Alison

~ Amazing Albania – Corfu to Sarande ~

This is the first in a series of posts about our wonderful visit to Albania. It’s an 11 day itinerary where we visited coasts, mountains and cities.

We checked out of the Odysseus Hotel in Corfu and took the bus to Corfu Port for our ferry to Sarande. Just €10 for a one way crossing which I thought was good value including luggage. The slow crossing takes around 75 minutes and the fast 30 minutes. We took the slow ferry and were able to go back and forth outside.

Last views of Corfu
Goodbye Corfu

Sarande is the gateway to the Albanian Riviera and around 33,000 people live here. In recent years there has been a steady increase in the number of overseas visitors and cruise ships. Several people I mentioned it to didn’t know where it was or if it was safe to travel there.

First glimpses of Sarande from the ferry

I was surprised to see how built up it was, with hotels and apartments jostling for space on the seafront and the streets behind.

Researching this trip took many weeks, with hotels booked, cancelled and rebooked. Changes in destinations, lots of reading other articles and blogs about where to go and not to go, I felt like I knew the place like the back of my hand.

Our hotel was just a five minute walk from the port and even though we were early for check in our room was ready. The Royal Sarande Hotel was right on the sea front, it sounds grand but it was a small family run boutique hotel. We had a tiny verandah attached to our room overlooking the beach. It was in the perfect spot and Jimmy and his wife and staff looked after us admirably.

View from our balcony
Happy Hour on our first night

There is a boulevard along the seafront that stretches for one kilometre that comes alive at night. The locals come out in the evening for a stroll and get together with friends. With so many restaurants that line the promenade it was hard to make a choice.

It’s hard to imagine from these scenes that this country was once locked in from outsiders and overruled by the harsh dictator Enva Hoxha. Some of these locals would have lived their early lives in brutal conditions, as we later came to see and learn. That night there was a fish festival going on and there were many food stalls selling all kinds of seafoods and long tables to sit and eat. There was also a music concert with different bands performing. All in all it was a fun and vibrant atmosphere.

Our first dinner in Sarande
Lekursi Castle on top of the
hill
MS Westerdam

Waking up one morning we saw that a large cruise ship from the Holland America line had docked. We sat and watched each life boat being lowered and taken to shore. The passengers were met by coaches to begin their day of sightseeing. We did meet some of these passengers later when we walked up to Lekursi Castle.

We were both looking forward to seeing more of Sarande over the next couple of days with visits to Butrint and Lekursi Castle planned.

24 comments

  2. What a beautiful trip and what great photos. A few years ago we played a soccer tournament in Tirana (Albania), between the trainings before the tournament we also visited the coast with the team. After the tournament we traveled on, through the interior of Albania to Kosovo. It was an unforgettable trip!

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  13. Ah we didn’t go here, our base on the riviera was Himare. It’s encouraging to read that you enjoyed Albania, it’s so unknown and visited by so few people. In fact I think you’re the first people other than us that we know to have been there. There is so much beauty around the country.

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