Himarë
A laid-back coastal town between Llogara and the Riviera, base for hidden beaches like Livadhi and Filikuri.
The Riviera's laid-back middle
If Sarandë is the gateway and Dhërmi is the party, Himarë is the Riviera you actually want to slow down in. It's a small coastal town built around a sheltered bay, with an old stone village climbing the hill behind it and a string of gorgeous, less-trafficked beaches spilling out to either side. Greek is spoken here as often as Albanian — Himarë has a centuries-old Greek-speaking community — and the pace is unmistakably Ionian: long lunches, late swims, nobody in a hurry.
This is the place on the Riviera where you can still find a beach with room to breathe in August, if you're willing to walk five minutes past the obvious one.
Where to base yourself
Himarë town puts you on the main beach with tavernas and shops at your back — easy and central. For something quieter and prettier, the beaches on either side each have their own cluster of guesthouses: Livadhi just north is the big sandy stretch with beach bars; Potami and Spile sit right in town; Llamani and Jale to the south are smaller coves loved by a younger crowd. Rooms here are noticeably cheaper than Ksamil or Sarandë for similar water — €40–€90 in summer. See what's open on our Himarë hotels page.
The essentials
Spend your mornings on the beaches — our Himarë beaches list ranks them by sand, water and access. Climb up to the Old Village (Himarë Kastro), a semi-abandoned stone settlement inside a hilltop castle with staggering views over the coast; go near sunset. Eat at least one long seafood lunch at a taverna with its feet in the sand. And if you have a car, the drive north over the Llogara Pass — hairpins climbing from sea level to 1,000 metres of pine forest — is one of the great coastal roads in the Balkans.
Getting here and around
Himarë sits midway along the Riviera coast road, about 45 minutes north of Sarandë and an hour south of Vlorë. Buses run the coast route daily in season; a rental car is by far the best way to reach the scattered beaches and to tackle Llogara. Parking in town is tight in August — arrive before 10am. Our full Himarë guide below has the beach-by-beach breakdown and the best tavernas.
Top hotels · Himarë
Himarë4.2Trip'n'Hostel Seaside Himara
Trip'n'Hostel Seaside Himara runs on backpacker energy — boat parties, communal dinners, and a host named Tony who reviewers credit with sorting onward bookings and generally looking after the crowd, plus a resident guard dog who walks guests to the beach. That beach is genuinely close, and the six-bed dorms have sea views to match. It's not polished: a few reviewers flag tired mattresses and a musty smell in the rooms, and nights can run loud until the music cuts around midnight. At 4.2 from 101 reviews, it reads as exactly what it advertises — a social, budget base for the Riviera, not a quiet retreat.
Himarë4.7Alex Bed and Breakfast
On a hillside along Spiro Milo road above Himarë, Alex Bed and Breakfast trades a short walk to the beach for a view most seafront hotels can't match — mountains behind, ocean ahead, seen from a furnished balcony in every room. Hosts Spiro and Liza run the place personally, and guests arriving off season have had breakfast brought to their room rather than served downstairs, along with a pair of resident dogs that seem to double as unofficial welcoming committee. With 135 reviews at 4.7, it's the kind of stay travellers extend on impulse rather than the one they originally booked.
Himarë4.9Koks’ Guesthouse
A short stroll from one of Himarë's liveliest stretches of shops, cafés and restaurants, Koks' Guesthouse pairs sea-facing rooms with the kind of attentiveness that gets guests promising to return — host Theodora is named again and again for smoothing out arrivals and pointing people toward the right beach. Breakfast draws praise for its variety rather than the usual bread-and-jam routine, and families with young children specifically flag the space as comfortable rather than cramped. At 4.9 from 115 reviews, it's a small operation that punches well above its size.
Himarë4.8ELÉA Guesthouse Himare
ELÉA Guesthouse perches on a hillside above Himarë bay, and nearly every review circles back to Christina, the host, whose family runs the place with a warmth guests call the real reason to stay — she's been known to pack sandwiches and drinks for guests leaving before dawn. The view is the other constant: rooms and the on-site restaurant look straight down over the water, and sunset from the terrace gets mentioned often enough to plan an evening around. One traveller who booked four nights said they could have stayed a week. At 4.8 from 114 reviews, breakfast is called excellent.
Himarë4.8Endless Blue Himara
Endless Blue sits at the quiet end of Himarë's beach promenade, close enough to walk everywhere yet far enough that the sound guests fall asleep to is the sea rather than the bars further along. The owner answers WhatsApp messages within minutes, reviewers say, and once rearranged a room for a guest landing at five in the morning; the running joke, repeated across multiple reviews, is that the in-room hairdryer barely works, so pack your own. Balconies give a spot to dry swimsuits and drink morning coffee, and at 4.8 from 116 reviews, it is a small property with an outsized reputation.
Himarë4.6Hotel Karos Llaman
Now in its third generation — the family has run this property for seventy years — Hotel Karos was recently refurbished without losing the feel guests describe as personal rather than corporate. It sits about twenty minutes on foot from central Himarë, a quiet remove that George at the front desk turns into an asset with restaurant recommendations and genuinely helpful local knowledge. Sea views come standard, breakfast draws consistent praise, and free parking is called out often enough to matter for anyone arriving by car or motorbike. A 4.6 from 190 reviews reflects a place that trades bustle for calm on purpose.
Top beaches · Himarë
HimarëMateus beach
Mateus beach folds into the coastline south of Himarë, one of the smaller coves that doesn't show up on most itineraries and hasn't yet built up a review history to match. The shore mixes sand and pebble underfoot, typical of this stretch of Riviera where each bay behind a headland tends to differ from the last. Without past visitors' comments to draw on, treat it as a scouting trip: pack water shoes for the transition zone near the waterline and don't expect facilities beyond what you bring yourself.
HimarëPlazhi i Filikurit
Plazhi i Filikurit lies along the Himarë stretch of the Albanian Riviera, one of the smaller coves tucked between the region's headline beaches rather than sitting on the main coastal road itself. The shoreline mixes sand and pebble, and with no reviews on record yet, it stays off most itineraries built around Himarë's better-marketed neighbours. Worth the detour if solitude matters more to you than a beach bar within easy reach.
HimarëPlazhi i Livadhit
The name means 'meadow,' and Plazhi i Livadhit lives up to it with a backdrop of green terraces behind its pebble shoreline, a contrast to the bare limestone that frames most of Himarë's coast. It sits along the town's edge rather than deep in the surrounding hills, so it is easy to reach without giving up the quieter, less commercial feel that draws people past the main Himarë beach in the first place. Expect loose stones underfoot rather than sand, and pack accordingly.
Himarë4.5Plazhi i Akuariumit
Plazhi i Akuariumit hides about twenty minutes on foot south of Jalë, down a potholed track that's better walked than driven, which is exactly why 816 reviewers still rate it 4.5 stars despite the effort. What waits at the bottom is a small cove of rock and mixed sand with startlingly clear water — reviewers keep coming back for the snorkelling, pointing to underwater rock formations just south of the cove — plus a modest drinks stall rather than a full beach bar. Expect it busiest by midday and blissfully quiet if you show up on an October afternoon.
Himarë4.3Plazhi i Llamanit
Plazhi i Llamanit runs private in practice — parking and beach access both belong to the resort operating here, and the 'free parking' signage applies only to paying guests, so factor that in before you drive down. Off-season it empties out almost completely; by August the sunbeds sit close enough together that stretching out takes some negotiating, though the restaurant behind Mumbas draws praise for its food and coffee as much as the sea view. One reviewer flagged the jet-ski rental as capped well below advertised speed, so confirm terms before paying.
HimarëMarachi
Marachi keeps a low profile along the Riviera south of Himarë, a sand beach without the review trail that's built up around better-known spots on this coast. That relative obscurity is its own selling point on a stretch known for getting packed in July and August — fewer crowds, fewer facilities, and a better shot at finding your own patch of shore. Come prepared with your own umbrella, water and food, and treat the drive down as part of the appeal rather than an inconvenience.
Top restaurants · Himarë
Himarë4.8Fast Food AJANI
Tucked down a pathway off Himarë's promenade — easy to walk past if you're not looking — Fast Food AJANI has racked up a 4.8 rating from 707 reviews on a menu that stays firmly in burger-and-sandwich territory. The crispy chicken combo and fish sandwich draw the most repeat mentions, and a smash burger with charred onions has its own following among regulars. One staff member in an orange hat comes up often enough in reviews to count as a house fixture. Not every visit lands — a couple of diners flagged thin portions — but the volume of five-star reviews suggests those are the exception.
Himarë4.9Tonea's All Day Brunch & Café
Tonea's sits just back from Livadi beach in Himarë, built around the kind of all-day brunch menu that's rare on this stretch of coast — club sandwiches, watermelon-and-feta salad, smoothies. The kitchen will happily swap pork for chicken cutlets without fuss, a small detail that keeps regulars loyal. Prices run higher than typical Albanian cafés and a card surcharge catches some visitors off guard, but with a 4.9 average from 300-plus reviews, the food and warm service mostly settle the argument.
Himarë4.7Taverna PiroΣia
Taverna PiroΣia trades on a Greek name, but what lands on the table tells a different story - plate after plate of Albanian mountain cooking, from tender lamb Juvetsi in orzo to chicken pilaf, all served in a leafy garden that feels more like a family's backyard than a restaurant. The owner tends to walk the tables himself, steering newcomers toward the lamb on the spit and finishing the meal with fruit on the house. With 4.7 stars across 924 reviews, it has become the place regulars in Himarë send visitors past the seafood terraces down on the coast.
Himarë4.5Piazza Restaurant
Piazza sits directly on Himare's beachfront along the SH8, and its menu splits confidently between two registers — a wood-fired pizza oven visible from the dining room, and a Mediterranean seafood list built around a shrimp-in-tomato-and-garlic dish reviewers call the standout. A shrimp moussaka turns up as an unexpected favourite alongside grilled calamari and a T-bone steak, evidence of a kitchen that doesn't limit itself to one lane. Over a thousand Google reviews average 4.5, with several visitors returning a second night on the same trip just to work through more of the menu.
Himarë4.7Fig and Olive
Fig and Olive sits on a hilltop above Himarë, and the view is the whole point — reviewers name it their top pick on the entire Riviera for how the sea catches the light at sunset and how lanterns take over once dark falls. The wine list gets consistent praise, and the kitchen's flavour holds up even as the place fills fast; book ahead, because tables go quickly once word spreads through a busy evening crowd. With 860 reviews behind a 4.7 rating, its reputation is well earned, if occasionally noisy at peak hours.
Himarë4.7Grill & more by Çunat
Çunat's grill has quietly become one of Himarë's most consistent kitchens, with a mixed seafood fry and a sea bream that reviewers single out repeatedly, alongside grilled meats and a Greek salad with tzatziki that round out most tables' orders. The gesture that keeps coming up is a complimentary raki offered without being asked — a small touch that reviewers read as genuine rather than routine. With 4.7 stars from 1,255 reviews, the cozy, authentic atmosphere gets nearly as much credit as the food itself.
Top hiking trails · Himarë
Himarë4.4Himare Pilur
Reviewers who've made the climb up from Pilur keep returning to the same details: at least eleven Cold War bunkers scattered along the way, a genuinely rocky stretch where proper shoes matter, and a final kilometre on foot after the car gives out at the last houses in the village, ending with the option to swim once you reach the water. One walker mentions a locked gate blocking access on a recent visit, so it's worth checking conditions locally before setting out — but with a 4.4 rating from 20 reviews, the consensus leans strongly toward calm, quiet, and a scramble worth the stony final stretch.
HimarëHiking trail Nivica-Bolena
The path linking Nivicë and Bolenë threads through the limestone hinterland above Himarë, where dry-stone terraces and wild sage give way to views of the Ionian far below. Locals still use stretches of it to move between hamlets, so expect narrow mule tracks rather than manicured signage. No length or difficulty rating is logged yet, so treat it as an off-the-beaten-path option and ask in Himarë before setting out.
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