7-Day Albanian Highlights — Self-Launched: South to North Under Your Own Steam

Fly into Tirana (Nënë Tereza) and take the Rinas Express airport bus into the centre (~300 lek / £3, runs roughly hourly from outside arrivals). Drop your bag at a hostel or guesthouse in the Blloku or Old Town area. Spend the afternoon doing your own walking loop: Skanderbeg Square, the Et'hem Bey Mosque, the Orthodox Cathedral, then Bunk'Art 2 (entry ~500 lek / £4.50), the nuclear bunker museum under the Ministry of Internal Affairs — best visited with the free audio guide. End at Pazari i Ri new market for byrek, grilled peppers and a coffee. Free guided walking tours of Tirana (tips-based, ~£5-10 tip) run twice daily from Skanderbeg Square if you want a local to set the scene. Book your onward bus to Shkoder tonight or just turn up at the North/South bus terminal in the morning.

🚌Airport bus ~£3; everything else on foot

🛏Hostel dorm or private room, Blloku/Old Town (~£15-20)

• →Skanderbeg Square and Et'hem Bey Mosque
• →Bunk'Art 2 (self-guided with audio)
• →Pazari i Ri market food crawl
• →Optional tips-based city walking tour

Take a city bus or furgon from Tirana's North bus terminal to Kruje (~1 hour, 200-300 lek / £2.50). Walk the cobbled Old Bazaar, then climb to Skanderbeg Castle and the Skanderbeg Museum (entry ~400 lek / £3.50) for the view over the coastal plain. Have lunch in the bazaar. In the afternoon head back down and pick up a furgon or bus onward to Shkoder (~2 hours, ~400-500 lek / £4); if connections look slow, the fast option is a shared taxi from Tirana to Shkoder (~£8-10 per seat). Check into a guesthouse near Gjuhadol. Late afternoon, walk the Pjaca pedestrian street and up to Rozafa Castle (entry ~400 lek / £3.50) for sunset over Lake Shkoder.

🚌Furgon Tirana–Kruje ~£2.50; furgon Kruje–Shkoder ~£4

🛏Guesthouse in Shkoder centre (~£15-18)

• →Kruje Old Bazaar and Skanderbeg Museum
• →Pjaca walk in Shkoder
• →Rozafa Castle at sunset

There is no direct fast line from Shkoder to Berat, so plan the day around travel: take an early furgon/bus Shkoder–Tirana (~2 hours, ~£4) and connect at Tirana's South terminal for Berat (~2.5 hours, ~£4). You'll arrive early afternoon. Check into a guesthouse in the Mangalem quarter — staying inside the UNESCO old town is the whole point. Walk the Mangalem and Gorica quarters, cross the Gorica Bridge and wander the steep whitewashed lanes. Save Berat Castle for the morning light if you're short on time, or go up now for late-afternoon views. Optional: a wine tasting at one of Berat's small family wineries (~£22 / €25) or a home visit for Turkish coffee and gliko (fruit preserve) — ask your guesthouse to arrange it, ~£5.

🚌Bus/furgon Shkoder–Tirana ~£4 + Tirana–Berat ~£4

🛏Guesthouse in Mangalem, Berat (~£18-22)

• →Mangalem and Gorica UNESCO quarters
• →Gorica Bridge
• →Optional wine tasting (~£22)
• →Optional Turkish coffee and gliko home visit (~£5)

Take an early bus from Berat to Fier or directly toward Vlore and get off at Pojan for Apollonia (~1.5-2 hours, ~£3-4) — the ruins sit on a hill above the village, with the archaeological museum, the monastery and Church of St. Mary all inside the same walled site (entry ~400 lek / £3.50). Getting onward from Pojan can be fiddly, so time it: walk or take a local taxi down to the Fier road and flag a southbound bus to Gjirokaster (~2-2.5 hours, ~£4-5). Arrive Gjirokaster in the late afternoon, check into a stone-house guesthouse in the old town, then climb to Gjirokaster Castle (entry ~400 lek / £3.50) before it closes, or do it first thing tomorrow. Walk the bazaar and eat qifqi and byrek for dinner.

🚌Bus Berat–Pojan ~£4; bus/taxi onward to Gjirokaster ~£5

🛏Guesthouse in Gjirokaster old town (~£18-22)

• →Apollonia archaeological site and museum
• →Gjirokaster Castle
• →Gjirokaster bazaar and old town

Morning bus or furgon from Gjirokaster down to Saranda (~1.5 hours, ~£3), drop bags at a hostel near the seafront. From Saranda take the local Ksamil bus (~30 min, ~£1) or a shared taxi (~£4 per seat) to Butrint National Park. Entry is ~1,000 lek / £9 including the museum — the site is genuinely self-guidable with the free map and signage, and it's the highlight of the whole trip: Roman baths, a theatre, a Byzantine basilica and the Vivari channel. Optional boat trip on the channel ~£22 / €25. After lunch, head to the Ksamil islands for a swim and an afternoon on the sand, then bus back to Saranda for sunset and seafood on the promenade.

🚌Bus Gjirokaster–Saranda ~£3; local bus to Butrint/Ksamil ~£2

🛏Hostel or budget hotel in Sarande (~£18-25)

• →Butrint National Park (self-guided)
• →Ksamil islands beach afternoon
• →Optional Butrint boat trip (~£22)
• →Saranda promenade sunset

This is a scenery day best done from a bus window. Buses and furgons run the coast road Saranda–Vlore (roughly 4-5 hours end to end, ~£6-8); alternatively, a shared minivan transfer booked through your hostel costs ~£15-20 and is more flexible about photo stops. Stop off at Porto Palermo Castle (entry ~300 lek / £2.50) to swim in the bay and see Ali Pasha's fortress, and get off at Dhermi for the old stone village up the hill and a beach break at Drymades. Re-board for the run north past the Llogara Pass viewpoint to Vlore. Check into a guesthouse or budget hotel near the promenade and eat in the old town — Vlore has the best-value seafood on the coast.

🚌Coastal bus/furgon Saranda–Vlore ~£7 (or ~£18 shared transfer with stops)

🛏Guesthouse or budget hotel in Vlore (~£18-25)

• →Porto Palermo Castle and bay swim
• →Dhermi Old Village and Drymades beach
• →Llogara Pass viewpoint
• →Vlore old town dinner

Take a local bus or furgon north from Vlore toward Fier (~1 hour, ~£2.50) and ask to get off at the Zvernec turn-off — from there it's a short walk or a ~£3 local taxi to the footbridge. Cross to Zvernec Island and the Byzantine Monastery of St. Mary (small entry, ~£1-2); it's a quiet, atmospheric stop few tour groups reach on their own. Continue by bus toward Fier or Lushnje and detour to Ardenica Monastery (~2.50 entry), then bus to Divjaka for the Karavasta Lagoon and its wooden watchtower — the pelican-viewing boardwalk is self-guided and free, though a local boat trip (~£10-15) is only possible when the water level allows. From Divjaka take a bus to Lushnje then a Tirana-bound bus or furgon (~2 hours total, ~£4-5). Finish back at your Tirana hostel or head straight to the airport bus (~£3).

🚌Bus Vlore–Fier ~£2.50; local taxi ~£3; buses via Lushnje to Tirana ~£5; optional airport bus ~£3

🛏Tirana hostel or night bus/evening flight home

• →Zvernec Island and St. Mary's Monastery
• →Ardenica Monastery
• →Karavasta Lagoon and Divjaka Park boardwalk
• →Optional lagoon boat trip (~£10-15)