Albania in 4 Days: Tirana, Berat & the Riviera

This Albania 4 day itinerary is built for a long weekend: land in Tirana, spend a day in UNESCO Berat, grab a taste of the Riviera on the Ionian coast, and loop back to fly out. It covers about 410 km of driving over the four days and needs a rental car - four days is too tight to do this by bus without wasting half of it at furgon stops. Think of it as the highlights reel: the capital, one perfect old town, and one day of turquoise water, without the long haul to the far south. If you’re still weighing lengths, our guide to how many days you need in Albania sets this long weekend against the week and beyond.

If you have a full week, you would keep going past the Riviera to Saranda, Ksamil and Gjirokastër - that’s our Albania 7-day itinerary, and with more time still the full Albania road trip. This one is the version that fits a Thursday-to-Sunday or a bank-holiday weekend and still leaves you feeling like you saw the best of the country. If you’re torn between Berat and Gjirokaster before locking in this short loop, the Berat vs Gjirokaster comparison explains why this itinerary picks Berat for a Tirana-based long weekend.

How the four days work

The shape is a rough triangle: Tirana in the centre-north, Berat inland to the south, the Riviera on the coast, and back. You drive on two of the four days and sightsee on the other two, which keeps it from feeling like a car marathon. Pick the rental up in Tirana at the start of day two - you don’t want it sitting in a paid city garage while you walk the compact, walkable centre on day one.

Before you book the car, read our guide to renting a car in Albania - the daily rate is cheap, but the insurance excess and the deposit are where the real money sits, and they’re worth getting right on a short trip where you have no slack to argue at a counter.

Day 1: Tirana

Land, drop your bags and use what’s left of the day to get a first look at the capital - you won’t pass back through until the very end, so make the afternoon count. Take in Skanderbeg Square, walk through the reopened Pyramid of Tirana, wander Blloku’s painted apartment blocks for dinner, and ride the cable car up Mount Dajti if there’s still light for the view over the valley. It’s also your last proper chance to stock up before the smaller towns south.

Leave the rental car for tomorrow. Tirana’s centre is a walking city, parking downtown is a headache, and a car sitting in a paid garage overnight earns you nothing. Our guide to the best things to do in Tirana has the fuller list of sights, neighbourhoods and places to eat.

Day 2: Drive to Berat

Pick up the car after breakfast and head south for Berat, about 120 km / 2 hours on the SH4 via Durrës and Lushnjë. Most of that stretch has been repaved in the last couple of years, so it’s a straightforward drive that still leaves you the whole afternoon in town.

Berat is the reason this itinerary exists: tier upon tier of white Ottoman houses, their wide wooden windows all turned to catch the light, stacked up two hillsides that face each other across the Osum river. Spend the afternoon working between the Mangalem and Gorica quarters, cross the seven-arched Gorica bridge, and climb into the Kala - a castle where people still actually live, alongside its churches and the Onufri icon museum.

A practical note on money: entry to the castle grounds is now free - the old 300 ALL gate fee has been waived, though it is worth confirming locally, as these things drift. The Onufri icon museum inside charges 400 lek for an adult, with 200 for pensioners and 120 for 12-18s and students. Bring cash either way - cards are no use up on the Kala. Our Berat travel guide covers the sights, the Osum canyon day trip and where to stay in detail.

Where to stay: sleep inside or just below the old town, ideally a restored Ottoman guesthouse in Mangalem or Gorica, so you can walk the lanes after the day-trippers leave.

Day 3: Over the Llogara Pass to the Riviera

Today swaps the inland stone towns for the coast. Head west out of Berat to Vlora (about 83 km / 1.5 hours), then start the climb up the Llogara Pass, a switchback road that tops out around 1,000 m before the whole Albanian Riviera opens up beneath you and the Ionian comes into view all at once. All in, Berat to a Himara base is roughly 140 km / 2.5-3 hours of driving.

Since 2024 there’s a choice at the top: the Llogara Tunnel (5.9 km, opened July 2024) now cuts under the pass, with a car tariff of about 250 ALL approved in April 2026 but not being collected as of 18 July 2026 - or the old pass road right beside it, still free and still the better view. Take the pass for the drama unless the summer queue is bad. Over the top you reach the first Riviera beaches: Dhermi and Drymades for an afternoon swim, then a night in Himara - small enough to get around on foot, with a working harbour and real restaurants, not just a strip of resort bars - the best-balanced base on this stretch of coast.

For the wider picture of the coast, see our guide to the Albanian Riviera, and for where to sleep across the whole trip, where to stay in Albania.

Day 4: Drive back to Tirana

From the Riviera it’s roughly 150 km / 2.5 hours back to Tirana via the coast road and the SH4 through Fier (the Fier bypass has cut this time noticeably), closing the loop and returning the car before your flight. It’s a comfortable half-day if you leave in the morning.

One honest caveat: in July and August, weekend afternoon traffic between the coast and Tirana can add 30-60 minutes. If you are flying out on a Sunday evening, leave the coast before mid-morning rather than lingering for a last swim and then racing the traffic - build in buffer for the airport. Our note on the best time to visit Albania has more on the peak-season crowds.

Distances at a glance

That’s about 410 km of driving across four days - two easy driving days and two on foot, which is the balance that makes a long weekend here work.

Is four days enough for Albania?

For a first taste, yes - if you accept it’s a taste. Four days gets you the capital, one of the country’s two great UNESCO towns, and a real day on the Riviera, all at a pace that is busy but not brutal. What it doesn’t get you is the deep south: Saranda, Ksamil, Butrint and Gjirokastër all sit two to three hours beyond the Riviera, and cramming them in would turn this into a driving trip with the sights out the window.

If those are on your list, give the country a week and follow the longer loop instead. Two ways to extend from here:

• Push south from the Riviera to the far coast on our full Albania road trip.
• Trade Berat for more beach time with the Albanian Riviera road trip, which runs the coast alone, Vlora down to Saranda.

Practical tips

• Car first. This loop only works with a car; four days by bus loses too much time. Book ahead in summer and check the excess and deposit - see how to rent a car in Albania.
• Carry cash. The currency is the lek (ALL). You will need it for the Onufri museum in Berat, parking and beach cafés; cards work in hotels and bigger restaurants.
• When to go. Aim for late May-June or September-October: the sea is warm, the roads are quiet, and neither the Riviera nor Berat feels overrun. July and August push prices and temperatures to their peak.
• Drive the pass in daylight. Llogara’s switchbacks demand full attention and slow going - cross by day for the view, and treat the tunnel as your fallback if the weather or the queue turns bad.
• Book beds ahead in peak. Rooms in Berat’s old town and along the Himara waterfront go first once July and August arrive.

Read also

• Start here: the best things to do in Tirana.
• The anchor town: our Berat travel guide.
• The coast: our guide to the Albanian Riviera.
• More itineraries: all our Albania routes.
• Sleeping arrangements for the whole loop: where to stay in Albania.