the fixed rope that used to be there has been taken down, and a warning sign now stands at the top of it. People have been badly hurt on that pitch. Go by water instead — the boats from Himarë take about a quarter of an hour.

How to actually get down there

Looking down from a cliff top over turquoise and deep blue water against a white limestone wall, with scrub and yellow broom in the foreground — Looking straight down off the cliff path into the water below the house.

03Inside

A kitchen, a table and breakfast if you ask

A breakfast plate of two fried eggs, fried bread, a slice of white bread, tomato and cucumber, on a fruit-patterned oilcloth beside a tray of jam — Breakfast, cooked to order in the house: eggs, bread off the pan, tomato, cucumber, jam.

There is a shared kitchen with a stovetop, a fridge and enough pans, and a dining table both inside and out. Breakfast is cooked in the house and charged separately — eggs, bread off the pan, tomato and cucumber, jam. Ask the night before.

Outside

Terrace
Garden
Picnic area
Outdoor dining area
Outdoor furniture
Balcony

The kitchen

Shared kitchen
Stovetop
Kitchenware
Refrigerator
Dining table

In the dorm

Air conditioning
Private bathroom
Shower
Linens
Lockers
Drying rack

Practical

Free WiFi in every area
Daily housekeeping
Laundry, for a fee
Smoke-free throughout
Greek, English and Italian spoken

04Three samples, three numbers

What guests score

Booking.com, Hostelworld and Google each run their own review pool, on their own scale, and they are printed below as they stand. None of them is averaged into another, because the average of three different samples is a number nobody measured.

8.1out of 10 · Booking.com · Very good 8.0out of 10 · Hostelworld · Fabulous 4.3out of 5 · Google

Booking.com, by category

Free WiFi9.5
Location8.5
Value for money8.5
Cleanliness8.2
Comfort8.2
Staff8.0
Facilities7.7

Bars run the full ten points, so the gaps between these categories are as small as they look.

05Read this first

Six things to know before you come

There is no parking. Leave the car in town and walk up, or arrange it with the property first.
Payment is cash on arrival — no card machine.
Breakfast is cooked to order and charged separately. It is not in the bed rate.
Bunks only. Every room is a mixed dormitory and every bed is sold on its own.
No pets, no cots, no extra beds.
No parties, and no hen or stag groups.

A dormitory with white bunk beds on both sides and an open doorway at the end leading out to a balcony with green hillside beyond — The same room looking the other way — the door at the end is the balcony.

Getting up here, and what the last stretch is like

06Asked often

Questions

How far is Filikuri Beach?: The cove is about 370 metres from the door in a straight line, and the house sits roughly sixty metres above it. There is no road down and no path we would send you down — the fixed rope that used to be on the last pitch has been removed and a warning sign stands at the top of it. Reach the water by boat or by kayak instead.
Can I walk to the beach?: Yes, to Potami — about 600 metres, downhill on the way there. Spile and Himarë town are 1.7 km north along the coast road.
Is there parking?: No. The listing carries no parking at all. Most guests leave the car down at Potami or in town and walk the last stretch up.
How hard is the walk up?: The climb is about sixty metres of height, and most of it arrives in the last few hundred metres of track. With a full pack, in August, it is a real effort. It is also the single thing guests mention most often, in both directions.
What can I book?: A bed. Three mixed dormitories — one of twelve bunks at fifty-eight square metres, and two of six bunks at twenty-eight. Each has a private bathroom, air conditioning, free WiFi and a balcony.
Is breakfast included?: No. Breakfast is made in the house and charged separately — eggs, bread fried on the stove, tomato and cucumber, jam. Ask for it the night before.
How do I pay?: Cash on arrival. Credit cards are not accepted at the property.
What time can I check in?: From 15:00 until 22:00. Check-out is by 11:00 on Booking.com and by 10:00 on Hostelworld, so work to the earlier one if you booked through Hostelworld.
Can I bring a dog?: No. Pets are not allowed, and cots and extra beds are not available either.
What languages are spoken?: Greek, English and Italian.