Top cities to visit in Albania

Albania is small enough to string several cities together in a single trip, yet each has a distinct character, with Ottoman, Italian, communist and Mediterranean layers in different measures. Here are the ones worth building an itinerary around.

Tirana, the restless capital

Start in Tirana. In little more than a decade it has gone from grey to giddily colourful, with painted apartment blocks, a pedestrianised centre, the revived Blloku nightlife district and a cable car up Mount Dajti for a view over it all. Give it at least a full day; it is the country's clearest window on where modern Albania is heading.

Berat and Gjirokastër, the stone twins

Both are UNESCO-listed and both are unmissable. Berat, the "city of a thousand windows", stacks white Ottoman houses up a gorge beneath a still-inhabited castle. Gjirokastër, birthplace of the writer Ismail Kadare, is all slate roofs, a stone bazaar and a vast fortress. They pair naturally with a swing through the south.

Shkodër, gateway to the Alps

In the north, Shkodër is the cultural capital of the Albanian highlands, a flat, cycle-friendly city beside its lake and the Rozafa castle. It is the staging post for trips into Theth, Valbona and the Koman ferry.

The coast, Sarandë and Vlorë

On the water, Sarandë is the buzzy southern base for the Riviera and nearby Butrint's ruins, looking across to Corfu. Vlorë, where the Adriatic meets the Ionian, is bigger and increasingly important as its new airport opens up the coast.

How to link them

A classic loop runs Tirana to Berat to Gjirokastër to Sarandë and the Riviera, then back up the coast; add Shkodër and the north if you have a week or more. Roads have improved a lot, but distances take longer than the map suggests, so build in slack. Late spring and early autumn are the sweet spots: warm, uncrowded and kind to city walking.