Things to Do in Saranda: The Southern Riviera Guide

Saranda is the gateway to Albania’s southern Riviera, a working seaside town that fills with sun-seekers in summer. It is not the prettiest place on the coast, but it is the ideal base: within half an hour you can reach the country’s best beaches, its finest ancient ruins and a Greek island.

Here is what earns your time, and how to plan the days around Saranda so you get the coast without the crush.

Saranda itself

The town curves around a wide bay, with a long seafront promenade that comes alive after dark. Spend an evening strolling it, eating grilled fish and watching the lights of Corfu across the strait. By day, though, the real draws are all a short hop out of town, so treat Saranda as your bed and dinner rather than the main event.

Ksamil and the beaches

Ksamil, about 15 km south, is the postcard: shallow, calm, impossibly turquoise water and three tiny islands you can swim or wade out to. It is stunning, and it knows it, so in July and August it gets packed and the sunbeds are pricey.

My honest advice: come to Ksamil early, before 10am, or late in the afternoon, and swim out to the islands to escape the crowds. For a quieter alternative, head to Pasqyra (Mirror) Beach just north, or further up the coast to the wilder coves. Sunbed hire on the busy beaches runs around 5 to 10 € for two loungers and a parasol.

Butrint, the UNESCO ruins

Butrint National Park, roughly 17 km south of Saranda, is one of the Mediterranean’s great archaeological sites and a UNESCO World Heritage listing. Layers of history sit in a forest beside a lagoon: a Greek theatre, Roman baths, an early Christian baptistery with a mosaic floor, Byzantine walls and a Venetian tower.

Entry is around 10 € and you want two to three hours. Go in the morning to beat both the heat and the tour buses, and wear proper shoes, the paths are uneven. It pairs naturally with a Ksamil beach afternoon on the way back.

The Blue Eye spring

The Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër) is a natural spring where water of an intense, deep blue bubbles up from a pool over 50 metres deep, in a reserve of oaks and sycamores. It is genuinely mesmerising.

The thing to know before you go: swimming is banned to protect the site, whatever old photos suggest. You can walk the boardwalk and lean over the vivid pool, but not swim in it. Manage your expectations and it is a lovely 30-minute stop, easily combined with Butrint and Ksamil on a single day tour.

Lekursi Castle at sunset

On the hill above town sits Lekursi Castle, an Ottoman fort built in 1537. There is a restaurant inside the walls, and the reason to come is the view: the whole sweep of Saranda bay, the Ksamil peninsula and Corfu beyond, best at sunset with a drink in hand. Cheap, easy, and the finest photo of your trip.

Boat trips and hidden coves

To find the coast at its wildest, get on the water. Day boat trips from Saranda reach coves you cannot drive to, and a scooter (15 to 25 € a day) opens up the smaller beaches along the road north toward Himarë. For strong walkers, the gorge down to Gjipe beach, further up the Riviera, is the reward-for-effort classic.

Where to base yourself

Saranda town has the most beds, the best transport links and the ferry port, so it is the practical base for exploring the far south. Stay here if you want dinner options, easy day tours and the Corfu ferry on your doorstep.

If you would rather wake up on the beach, base in Ksamil itself, quieter after the day trippers leave, or up the coast toward Himarë for a more relaxed village feel. My honest steer: sleep in Saranda for a short visit, and move to Ksamil or Himarë only if you have several beach days and a car. For food, skip the seafront tourist terraces and eat where the locals do, one street back, where the same grilled fish costs noticeably less. Always ask the price of fish by weight before you order.

A day trip to Corfu

One of Saranda’s quiet advantages: the Greek island of Corfu sits just across the water. Fast ferries make the crossing in 30 minutes to an hour, so a day on a different island is easy to slot in. Book ahead in summer, take your passport, and remember you are crossing an EU border, which matters for your data plan as much as your documents.

Getting around and staying connected

Buses, furgons and scooters link Saranda to Ksamil, Butrint and the Blue Eye, and you will use your phone constantly: for maps on the winding coast road, ferry and tour bookings, and finding the quiet coves. On the corniche roads and out at the beaches, a reliable signal matters.

Rather than queue for a local SIM (passport registration required in Albania) or risk roaming outside the EU, set up an eSIM for Albania before you travel. Thanks to our negotiated roaming agreements, it connects to several local networks and switches to the best available signal, which is exactly what you want on the Riviera’s twisting roads.

With Orange, the service used by over 300 million customers, you stay connected everywhere: 200+ destinations covered, quick activation by app or QR code, 24/7 human support, and 100% refunded if you do not use your eSIM.