Gjirokastër in 2 days
Day one is stone and houses from the castle to the bazaar, day two a trip to the Blue Eye or the coast.
- Castle
- €4.40, arms museum €2.20
- Zekate House
- €2.20–3.30, before 4 pm
- Cold War Tunnel
- €2.20, register on arrival
Two days in Gjirokastër divide into the town and everything outside it. The town is one day on foot up steep cobbles, and the order is set by Zekate House, which has no electric light and so goes before 4 pm. The second day belongs to the road: the Blue Eye spring, the coast at Sarandë, or a hill-top ancient city, depending on how you travel.
The castle, Zekate, Skenduli, the museum, the tunnel
Be at the castle gate before 9, and in summer before the heat reaches the ridge. Entry to the castle: €4.40. The arms museum inside has its own ticket: €2.20. The clock tower, the prison from 1932 and the American plane forced down in 1957 are all on the ridge. They keep you busy for most of the morning.
Walk down to the bazaar, then up again into the Palorto quarter for Zekate House, a steep climb of ten to fifteen minutes. The house was built in 1811 and 1812 and has no electric light, which is why it comes before 4 pm. Entry: €2.20–3.30. Ismail Kadare’s house stands in the same quarter. Kadare was born in Gjirokastër in 1936, his novel Chronicle in Stone is set in the town, and a museum opened in the house on 28 January 2018. From here the slate roofs of the town lie below you.
Skenduli House is visited with a member of the family, in 30–45 min. Entry: €2.20–3.30.
Furra, Grill House 13 and Edua are the names to look for in and around the bazaar, and the food page says what to order.
The Ethnographic Museum stands on the site of Enver Hoxha's birthplace and dates from 1964 to 1966. Entry: €2.20. The Cold War tunnel comes next. It is a guided walk that takes about 20 min, and the entrance is by the municipality building, once the Party committee. The tunnel is 800 m long, has 59 rooms and was dug in secret in the early 1970s as a shelter for the leadership against nuclear attack. Entry: €2.20.
Return to the bazaar once the lights are on, and look back up at the lit castle.
Official ticket
- Entry
- €4.40
- Arms museum
- €2.20 extra
Through a partner
- options with a guide or audio guide
- usually costs more than the official ticket
A trip of half a day or a full one
Take a taxi or drive to the Blue Eye by the old road, since the new road through the tunnel bypasses the spring and buses mostly do not stop there. From the car park it is a walk of about 2 km, and swimming is forbidden. The trip takes this long one way: 45 min–1 h.
Carry on to Sarandë, which is this long by bus one way: 1 h–1 h 30. Or go to Butrint, where entry is €11. If you prefer the hills, drive to Antigonea, an ancient city on a hill across the Drino valley, this far by car: about 30 min. Lake Viroi lies about 3 km north of town and makes a quiet end to the day.
If you stay another night
A third day opens two directions. Përmet lies 61 km away, about an hour by car, and offers rafting and the Benjë thermal springs, and you can reach it by car or on an organised tour. Berat is 147 km away, 2.5 to 3 hours by car, and works best as the next stop on a longer route. From November to March many guesthouses close or cut their hours. In winter, find the room first.
Where to next
Day trips from Gjirokastër
→Sarandë and Butrint by bus, the Blue Eye by the old road and Antigonea in half a day by car.
Berat · 72 km
→The town of a thousand windows on the Osum: white Ottoman quarters, an inhabited castle and a stone bridge, in a day or two
How well does Gjirokastër suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Gjirokastër
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
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