Albanian Riviera – Cultural Hiking in Southern Albania
From 0 to 2.000 – The Albanian Riviera offers a spectacular mountain world directly at the sea with a view of Corfu. The trip is combined with the UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Travel description:
On this hiking tour, a lonely coastal landscape with a view to Corfu awaits you. Sleepy villages, orthodox monasteries, Butrint, Porto Palermo and many other places of interest will await you.
Our English-speaking tour guide will lead you along the Albanian Riviera. An accompanying vehicle will help you with your luggage. Mediterranean food and wine will sweeten your evenings.
The highlight is the panorama of the sea from an altitude of up to 2,000 m.
Included in the price are:
- English-speaking tour guide
- Transfer from and to Tirana or Ohrid airport (Northern Macedonia)
- Round trip according to the program in an air-conditioned bus
- Overnight stays in middle-class hotels, partly in historical ambiance or in simple family guesthouses
- all admissions to museums and excavation sites
- The program might have some changes
Not included in the price are:
- Arrival by flight, train, ship, etc.
- Drinks in hotels and restaurants and tips
- other personal expenses
Price:
from 1.290 € in double room
140,00 € single room surcharge for max. 7 nights
Group size:
min. 10 – max. 25 persons
Dates:
- 04. – 29. 04. 2020 (Sun – Wed.)
- 05. – 13. 05. 2020 (Sun – Wed.)
- 09. – 07. 10. 2020 (Sun – Wed.)
- 10. – 21. 10. 2020 (Sun – Wed.)
Individual trip – date freely selectable
Dates for groups on request
Please fill in Amount, Reason for Payment/Invoice No. and your Contact Details
DAY 1: OHRID – BERAT (UNESCO)
At the airport, the tour guide and the bus driver will be waiting for you. Continuation to Berat – the city of a thousand windows. You enjoy dinner on the way there. Overnight stay in Berat.
DAY 2: BERAT (UNESCO) – DUKAT
After breakfast, we visit the ethnographic museum. Afterward, we will be on the way to the fortress, where you can see the houses of the families up close, some of whom have lived there for generations. The Onufri Museum, which we will visit, is also located inside the fortress. After our tour on the fortress, we will have lunch in a restaurant inside the fortress. Then we will drive via Fier to Vlora over the Llogara Pass, where we will spend the night. On the way, we will make a small stop at the sea where you can swim or just have a coffee.
DAY 3: DUKAT – TERBAÇ
In the morning we drive to Dukat, where we start the mountain hike. Today and the next 3 days will be accompanied by a local farmer with horses. He will bring 2 – 3 horses/mule or donkey to carry the luggage for the 4 days. If possible, one of two guests should bring a travel bag as luggage. Then always two guests could put their hiking luggage in one travel bag. For the sake of simplicity, the guides will provide about 5 travel bags. Thus, theoretically, all guests can also arrive with the suitcase.
DAY 4: TERBAÇ – KALLARAT
The day hike from Terbac to Kallarat is rather relaxing, even though it is 13 km long. On this day we will walk through the slightly lower-lying plain, which is surrounded by mountains all around. We will get to know the agriculture and cattle breeding in the region.
DAY 5: KALLARAT – PILGRIMAGE
This day hike is the most strenuous day trip. Here, too, the motto is “The early morning has gold in the mouth”. We should reach the highest point by midday and then, accompanied by a spectacular view of the Ionian Sea, we arrive in Pilur. Should the group decide to take an easier version of the trail, there is an alternative route with about 750 meters of altitude difference. However, the hike on the ridge during the second half of the tour is highly recommended.
DAY 6: PILUR – QEPARO-BORSH
The day’s hike from Pilur to Qeparo and Porto Palermo is with 17 km a little bit longer, but relatively easy to walk with only 240 meters up and 800 down. We can shorten the distance a bit if we feel like it and take the bus at the end of the route from Qeparo to Porto Palermo. In the evening we stay overnight in Borsh, the neighboring village of Qeparo. If the weather is fine, you can take a relaxing swim in the sea in the evening.
DAY 7: BORSH – LUKOVE – SARANDA
The seventh day is intended almost exclusively as a beach hike. This leads us along the coast from Borsh to Lukove. If it gets too warm for us, we’ll just be the beautiful bays to enjoy the sun and the sea until the bus comes and drive us back to Saranda, where we will spend two nights.
DAY 8: SARANDA – GJIROKASTER
After breakfast, we will visit the archaeological town of Butrint, a two-hour journey into antiquity through 3,000-year-old ruins of what was once a 4-hectare city that maintained its prosperity through, among other things, lively trade relations with southern Italy. Later transformed into a military base by Caesar, the architecture changed once again and buildings were added to the city. The walk through the formerly independent settlement leads through a shady jungle. Various trees and bushes, whose rustling in the wind is accompanied by chirping birds and cicadas, line the footpath around the small island of Butrint. The tour continues by bus to the “Blue Eye”, a water spring whose crystal-clear, cold water shimmers magically amidst primeval forest plants. Hand-sized, midnight-blue dragonflies, which whirl across the water or throw themselves into the air above the many water lilies, seduce you to step into the enchanted waters with your feet. The cold water is refreshing on a hot day before we continue to Gjirokaster, our next gate into another time.
DAY 9: GJIROKASTER
We spend the 9th day in Gjirokaster and enjoy the flair of the city of stones. We visit old Ottoman mansions, the castle complex with the military museum and the birthplace of Ismail Kadare, the most famous Albanian writer We will look over the shoulders of the stonemasons and embroiderers at work and get to know the old crafts. We will also enjoy the excellent cuisine of the region.
DAY 10: GJIROKASTER – KORCA – POGRADEC
The day is dominated by the drive through the mountain world of southern Albania. About 5 hours bus ride through a stop at the warm thermal spring Benja and at the farm Sotira, where we will have lunch. On the way to Lake Ohrid, we stop in Korca, where we visit the newly renovated bazaar and the impressive Orthodox Cathedral. Our last night we spend in Pogradec.
DAY 11: POGRADEC – SVETI NAUM – OHRID
The last day of the trip takes us around one of the oldest inland waters in the world, Lake Ohrid. First, we visit the Naum Monastery, now a spacious complex with the church, monastery and overnight accommodation for pilgrims. Afterward, we visit the city of Ohrid and finish the journey there before we drive to the airport and start our journey home.
YOUR BAGGAGE HANDLERS::
On this tour, you will also be accompanied by our local guides with mules, who will carry luggage. We put great importance that the animals are in good condition, strong and are friendly. You’ll soon find out that these animals are still used to working and are sure-footed even in difficult places. Also, our bus driver sometimes walks along the route – to keep fit.
