Land, find the hotel, sleep
Wheels down just before two in the morning. The only job tonight is getting five people and their bags into beds five minutes from the terminal. The coast is three and a half hours south, and that drive happens in daylight.
- 01:55
Wheels down at Tirana (TIA)
Passport control is quick at this hour. One person peels off to the ATM while the rest wait for bags. Withdraw lek, not euro, and decline the machine's offer to convert to pounds.
- 02:30
Airport hotel in Rinas
Pre-booked, close enough to walk or a five-minute shuttle. Confirm the late check-in in writing, or five people end up negotiating with a night porter at 02:30.
- 02:45
Sleep. We do not drive south tonight.
The road over Llogara Pass is a long, twisting climb with big drops. It is a bad road to meet for the first time at 03:00 on no sleep. The minivan collects us at 07:30.
Beach to beach to beach
Over the pass that opens the Riviera, then stage one of the trail: a monastery lookout, a canyon cove you can only reach on foot or by boat, and a cliff path to Livadh. Dinner in Himarë.
- 07:30
Minivan south
Pre-booked, with room for five and the bags. Breakfast on the road. Buy two litres of water each before the coast, because the trail has almost none.
- 10:30
Llogara Pass
The road crests at just over 1,000 m and the whole Riviera opens out below. On a clear day Corfu sits on the horizon. Twenty minutes, and the driver gets to see it too.
- 11:00
Dhërmi village and the Mills Trail
Whitewashed houses under a cliff, then an old path down past water mills, springs and a 15th-century church to the beach. The trail south from the beach is blocked by construction, so the driver meets us at the bottom and hops us round to the monastery.
- 11:45
St Theodhori monastery to Gjipe
Cypresses mark the monastery. Just before it, a lookout gives the view everyone came for: turquoise water below, the Ceraunian range up to Llogara behind. Then an old military road drops to the cove.
- 13:15
Gjipe
A pebble beach at the mouth of a canyon with vertical walls that climbers love. No road reaches it. Lunch on the stones, then twenty minutes poking up into the canyon. The two beach bars are summer-only, so assume nothing is open.
- 14:00
Gjipe to Jale, the scrubby bit
A mostly level path along the slope, but overgrown with holly oak, and walkers reported rockfall blocking it before Jale in 2024. If it is impassable, take the path up towards Vuno, turn off for Jale and walk about 2 km of road down to the beach. Long trousers today, non-negotiable.
- 15:30
Jale to Livadh
Along Jale's promenade, then a wide dirt road past the little Aquarium beach, olive groves and bunkers. The last stretch is a rocky path round the headland and down a cliff face onto Livadh's pebbles.
- 17:00
Livadh, then into Himarë
Five minutes by taxi into town, or keep walking: the AllTrails version of this stage finishes on Himarë's seafront. Sunset is around 18:20. Draw cash here, because tomorrow has no ATMs until Borsh.
- 19:30
Dinner in Himarë
Seafront tavernas, easy for a table of five, and the best food choice we get all trip. Ask the host to sort tomorrow's driver and the bag run while we eat.
A walled town, a canyon, a stone village
The big day. Up through ancient olives to Old Himarë and its castle quarter, then a steep canyon to the mountain village of Pilur. A driver skips the dullest stage, and the afternoon is shepherd paths to Old Qeparo and down to Borsh.
- 07:15
Breakfast, bags to the driver
Bags go to Borsh in the car that collects us from Pilur later. Buy lunch from a Himarë bakery on the way out: there is nothing to buy until Borsh.
- 08:00
Livadh up to Old Himarë
An old cobbled road climbs through olive trees with trunks as wide as cars, past a spring under a stone arch and a ruined church. The last metres are stairs through the town walls.
- 09:00
Old Himarë
A walled hilltop town of grey stone, half lived in and half ruin. The upper quarter is deserted: ruined houses, churches and wall foundations dating to the 8th century BC, with oleander everywhere. Get lost in it for 45 minutes, then find the viewpoint.
- 09:45
Up the canyon to Pilur
Goat trails, loose rock and scree up the side of a dry canyon, then a stone weir and a final rocky climb. Local legend says the devil lives in this canyon, so nobody lingers. Near the top the air smells of wild mint and oregano.
- 12:30
Lunch in Pilur
A quiet mountain village at about 690 m. Refill bottles at the spring on the square, eat, and rest the legs before the afternoon.
- 13:15
Driver: Pilur to Kudhës
We skip stage three. It is remote backcountry, long and scrubby, with shepherd dogs and little to show for it. The same driver takes our bags on to Borsh. Taxis do not wait around in Pilur, so this is booked for a fixed time.
- 13:45
Kudhës to Old Qeparo
Out through Kudhës's restored upper quarter, then a gentle shepherd path past terraces, a spring, an oleander-ringed pond and a pass below a tiny chapel. Over the pass, Qeparo appears.
- 15:30
Old Qeparo
A stone village on a hill, mostly abandoned when people moved down to the coast. Coffee at the village bar, a loop through the alleys to the square and its plane tree, then the viewpoints.
- 16:00
Down to Borsh
Olive groves, then a hillside track with the bay below. Walkers flag one confusing junction after Old Qeparo: if the path turns very red, you have gone wrong. Keep the GPX open.
- 17:15
Borsh beach at sunset
The Bay of Borsh is about six kilometres wide and almost empty in October. Walk it while the light goes.
- 19:30
Dinner in Borsh
Small and seasonal, so check with the host what is open. Ujvara Café, with tables set between little streams, is the local favourite if it is running.
The prisoners' path, Ali Pasha's castle
One last stage along terraces built by forced labour, an empty cove and a stone village. Then the driver takes over: a sea fortress, dinner in Vlorë and the red-eye home.
- 07:30
Breakfast, bags out, settle up
Pay the room in cash, one payment, and square it on Splitwise later. Bags stay with the host for the driver.
- 08:00
Borsh to Piqeras
A wide, level track past terraces cut into the hills under communism by soldiers, prisoners and 'volunteer actions'. Hard-labour prisoners were not allowed on the main road or into the village, so they used this path. Big views back over the whole bay.
- 10:15
Bunec beach
A pebble cove at the bottom of a valley that smells of chamomile. The beach bars will be shut and the beach will be ours.
- 11:00
Up to Lukovë
An old cobbled road climbs through terraced olives, past a small waterfall to a half-ruined 15th-century church. Then up through stone alleys to the village square.
- 12:30
Lunch in Lukovë, driver collects
The driver has already been to Borsh for the bags. Confirm this the night before: two pick-ups, one booking.
- 13:45
Porto Palermo Castle
A triangular fortress on its own little peninsula, built by Ali Pasha of Tepelena. Across the bay is the mouth of a communist-era submarine tunnel. Entry is 300 lek, cash, lek only.
- 16:00
Llogara Pass, northbound
Coffee at the top and one last look back down the whole coast we just walked.
- 18:00
Dinner in Vlorë
The city where Albanian independence was declared in 1912. A long seafront promenade and plenty of choice for four vegetarians. Whoever wants a drink, now's the time.
- 21:00
Drive to the airport
About two hours north. Leave a buffer: Sunday evening traffic around Tirana and Durrës can be slow.
- 00:55
At the gate for W95007
Departs 02:55, lands Luton 04:55 Monday. Sort transport home now. Five people at Luton at 05:00 on a Monday is only a solvable problem in advance.