South Central Albania – hot springs, ancient cities and more

Planning a road trip around Albania? Wondering what Vanlife in Albania is like? Want to find out why you should travel Albania by campervan? Well, look no further. In this series of blogs – we share planning tips as well as share some trip inspiration to help you plan your next Balkan adventure!

After a week travelling the Albanian Riviera (you can read more on that here), we headed inland to visit some natural phenomena as well as two Albanian cities that are steeped in history and culture.

Below is an idea of the itinerary we followed as we explored this part of Albania – we took four days, but you could easily spend longer in both Gjirokaster and Berat.

And, if reading isn’t your thing, you can watch our video here.

The Blue Eye

We started our journey from Butrint National Park, and took a short drive towards the Blue Eye. When we visited the road up to the Blue Eye was being improved, so it was a construction site. But that didn’t stop our visit. We were able to park in the car park by the church and take a small kilometre long hike to the famous Blue Eye of Albania.

The Blue eye is a phenomenon and one of the most famous natural places in Albania. The deep, bright see-through waters are the source of the Bistrica river, a 25km river which ends in the Ionian Sea. 

Not only is it beautiful, but it’s mysterious too. No one knows where the water initially comes from, divers have been fifty meters down, but they know it stretches even deeper. 

If you like terrifying caverns that lead to nothingness, you’ll love it. Just maybe wait until the weather is a bit warmer, unless cold water swimming is your thing. 

Gjirokastër

On a warm and sunny day we visited our first Albanian city for a mooch.

This place was beautiful, set in a valley, surrounded by the now normal sight of snow-topped mountain peaks, we walked the tiled roads up to the castle and along the Ottoman era streets, and into the market area for some classic souvenir shopping.

There are plenty of things to do in this city – such as visiting the castle, Ali Pasha’s bridge, and some of the older houses and its ethnographic museum.

We didn’t – but we did have a good time just soaking up the atmosphere of the town, looking at the views from the various viewpoints and we also did some souvenir shopping – we’re now proud owners of an Albanian fridge magnet, cup and a cool little pillow case and rug! 

We also found some vegan food, and incredible hospitality at Taverna Tradicionale: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g318867-d17347449-Reviews-Taverna_Tradicionale-Gjirokaster_Gjirokaster_County.html 

We’d definitely recommend the city for the day. We stayed at a campsite on the outskirts called Family Camping, and got a beautiful sunset view of the mountains nearby.

Benjë Hot Springs

This was an awesome experience. While the thermal baths weren’t the warmest we’ve been in, they were still warm enough to enjoy a long soak, and the views towards the mountains were exceptional.

What’s interesting is that these thermal waters have apparently been used since the middle ages, and to get to them you cross an old Ottoman bridge (which you can see in our latest video!)

We visited on the weekend, so it was quite busy with fellow travellers as well as locals. If you like the idea of solitude, we’d recommend you visit early in the morning, or spend the night there and go in the evening!

We stayed at Eco Camp Permet (pictured above) – and loved it!

Berat

If you’re heading back north, up Albania, then we’d recommend putting Berat – the city of a thousand windows – in as a place to visit. 

It took us a while to warm up to this city – despite its UNESCO World Heritage Status – but once we’d climbed the steep road up to the imposing fortress and walked amongst the ruins, we became big fans of this city.

We loved it because, as opposed to some castles in Europe that are, in essence, tourist attractions, Berat is still a city and castle that people live in. It’s vibrant, and on a sunny evening, you’ll often see people taking an evening stroll along the river banks, or drinking in its many cafes.

If you’d like to see this trip in more detail – you can check out our Video here:

Extend the trip – if you’re heading back down, we’d recommend heading towards the coast and taking on the Albanian Riviera. Which you can read more about here.

Or, if you’re heading to Montenegro – stayed tuned for our next blog or video!

Want to know more about what you need to know before you plan your trip to Albania? Read here.