5 Most Beautiful Places in the Albanian Riviera 🇦🇱 | 4K Travel Guide

Looking for a place to travel in the Mediterranean this summer that isn't crowded and won't break the bank while still being absolutely beautiful? Well look no further. The stretch on the Adriatic and Ionian coast from the Albanian city of Vlora in the north to the sleepy town of Xamil in the south makes up the hidden gem of the Mediterranean, the Albanian Riviera. Here you can find some of the best hidden and most underrated beaches in Europe. It's a perfect place to holiday as it's filled with immense natural beauty from its countless unspoiled beaches with cascading Albanian Alps in the background and is filled with great nightlife, restaurants, food, and an unmatched vibe. With so many choices to go in this relatively unknown area I know it can be overwhelming so I'll detail some of the main highlights to help you plan your next vacation. This is one of my many travel guides and I have so many more coming up so make sure you like and subscribe for more. Vlora is a harbor city that holds special meaning for the Albanians as this is where the country declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire at the start of the 20th century. It's the northernmost point of the Albanian Riviera and a place where the Albanian Alps meets its shores which are bathed by the Adriatic and Ionian seas. As a result it's one of the most popular tourist destinations in Albania. It's the biggest city in the region and is about a three hour bus ride from Tidana that costs about four euros one way and it has a large port that connects to Brindisi and Puglia, Italy and I made a complete travel guide for Puglia so make sure you click the link above. The city itself is pretty and filled with bars, restaurants, and cafes and has a pretty good nightlife which is on this large boardwalk which absolutely comes to life during the nighttime. The beach in the city proper isn't very impressive but if you don't want to go too far it's a nice place to pass the time. However there are countless beaches on the coastline just outside that you should check out although I recommend that you rent a car as the bus system is a bit hard to decipher and it's also too far to walk. There are many different beaches, beach clubs, and small towns, On top of that I recommend doing a day tour to the peninsula across the bay. It takes you to this absolutely gorgeous and unspoiled beach that used to be on the shores of a communist base. You also get to go to a pirate cove and you spend some time at this absolutely gorgeous beach club that's really secluded. Overall I rate Vloda an 8 out of 10. It's a beautiful city right on the coast filled with so many nice restaurants and good nightlife and there's just so many beautiful beaches and towns to explore just outside. I recommend that you base yourself here for at least two days to give yourself enough time to check out the city and explore the surrounding areas. About a two-hour bus ride from Vloda is the next place I recommend you base yourself in, Saranda. It's on the opposite side of the Albanian Riviera and is often referred to as the heart of the Albanian Riviera. It's a quintessential Mediterranean destination and completely underrated and overlooked by its much more famous neighboring coastlines. It's hard to beat though with its unreal beaches and day trips in the immediate surrounding areas and for only about half the cost. The city itself is gorgeous. It's defined by its massive boardwalk where the majority of the activity takes place, flanked by a massive beautiful beach right in town that meets the gorgeous Ionian Sea and of course the famous Albanian Alps gently loom in the background. There are countless places to visit just outside of Saranda and practically all of them are incredible. There's so many tours that you may receive decision paralysis trying to choose but luckily I'm here to help you choose and the first place I recommend is taking a day tour to Kroraza. Kroraza, and I apologize for butchering the pronunciation, is a large no-frills untouched stretch of white sandy and pebbly beach backed by rolling hills with boulders and clear azure and turquoise waters. There isn't much here but beach but the beach is absolutely stunning and it's a great little getaway from the hustle and bustle of Saranda and it's a great place to get some peace and have it a relaxing beach time. The tour to get here makes a bunch of stops on the way from Saranda to the beach which are all nice and you can get more time to swim and enjoy the ocean and relax. Overall I rate Kroraza for being an absolutely stunning beach and a great place to spend the day. The next place I recommend you visit is Judokaster which is a UNESCO world heritage site about 55 kilometers or 35 miles north of Saranda. There's a lot to see here. First I recommend spending time wandering the old town which is famous for being well preserved and authentic to its history where the old houses and buildings lean against the slopes of the hills with their beautiful old wooden facades. The next thing to do is check out the massive fortress which overlooks the city called Judokaster Castle. It's the second largest castle in the Balkans and is unique because it was used as a garrison in prison until very recently. The citadel was probably built between the 8th and 7th centuries BC and later fortified in the 5th century BC. It was further built and developed in the early Ottoman Empire and much of what you see today is the work of further improvements under the reign of Ali Pasha. You can see the remnants from the cold war era with a US spy plane on display that was captured by the communists and can see a lot of weaponry and artillery from that day. It's a great place to spend a few hours and you can see the thousands of years of history stacked on top of each other which is truly unique and fascinating. There's also a communist bunker in town that you can check out that has the ghost of remains from Albanians communist past in the cold war. Overall I rate Judokaster a 9.25 out of 10 for its unique display of authentic and well-preserved culture and history and for being beautiful. As a bonus you can check out the blue eye which is a spring on the way back which a lot of tours do. I recommend doing a tour for this or a simple day trip and you'll have a great time. And last up is the crown jewel of the Albanian Riviera and the most popular destination in the region, Xamil. This paradise right on the border of Greece is filled with sandy beaches, clear and warm water, fresh seafood and is the perfect place to relax. It feels like you're in the Maldives or Southeast Asia but it's only a quick one dollar bus ride from Saranda. The best way to visit is to grab a seat under an umbrella at one of the many beachside restaurants and bars and spend your day without any worries. One thing with Xamil though is that since it's incredibly popular it gets very busy during high season which is in July and August. I recommend that you check it out during the shoulder season which is either June or September and it has less crowds but still great weather. Overall I rate Xamil a 9.5 out of 10 solely on the quality of the beach and the ease of getting there from Saranda. I dock 0.25 points because of the crowdedness but it's still an incredibly special place that matches up with any other of its Mediterranean peers. I recommend spending a half day to a full day here. A bonus place that I'll mention which is another place you can travel to from Saranda is the incomparable and criminally underrated Greek island of Corfu. You have to bake this place into your trip to the Albanian Riviera. It's a very short 30 minute ferry ride that costs only $25 one way and Corfu is an absolutely special island. I won't show too much in this video because my next video will be a complete travel guide for the island so stay tuned for that and subscribe so you don't miss it. Overall I give Saranda a 9.75 out of 10 as a destination. The city itself is a beautiful destination with nightlife restaurants and a decent beach and the day trips in the surrounding areas are elite. Beyond that the prices are almost as cheap as you can get in Europe. I recommend spending about 2-3 days in Saranda at least. Well that wraps it up for this video. The Albanian Riviera is a true hidden gem on the Mediterranean coast and you definitely have to add it to your list. In my next video I'll detail the very special Greek island of Corfu which is very close to the Albanian Riviera and somewhere you absolutely need to go. So stay tuned and like and subscribe so you don't miss that and thanks for watching the video.