Introduction to My Sarande Holiday Guide
My Sarande holiday guide gives you an honest insight into what a holiday in Sarande, Albania is really like.
Also, helpful information including our itinerary, details on planning and booking a DIY trip, useful links and top tips – enjoy! (Please note: Sarande is the area, Saranda is the city.)
🗺️ Includes Google Map
Contents
- Introduction to my Sarande Holiday Guide
- Our travel itinerary
- Accommodation:
- Flights, ferry and car hire:
- Our Itinerary
- Saranda:
- Kroreza Beach
- Blue Eye
- Gjirokaster
- Ksamil
- Butrint
- Top tips
- Useful links
Why Albania?
We had become curious about Albania during a trip to Corfu in 2020, from where we could see the Albanian mountains across the water.
My daughter told me that we should go to Sarande for a holiday as it looked like a very beautiful place.
Saranda is only a short ferry ride from Corfu so we decided to spend a week there as an ‘add on’ to our next Corfu holiday. 🔗 (See my Corfu blog: Corfu, Greece)
Our Inspiration:
I was not at all familiar with anything about Albania and could not find any travel books either so all my information about it came from travel bloggers and vloggers from Google and YouTube.
We knew that we were visiting at the worst possible time of year, the summer holidays, but we thought we’d take a look anyway and perhaps return at a quieter time in the future, if we liked what we saw.
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Our Travel Itinerary – How to Get to Saranda:
✈️ Fly from Bristol to Corfu – Easyjet www.easyjet.com
🏨 Corfu Hotel stay (1 night): Sunset Hotel on Booking.com www.sunsethotelcorfu.gr
🚢 Ferry from Corfu to Saranda – Ionian Ferries ionianseaways.com
🏨 Saranda Hotel stay (4 nights) Vila Ahmeti
🚗 Drive from Saranda to Ksamil. Car hire: www.rentalcars.com
🏨 Ksamil hotel stay (3 nights) Mario Apartments
🚗 Drive back to Saranda
🚢 Ferry to Corfu.
Accommodation in Sarande:
I booked two hotels on booking.com, one in Saranda and the other in Ksamil. Be warned, we had two hotels cancel on us in Ksamil, one of them as we turned up, so if you are going to this area be sure to check the hotel hasn’t changed hands.
🌟 Tip: Make sure you ring or message the actual hotel to make sure they have your booking before you go!
Booking.com were not aware that the hotel had changed hands. Luckily for us, the hotel owner immediately found us alternative accommodation so it wasn’t a disaster and Booking.com were also able to find alternative accommodation had we needed it.
Our accommodation for the 7 days cost £700 in total for 5 people. There is a great deal of accommodation choice in Sarande from 5* hotels to private apartments with many at very reasonable rates, especially out of season.
Flights, Ferry and Car Hire:
We flew to Corfu with EasyJet and booked a return ferry with Ionian ferries from Corfu port to Saranda port, (35 mins).
🌟 Tip: It is probably worth catching an earlier flight so you can immediately get the ferry across.
Our flight was a late one, which meant we had to pay for accommodation in Corfu town before our ferry the next day.
There are lots of ferry crossings every day in the summer. The fast ferry only takes 35 minutes but you do need to turn up 1 hour early to get through passport control. The ferries range in price but we paid £40 return each.
We hadn’t arranged car hire for our stay in Saranda town so had to pay £20 for a short taxi ride to our hotel. With hindsight we would have been better off hiring a car from Saranda port for the length of our stay.
🌟 Tip: Car hire is very cheap and taxis are not!
Car hire for our journey to Ksamil was £70 for 3 days; pre booked through rentalcars.com. We also hired a car for one day to visit Blue Eye and Gjirokaster, which cost £50 for the day.
If you’re not keen on driving, a private car transfer can be a convenient alternative, in terms of comfort and flexibility. Daytrip offers door-to-door rides between destinations with local English-speaking drivers, so you can avoid negotiating taxi fares or navigating unfamiliar roads.
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First Impressions: What is Saranda Like?
So what were our first impressions of this former communist country, fairly new (30 years, since it opened its doors) to international tourism?
We found it to be a country of huge contrasts. You can be admiring some beautiful manicured plants next to an enticing restaurant and then turn around to see a derelict building, overflowing bins and a stray dog sitting behind you. Nevertheless, we thought it was a fascinating place, with a great vibe and character.
We saw some of the most beautiful natural wonders and also amazing historical places of interest.
Food, drink and accommodation were half the price of Corfu and the people were friendly and helpful.
Our Sarande Itinerary:
- Day 1. Settle and explore Saranda town.
- Day 2. 🛥️ Boat trip to Kroreza Beach with Rei Dos Mares (@reidosmaressaranda on Instagram)
- Day 3. Morning: Blue Eye
- Afternoon: Gjirokaster
- Day 4. Drive to Ksamil
- Day 5. 🏖️ Explore beaches in Ksamil. 🍹 Cocktails at Vamos Bar
- Day 6. Morning: visit Butrint
🏖️ Afternoon: Ohana Beach
- Day 7. 🚗 Drive back to Saranda Port. 🚢 Ferry to Corfu.
Things to Do in Saranda:
Saranda is a small hilly city next to the Ionian sea, full of tall white buildings that have an eastern block coastal appearance to them.
It has a large promenade along the water’s edge, lined with palm trees, numerous shops, hotels, bars and restaurants, a harbour and a pebbled public beach.
At night time, the place is buzzing with many people meandering, enjoying an evening stroll along the prom. The restaurants and bars are beautifully lit and it is a lovely place to be. There are lots of families and it has a vibrant but safe atmosphere.
There are appealing restaurants serving Mediterranean food, heavily influenced by Greek and Italian dishes.
We also went to a restaurant called Oda e Babes that specialises in typical traditional Albanian food, which we were very impressed by and thought it was all delicious.
Food and wine for 5 of us cost around £50 most places we went. Cocktails were £5 on average at seafront locations.
Kroreza Beach:
There are a variety of places to visit in the area of Sarande. Many trips can be booked on ‘Get Your Guide’ and ‘Viator’ but I took a recommendation from a travel blogger and went on a boat trip with Rei dos Mares.
We messaged them the day before we wanted to go to reserve our places. We paid £30 each for a boat trip to a beautiful beach called Kroreza and the trip included free soft drinks all day and sandwiches.
Kroreza beach is stunning, with crystal clear water, along a white pebbled shoreline. It was amazing and certainly, one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to.
We spent the whole day sunbathing, swimming, snorkelling and diving off the boat into the water. You can relax without being bothered by the crowds of tourists that you find at the other beaches in the area; definitely worth the trip.
Other places we wanted to visit while we were in Albania were the Blue Eye and the town of Gjirokaster.
🌟 Tip: The day trips advertised online were extremely expensive so we decided it would be far cheaper to hire a car for one day than book an organised tour, which cost around £70 per person – car hire was only £50 for the day.
Blue Eye:
The “Blue Eye” (Syri i Kaltër) is a natural water spring; the clear blue water of the river can be seen from a depth of more than fifty metres. Divers have descended to fifty metres, but it is still unclear what the actual depth of the hole is.
You can view the Blue Eye from a platform just above and you can paddle in the river surrounding it.
Gazing into the Blue Eye is truly mesmerising and you can take fantastic photographs and videos. It is forbidden to jump from the platform into the water but you can enter further down next to the cafe.
The water is only 10 degrees and feels freezing compared to the temperature outside, like pins stabbing you. It was too cold for my liking but my children thought it was refreshing and withstood the temperature for a lot longer than me.
There is a large cafe alongside the river, plenty of toilet facilities and a huge car park which is less than a mile from the Blue Eye.
We took photos from the platform, paddled in the river and had a coffee – we all thoroughly enjoyed it.
Gjirokaster:
Gjirokaster is a small town located in a valley between the Gjere mountains and the Drino.
The town is overlooked by Gjirokaster castle, a well preserved and impressive ancient castle with spectacular views.
Gjirokaster is picturesque and unique with special souvenir shops selling handmade goods, cafes and restaurants, with warm and welcoming locals.
We stopped for lunch in the sunshine, pottered around the shops and castle and had a wonderful afternoon.
We spent our last day in Saranda chilling by the hotel pool, had a walk down to the public beach (which wasn’t the best) – and shopping.
🌟 Tip: The shops are ideal if you are looking for amazing reps (fake labels) or hand made clothes.
I bought a beautiful dress which the lady adjusted the length for me and my son bought classic “Nike” trainers.
Things to Do in Ksamil:
We picked up our hire car from Saranda Port and drove to Ksamil, which we had read was the ‘Maldives of Europe’. From the Instagram pictures, a stretch of beaches, all with white sand compliment beautiful clear water.
The drive into Ksamil at this time of year is very busy and is a slow crawl with police directing the traffic.
I am sure that during quieter times of year, the beaches are stunning in Ksamil but during the summer holidays, they are overcrowded, playing loud music and very expensive.
The beaches are mostly privately owned so in order to stay, you must hire a sunbed and some sunbed prices are extortionate – up to 70 Euros each. We paid 10 Euros each for a sunbed at Paradise beach, which had cloudy water, was extremely busy with litter everywhere and unfortunately disappointing.
Ohana Beach:
On our second day in Ksamil, we visited a beach called Ohana beach, which is one of the last beaches around the cove and so a bit further out.
The sunbeds were only 5 Euros each because we had the last ones, and it was less crowded.
The water was beautiful and clear because of its location. There was a lovely restaurant, toilet facilities and friendly staff – in our opinion, the best beach in Ksamil at this time of year!
Ksamil has lots of restaurants and bar choices, and although slightly more expensive than Saranda, it was generally reasonably priced for a tourist hotspot.
🌟Tip: One bar we particularly loved during happy hour was Vamos – friendly staff and delicious cocktails – highly recommended!
Butrint:
On our last day, we visited Butrint, only a 15 minute car journey from Ksamil.
Butrint (from 800 BC) was an ancient Greek polis and later Roman city. It is a UNESCO site and there is a great deal to see. It is well preserved and includes the remains of an amphitheatre, an acropolis and palace.
The surrounding nature makes it all the more captivating and you can easily spend a couple of hours here, walking around the ruins and the lake.
After a fun packed 7 days in Sarande, we left Ksamil to catch the ferry back over to Corfu.
🔗 Blog to read: See my Corfu blog!
Conclusion:
Albania is a wonderful country, which has a lot to offer, natural beauty, culture and amazing historic sites. It is great value for money. compared to other European destinations.
The beaches are too busy in the summer holidays, so I would recommend going slightly off season in June or September.
We plan to go back there, at a quieter time of year, so we can really enjoy the serene beaches, without the crowds.
If you are planning a holiday to Corfu, it is a great add on to your trip. There is so much to see and explore – and overall we were very impressed and really glad we did it.
🔗 Read my Albania article on The Little Adventure Club website – where families share their travels and all their best tips!
👉 Crossing Borders: A Family Guide From Corfu to Albania
🌟 Top Tips:
- Albania has a closed currency so you cannot buy Lek outside of Albania. You can withdraw money while you are there and can pay in Lek and Euros. It is very much a cash system so best to take Euros and not use the ATMs.
- Try not to use taxis as they are very expensive. It is much cheaper to hire a car for the duration of your stay. Driving in the centre of Saranda is tricky but outside of the centre is fine. There are public buses too and you can find information about them on the Visit Saranda website (see below).
- Always check your accommodation booking with the actual hotel as there is a high turnover of owners.
- Try to visit outside of the school holidays because it is crazy busy and more expensive.
Useful Links:
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