Porto Palermo Castle

Himara Castle

Himara's hilltop ruins mix sea and mountain in a single sweep, which is the main reason people make the steep but manageable climb from town, free of charge on most visits. A handful of small cafés operate inside the walls, and an old church has survived in better shape than the rest of the fortifications, giving the site a lived-in feel rather than a purely archaeological one. Come in shoulder season and you may have the ruins nearly to yourself; arrive for sunset in July or August and expect company, since the light over the Ionian from up here is genuinely worth the 4.3 rating from over 1,500 reviewers.