Top 10 things to do in Albania

Albania packs an outsized amount of variety into a country you can drive across in a day. In a single trip you can swim in Ionian turquoise, hike a glacial valley, and wander an Ottoman old town — often within the same week. Here are the ten experiences we send every first-timer toward.

Coast, mountains and old towns

1. Drive the Albanian Riviera. The stretch from Vlorë to Sarandë — over the Llogara Pass and down through Dhërmi, Himarë and Borsh — is the country's headline act. Expect pebble coves, olive terraces and water that turns almost fluorescent in June light.

2. Wander Berat and Gjirokastër. These two UNESCO-listed Ottoman towns are Albania at its most photogenic: Berat's stacked white houses ("the city of a thousand windows") and Gjirokastër's slate-roofed bazaar beneath a hilltop castle.

3. Hike Theth to Valbona. The classic crossing of the Accursed Mountains (Bjeshkët e Nemuna) is a full day over an alpine pass, linking two of the north's most beautiful valleys. Guesthouses and hearty mountain food wait at each end.

4. Take the Koman Lake ferry. The morning boat through this flooded canyon, all vertical limestone and hidden hamlets, is one of Europe's great overlooked journeys — and the usual gateway to Valbona.

Cities, ruins and the table

5. Give Tirana two days. The capital's Skanderbeg Square, the Blloku café scene, and the Bunk'Art museums inside Cold War bunkers reward slow exploration.

6. Stand inside Butrint. Near Sarandë, this layered Greek-Roman-Venetian site sits in a quiet lagoon — arguably the country's finest ruin.

7. Find the Blue Eye. Syri i Kaltër, a startlingly blue karst spring, makes an easy stop between Gjirokastër and the coast.

8. Eat everything. Work through byrek, tavë kosi, grilled Riviera seafood and a glass of raki you didn't order but can't refuse.

9. Climb to Krujë castle. Skanderbeg's mountain stronghold above Tirana comes with the best old bazaar in the country.

10. Slow down by a lake. Trade the coast for Ohrid at Pogradec or the wetlands of Lake Shkodër — Albania's gentle, freshwater side.

Ten is a starting point, not a limit — but tick these off and you'll have seen the four Albanias: coast, mountains, cities and table.