The Albanian Riviera is having a moment, but the four main bases along this Ionian coastline couldn't be more different from each other. Choosing the wrong one can seriously change your holiday — so here's how they stack up.
Himara is the quiet favourite. This town of around 4,000 people sits under green mountains, has an old castle, and offers a new beach every day of the week, from busy city beaches with bars and loungers to hidden coves a scooter ride away — photogenic Gjipe among them. Its Greek-Albanian heritage shows up in the food, bilingual signs and nearby stone villages. Prices are gentler than elsewhere on the coast, and the vibe works for backpackers and families alike (think inflatable water slides at Prinos Beach). The trade-off: it's roughly 90 minutes from Saranda and 75 from Vlora, the furthest hub from an airport, and nightlife amounts to bars rather than clubs.
Saranda, home to about 20,000 residents, is the practical pick. It's the easiest to reach, sitting just 30 minutes by high-speed ferry from Corfu's airport, and it's perfectly placed for day trips to Ksamil, Butrint National Park and the Blue Eye spring. It's more commercial than Himara — quad bike tours, party boats, a pirate-themed tour vessel on the promenade — but a visit in August showed it never feels as packed as Greek or Croatian hotspots. The honest downside is aesthetic: a 1990s construction boom left it a clutter of stacked apartment blocks rather than a historic stone town. Stick to the waterfront for the prettiest stay and the Corfu sunsets.
Ksamil is the one your feed has been selling you as the 'Maldives of Europe'. The white sand and clear water are real — you can even swim out to little offshore islands — but so are the crowds, waterscooters, wall-to-wall sun loungers and €20 cocktails. The beaches are small and narrow, and some of that famous sand was reportedly trucked in as ground-up limestone. Worth a day trip, certainly; worth basing yourself there mainly in May, June or September.
Dhermi splits into three personalities. The main beach strip hosts beach clubs and bars pumping house and EDM into the early hours — the Kala Festival, an open-air dance event on the sand, happens here — and some younger travellers apparently flee it as 'too much'. The northern Drymades stretch is far calmer. And Upper Dhermi, the original village 1.5km inland up the mountain, is all stone houses, blue shutters and church bells, with a Greek-minority flavour; it's still mostly a photo stop in 2025, but it's set to become a hub for romantic B&Bs. Beaches here stretch for miles, and thanks to the Llogara Tunnel opened in 2024, it's only an hour from Vlora — where a long-delayed new airport may one day open.
In short: independent travellers and families should look hard at Himara, convenience-seekers at Saranda, sunset-chasers with a car at Dhermi's quieter end, and Ksamil for shoulder-season beach eye candy only.
