Spile, Himarë

Himarë sits on the SH8 coast road, roughly halfway along the Albanian Riviera between Vlorë and Sarandë.

By car, the town is about an hour down the coast from the Llogara Pass — thirty-seven kilometres by road, south-east of it in a straight line; the road drops through Dhërmi and Vuno before it reaches us. In season, buses and furgons run the SH8 and stop in town. Spile is the beachfront part of Himarë, below the old village on the ridge.

Once you are on the seafront, the sign is the thing to look for: a carved plaque on a wrought-iron bracket, with 1998 cut under the name.

We are one door in a long run of them along the front. If you are working out where else to eat while you are here, the town’s restaurants are listed together, and there is a guide to what Albanian cooking on this coast puts on a plate.