Day trips from Gjirokastër

Four day trips, four different questions. Sarandë asks how you get there, the Blue Eye asks which road to take, Butrint asks what the ticket costs, and Antigonea asks whether you have a car. Settle those and the rest looks after itself, because each trip fits between breakfast in the bazaar and dinner back on the cobbles.

Sarandë and Ksamil

Sarandë is the sea, 53 km from Gjirokastër, and buses and furgons run there through the day. The ride takes 1 h–1 h 30, which makes it a full day if you want a swim and a seafront lunch before heading back up into the hills. Spend the afternoon on the promenade with a long coffee, watching the harbour, and be back on the bus before the evening light goes. Easy.

Ksamil lies 64 km from Gjirokastër, and there is no direct bus: you change in Sarandë, which stretches a day trip into a long one. The beaches are the reason to go, so treat Ksamil as a night away. With one day only, pick Sarandë.

The Blue Eye by the old road

The Blue Eye, Syri i Kaltër, is a spring about 36 km from Gjirokastër, and the drive takes 45 min–1 h, with the last stretch slow. The new road through the tunnel bypasses the spring, so buses to Sarandë mostly do not stop there. The reliable way is a taxi or your own car on the old road over Muzinë.

From the car park it is a walk of about 2 km to the water, and swimming is banned, so leave the swimwear in the bag. Go early and make the Blue Eye the first stop of the day, because the last stretch of the road is slow and the rest of the day then runs on your own timetable, with Sarandë or Butrint after lunch.

Adult entry to Butrint: €11. Ages 12 to 18 pay half and children under 12 go in free. From 1 April to 31 October the site opens from 8:30 to 20:00 with last entry at 18:00, and from 1 November to 31 March it runs from 9:00 to 17:30 with last entry at 15:00.

Butrint is about 18 km from Sarandë, and the local bus takes around 45 minutes. Door to door from Gjirokastër, with the bus to Sarandë first: about 1 h 45. Inside you find a Venetian tower, a Greek theatre from the 4th century BC, the Lion Gate and a baptistery from the 6th century, all on a site that UNESCO listed in 1992. If you can only do one trip with ruins, make it Butrint, since the bus leaves from Sarandë and the two fit into one day.

Antigonea and Viroi

Antigonea is an ancient city on a hill across the Drino valley, about 14 km from Gjirokastër and about 30 min by car. Without a car it is a taxi trip, and that is the whole logistics problem. The site makes half a day, and the lake at Viroi, about 3 km north on the road toward Tepelenë, rounds it off. Viroi has been a natural monument since 1983 and has a promenade along the water. Do the ruins first. The lake suits a tired afternoon.

Përmet lies 61 km from Gjirokastër, about an hour by car, and people go there for rafting and the thermal springs at Benjë. Go by car or on an organised tour. Count it as the extra day when the town and the first four trips are behind you.

2 daysThe two-day itinerary puts the town on day one and one of these trips on day two.Gjirokastër in 2 days →

Getting aroundBus terminals, the station on the SH4 and the taxi up to the old town are covered on the getting-around page.Getting around Gjirokastër →

When to goMonth by month, the weather page shows which of these days will be dry and which will not.The best time to visit Gjirokastër →

Where to stayIf one night becomes two, the stay page compares the old town, the hostels and the hill hotel.Where to stay in Gjirokastër →

FoodBack in town after a trip, the food page says where to eat in the bazaar.What to eat in Gjirokastër →