8 DAYS JEEP TOUR IN SOUTH ALBANIA

Arrive in the beautiful historic city of Tirana and check into your hotel. Depending on your arrival time you may want to enjoy a stroll around the city and start to absorb the atmosphere of this amazing country. Free time to chill out around the city in the most frequented bars in Tirana.

After breakfast we present the tour to the tourists and at 10 o’clock we leave the hotel. The first stop will be in Durres, which is located by the Adriatic Sea in the Middle Western part of Albania. We will have a short coffee stop near the seashore and enjoying the panorama of the sea. Right after this we go to Divjake, a beach with a lot of sand where we will do some off sand road too. We will visit the Karavasta’s lagoon, which is the largest lagoon in Albania and one of the largest in the Adriatic Sea. The Karavasta lagoon has a lot of pine trees and small sandy islands. The lagoon is famous for the rare Dalmatian pelican which nests there. In fact 6.4% of the Europe’s population of this type of pelican is found in this lagoon. And to finish the day, we go to Vlora, the city where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912. We will have free time there in the afternoon, where you can go to the beach and bars. Accommodation in the hotel will be in Vlore as well. From here we finish with Adriatic Sea.

Early in the morning we leave Vlora and go to explore more the southern part of Albania. The Jon sea is well known for its beauty and natural places. The first stop is in National Park of Llogara, which is in the middle of many pines and is also placed in 1000 meters height above the sea level. You will feel the fresh air as we eat the traditional lunch there. Then we keep moving to the south. The panorama of the seashore from the road is amazing and you will just have to enjoy it as we go down to the sea. We may stop in different beaches during our trip to Himare, where we will have the night stop. Himare is also located by the Jon Sea where you may have some rest feeling the fresh air.

Many other beautiful places are still to come. After breakfast, we will depart for more adventure. On our way there we will visit the castle of “Ali Pasha”, a worth place to visit for its history and the beautiful view of the sea. After this we will continue going in another beach named Borsh, which is one of the biggest beaches in the south Albania with 3 KM coastline. After we stop there for a few minutes we will do some real off road as we go to a village called Nivice to have our lunch. After lunch we go to Butrint, which was an ancient Greek and later Roman city in Epirus. Butrint has a special atmosphere created by a combination of archaeology, monuments and nature in the Mediterranean. After this we go to rest in one of the most beautiful beaches in the south Albania, called Ksamil. We will spend our afternoon there and later on, we go back to Saranda, a city full of bars and clubs in the night during summer. Dinner and accommodation in the hotel will be in Saranda as well.

After breakfast at the hotel we will depart to see one of the most beautiful miracles that Albania has called Blue Eye, a water spring and natural phenomenon. It is well known for the clear blue water of the river, more than fifty-meters -deep pool. The green atmosphere and fresh air will be very relaxing to your mind and body. After this we will visit Gjirokaster, a very old town with is laying the historical region of Epirus. The streets and the houses made of stone are a really special thing about this historical place. We will visit the castle of Gjirokaster as well. The castle dominates the town and overlooks the strategically important route along the river valley. It contains a military museum featuring captured artillery of the Communist resistance against German occupation, as well as a captured United States Air Force plane to commemorate the Communist regime’s struggle against the “imperialist” western powers. We will also have lunch in this antique town. Next, we go to Permet. Just 14 km away from Permet it is found the Benje thermal baths. This specific water with sulfuric bases has high curative effects, 4 of the sources are used for chronic disease of rheumatism, another one is especially used stomach disease and the last one for skin diseases. The Benje Thermal Waters contain a temperature of 26 till 32 degree Celsius. Accommodation and dinner is in Permet.

From Permet we drive off road to Corovode, seeing the real typical Albanian villages. The river Osum passes through Corovode, Skrapar and Berat. Upstream it forms canyons and caves which are the highest and the longest in Albania. In this amazing place, we will also have our lunch as we say and relax there. From there we move to Berat, where we will visit the castle of Berat which is a fortress overlooking the town. It dates mainly from the 13th century and contains many Byzantine churches. It is built on a rocky hill on the left bank of the river Osum and is accessible only from the south. It’s situated at an altitude of 214 meters. Berat is an antique town and it has a very particular architecture. We will also have our dinner and accommodation in Berat.

After breakfast we will depart to Elbasan. As we go there we will have the chance to see the small town of Belsh sits in the middle of many small lakes and agricultural land. On the road to Elbasan you will get the chance to see many oil fields and wells from the time of communism. When we will be in Elbasan we will get to know some traditional foods and see some cultural and religious places, such as the Orthodox Church, the mosque and the castle of Elbasan. We will have our lunch there and then we will go in the capital city of Albania, Tirana. We will have a free time in the afternoon and then we will have the night life tour in Tirana.

After this amazing time together in Albania we take you to the airport.
Rruge te mbare! (Boon voyage)