Alpine valleys and lake ferries, or turquoise coves and ancient ruins? A comparison to help you match each region to your trip.
It's the question we get most from travelers with one week: north or south? Alpine valleys, lake ferries and stone kullas, or turquoise coves, ancient ruins and very long seaside lunches? Here's the comparison, region by region, so you can match the trip to your kind of traveler.
The case for the north
The north is the Albania of drama: the Accursed Mountains, the Theth and Valbona valleys, and the Komani Lake ferry that glides through a flooded canyon. This is hiking country (the Theth–Valbona pass is the Balkans' best day hike) and guesthouse country, where dinner is whatever the family cooked and the raki is homemade.
It's cooler, greener and wilder. The season is shorter: mid-May to mid-October for the high trails. Base in Shkodra, a likeable lakeside city with a castle and Italianate café streets, and build the loop from there.
The case for the south
The south is the Albania of postcards: the Riviera's coves from Dhërmi to Ksamil, the UNESCO stone towns of Berat and Gjirokastër, the Blue Eye spring, and Butrint, a Greek-Roman-Venetian city buried in a national park. Distances are short, the swimming is excellent from June to October, and every day can end with seafood by the water.
It's hotter, busier and easier. Infrastructure is better, buses more frequent, and you can build a perfect week without ever hiking more than half an hour.
Match the region to the traveler
Choose the north if you like hiking, quiet villages and remote places. Choose the south if it's your first visit, you're travelling with family, or you mainly want the sea. History lovers split the difference: the south wins on ruins, but Shkodra and Kruja in the north carry the Skanderbeg story.
If you can't choose: ten days does both. Alps first (Theth, the pass, the ferry), then drop south for Berat, Gjirokastër and three Riviera nights. It's the route we'd drive ourselves, and the one our 7-day guests most often wish they'd had three more days for.
Want to see it with a local?
Our small-group tours cover everything in this guide: pickup, guide and advice included.
