Hirame to Sarande, Albanian Riviera

After our Greek dinner of Musaka and roast stuffed veggies, we pulled up a seat in the back street tavern to play some cards before bed. The table next to ours was well into a session to say the least. Endless rounds of beers, red wine and shots accompanied by sporadic toasts and laughs. At one stage they realised they may be disturbing us so offered for us to join the chaos. However, I'm guessing the invitation was likely only so Jessie could chat with his wife and keep him out of trouble that little bit longer 🤷‍♂️.

Regardless of ulterior motives, the Russian wife actually gave us some great advice for what were must-see places along the coast. She explained that Albania is littered with old ruins of castles and that all are worth stopping to see if we have the time. Also that Gjirokastër and the Blue Eye were essential! We had seen them pop up on the map as feature locations but hadn’t paid them much attention as they were inland and away from our initial coastal itinerary. To this point, we hadn’t thought we’d go further south than Himare. With the weather forecast still showing showers and clouds for the majority of the next 2 days we decided to head down to Sarande and decide from there.

What turned into almost another whole day of driving, our first stop was Porto Palermo Castle. An old prison fortress was constructed on a small island. The island had a land bridge that provided overwatch to a protected bay that had previously been used as a safe landing point for ships. From there we drove to Borsht Castle set atop a mountain peak with a mosque built on the site much more recent than the original castle ruins.

We made it to Sarande in time to make our own sandwiches for lunch. Having learnt from the previous day we knew not to expect anywhere would be open. Sarande was much bigger and more populated than we expected. By far the most touristy centre of the whole Riviera, the beach and marina are extremely well maintained and a beautiful place to wander along.

With rain forecast for the evening, we found a hotel room by cold-calling an empty reception. Five minutes later a guy showed up and gave us a room. Good enough for us for the night. Dinner was a delicious backed fish and a series of other Greek-inspired sides at a great restaurant overlooking the water with an eclectic collection of items decorating the bar.Read more