City · Berati
Berat
The 'city of a thousand windows': an Ottoman hill town under a still-inhabited castle, UNESCO-listed since 2008.
Coast and beaches
Pebble coves on the Ionian, long sand on the Adriatic.
Mountains and nature
The Albanian Alps, river gorges, lakes and national parks.
History and archaeology
Illyrian hill forts, Greek and Roman cities, Ottoman towns.
Food and culture
Byrek, tavë kosi, raki and the customs around the table.
Browse by county
Albania is divided into twelve counties, each named after its main town. Pick one on the map or from the list.
Boundaries: geoBoundaries gbOpen ALB ADM1 (public domain)
BeratAn inland county of vineyards, the Osum canyon and a UNESCO-listed hill…
DibërAlbania's mountain interior on the North Macedonian border, containing…
DurrësThe country's smallest county by area and its main gateway: the biggest…
ElbasanA central industrial and agricultural county on the Shkumbin river…
FierThe agricultural and oil-producing plain of the south-west, with the…
GjirokastërThe southern mountain county of the Drino and Vjosa valleys, with a…
KorçëA high south-eastern plateau of lakes and orchards, with a distinct café…
KukësThe north-eastern highlands on the Kosovo border, the gateway to the…
LezhëA short northern coast of lagoons and pine, backed by the copper country…
ShkodërThe north-west: the largest lake in southern Europe, the Albanian Alps…
TiranëThe capital county: roughly a third of the country's people, its jobs and…
VlorëThe long southern coast: the Albanian Riviera, the Karaburun peninsula…
Places people look up first
Every place →
City · Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër
The 'stone city': slate-roofed tower houses on a steep slope beneath one of the Balkans' largest castles.
City · Vlorë
Sarandë
The Ionian resort town facing Corfu, and the arrival point for most visitors to southern Albania.
Village · Shkodër
Theth
A glacial valley village in the Albanian Alps: a lock-in tower, a waterfall, and one end of the country's best-known trek.
Historic site · Vlorë
Butrint
A Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman city layered on one wooded peninsula — Albania's first UNESCO site.
Town · Vlorë
Ksamil
Four small islands and very clear shallow water; the most photographed and most crowded stretch of the Albanian coast.
City · Tiranë
Tirana
The capital: a fast-changing city of painted blocks, Ottoman survivals and new towers, under Mount Dajti.
City · Shkodër
Shkodër
The cultural capital of the north: a lake, a fortress, a bicycle city and a Catholic heartland.
Town · Vlorë
Himarë
The centre of the Riviera coast: a Greek-speaking historical community, an old hill village and a string of coves.
Planning a trip
All travel guides →
Guide
A First Trip to Albania
What to know before you book: how you get in, how you move around, what things cost, and what the country is not.
Guide
When to Visit Albania
June and September give you the coast without the July–August crush; May and October are the best value; the mountains have a…
Guide
Getting Around Albania
Furgons, intercity buses, a near-dormant railway, and why most visitors end up hiring a car.
Guide
The Albanian Riviera: A Practical Guide
One road, roughly 120 km, and about twenty places to stop. What each of them is actually like.
Find your season
The country turns green and the archaeological sites are quiet. Wildflowers cover the mountain passes, the northern rivers run full, and by May the coast opens at the best prices of the year.
- Daytime high
- 19°C / 66°F
- Sea temperature
- 17°C / 63°F
- Sun a day
- 10.8 h
- Rain a month
- 102 mm
Sarandë, on the Ionian coast
Read the when-to-visit guide →Hot, bright and busy. The Ionian is at its warmest and the Riviera at its liveliest. June comes before the July and August crush, so book ahead and start your days early.
- Daytime high
- 30°C / 86°F
- Sea temperature
- 25°C / 77°F
- Sun a day
- 13.5 h
- Rain a month
- 24 mm
Sarandë, on the Ionian coast
Read the when-to-visit guide →The sea keeps its summer warmth long after the crowds leave. September gives you the coast without the crush, October is the best value, and the grape harvest runs inland.
- Daytime high
- 22°C / 72°F
- Sea temperature
- 24°C / 75°F
- Sun a day
- 8.9 h
- Rain a month
- 180 mm
Sarandë, on the Ionian coast
Read the when-to-visit guide →Mild and wet on the coast, properly snowy in the mountains. A season for Tirana's cafés and museums without queues, and for the Alps under snow.
- Daytime high
- 13°C / 55°F
- Sea temperature
- 17°C / 63°F
- Sun a day
- 7.2 h
- Rain a month
- 192 mm
Sarandë, on the Ionian coast
Read the when-to-visit guide →
Living in Albania
All guides →
Moving to Albania
What the move actually involves: entry, residence, registration, banking, housing and the things people underestimate.
The Cost of Living in Albania
Among the lowest cost bases in Europe — with Tirana and the summer coast as the two big exceptions.
Retiring in Albania
Why retirees look at Albania, what the practical constraints are, and the questions to answer before deciding.
Healthcare in Albania
A public system funded through compulsory insurance, a growing private sector concentrated in Tirana, and the reality that complex care is often…
Mountains, rivers and parks
All of nature →
The Albanian Alps
The limestone wall of the far north — locally the Accursed Mountains — shared with Montenegro and Kosovo.
Mount Korab
At 2,764 m the highest point in both Albania and North Macedonia, on the border ridge.
The Vjosa
One of the last large free-flowing rivers in Europe, declared a Wild River National Park in March 2023.
Valbona Valley National Park
A broad U-shaped glacial valley of white gravel and beech forest under the Alps' highest peaks.
History and archaeology
The whole story →
Historic site · Vlorë
Butrint
A Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman city layered on one wooded peninsula — Albania's first UNESCO site.
Historic site · Berat
Berat Castle
A fortress people still live inside, holding some twenty churches and the Onufri icon museum.
Historic site · Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër Castle
One of the largest castles in the Balkans, holding an artillery gallery and a captured US aircraft.
Historic site · Fier
Apollonia
A Corinthian colony that became a Roman university town — Octavian was studying here when Caesar was killed.
Historic site · Shkodër
Rozafa Castle
The rock fortress above the meeting of three rivers, and the setting of Albania's best-known legend.
Historic site · Durrës
Krujë Castle
Skanderbeg's base, which held out against three Ottoman sieges and now houses the national museum of the resistance.
Food, wine and culture
All of culture →
Food
Byrek
The everyday Albanian pie: hand-stretched pastry layered with cheese, spinach, leek, meat or tomato.
Food
Tavë Kosi
Lamb baked under a set custard of yoghurt, egg and a little flour — the dish most often named as Albania's national one.
Food
Fërgesë
Peppers and tomato cooked down with white cheese, sometimes with liver — a Tirana staple.
Food
Flija
Concentric crepe layers built up one at a time under a hot metal lid — a northern highland dish that takes hours.
Drink
Raki
Home-distilled grape or plum spirit, offered to guests and made in most rural households.
The economy in figures
The latest published value of each series, with its year and producer. Click through for the full history.
Industry
Tourism in Albania
The fastest-growing part of the economy, concentrated on the southern coast and in a short summer season.
Industry
Energy in Albania
Electricity almost entirely from hydropower — which makes supply depend on rainfall.
Industry
Agriculture in Albania
A large share of employment on very small holdings — the legacy of the 1991 land redistribution.
Latest from Albania
All news →Start with the basics
All explainers →Albania in Five Minutes
Everything you need to hold the country in your head: where it is, who lives there, what happened, and what it runs on.
How Albania Is Divided Up
Twelve counties, sixty-one municipalities, and the 2014 reform that abolished nearly four hundred communes.
Reading Albanian Place Names
Why the same town appears as Vlorë and Vlora, and what the endings tell you.
Albania's UNESCO Sites
Four inscriptions: Butrint, the historic centres of Berat and Gjirokastra, the Ohrid region, and the primeval beech forests.
Making a choice
All comparisons →Ksamil vs Himarë
The clearest water in Albania against the most liveable town on the Riviera.
Sarandë vs Vlorë
Two coastal cities 120 km apart that solve different problems: Sarandë is the base for the far south, Vlorë is a working city with a beach.
Korçë vs Pogradec
The highland city and the lake town, 40 km apart in Albania's south-east.
Northern vs Southern Albania
Mountains and a short season against coast, archaeology and a long one.
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