Qeparo — Two-village authentic Riviera escape

Qeparo is really two villages wearing the same name, and understanding that is the key to the place. High on the hillside sits Qeparo i Sipërm, the old stone settlement, its Ottoman-era houses and cobbled lanes draped in olive trees and half-abandoned to time. Down by the water lies Qeparo i Poshtëm, a quiet strip of guesthouses and tavernas along a long pebble beach. Between the two runs a ribbon of cypress, orange groves and sea view — and almost none of the crowds that swamp Himarë just up the coast.

When to visit

June and September are the sweet spot: warm sea, long light, and space to breathe. July and August bring Albanian and diaspora families and a livelier beach, but Qeparo never feels overrun the way Ksamil does. Spring is glorious for walking the olive terraces of the upper village, and by late October most tavernas wind down.

Where to stay and what to eat

Accommodation is mostly small, family-run guesthouses and a scatter of rooms above the beach — book ahead in high summer, as the village is deliberately low-rise. Eat where the day's catch dictates the menu: grilled sea bass and bream, octopus, mountain greens, and the local olive oil that has fed this coast for centuries. The oranges and figs here are worth seeking out, and a strong Turkish-style coffee in the old village at dusk is the whole point of coming.

What not to miss

Walk up to Qeparo i Sipërm in the cool of the morning or the gold of late afternoon. Wander the stone lanes, find the old church and the defensive tower, and look back down over the whole sweep of coast toward Borsh's endless beach. It is one of the Riviera's most honest views — no resorts, just terraces, sea and silence.

Qeparo rewards the traveller who slows down. Give it two nights, split your time between the upper village and the shore, and you will leave with the sense of having seen the Riviera as it was before the boom.