Discover the beauty and history on this 10-day bike tour of Albania, featuring a circular route through the country’s most breathtaking landscapes.
You’ll explore two UNESCO World Heritage sites: the ancient city of Gjirokastra, known for its Ottoman architecture, and the Greco-Roman ruins of Butrint National Park. You’ll cycle along the shores of Lake Ohrid, visit the vibrant capital Tirana, and ride your bike through the stunning Albanian Riviera, where mountains meet crystal-clear waters.
Along the way, enjoy the hospitality of local guesthouses, savor traditional Albanian cuisine, and relax in natural hot springs. This self-guided bike tour in Albania offers an immersive experience of the culture, nature, and history of this unexploited Country.
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A Taste of Albania | Guided and Self-Guided Bike Tour
From Tirana to Tirana
Guided and Self-Guided Bike Tour
On the Guided option, a cycling guide we’ll ride with you showing his region. A Van support with water, electrolytes and snacks, will be available if you want to skip the hardest climbs. Daily lunch featuring local and fresh products and dinners featuring traditional food.
On the Self-Guided option you have the freedom to plan and navigate at your pace. Our dedicated tour guide and support team will handle hotel bookings, logistics, and baggage transport, ensuring you enjoy a hassle-free and carefree experience.
Active
Stages up to 70 km per day with a maximum of 1300 meters of climbing. Those tours appeal to riders used to train a bit, with some “tasty” climb. Usually you are back at the hotel in the early afternoon.
For guests that want more riding, we can add extra loops to regular stages.
50 – 70 km / day
In: Tirana (Google Map)
Out: Tirana (Google Map)
Tour briefing, and visit of Tirana downtown
Meet in the afternoon at the hotel in Tirana with your guide for a tour briefing. Later, enjoy dinner at a cozy, traditional Albanian restaurant, where family-style dishes will be served. Here you will have the opportunity to try for the first time the exquisite cuisine that Albania has to offer.
Tirana, the capital of Albania, is a dynamic blend of financial institutions, culture, and entertainment. Located in central Albania at 110 m above sea level, it is surrounded by the Dajti mountain range (1,613 m) to the east. Dajti is also known as the “Natural Balcony of Tirana” due to its natural heritage as it is composed of oak, pine, and beech trees over a vast area of canyons, lakes, waterfalls, and landforms.
The city itself is home to two distinct architectural styles influenced by the regimes that have lately oppressed not only the capital but the entire country. It is marked by two totalitarian regimes, the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini during World War II and the communist regime that followed it. The ministries surrounding the main square were all designed by Italian architects such as Florestano di Fausto and Armando Brasini, buildings that still exist today and have been internally rebuilt for government office purposes.
Tirana has had an incredible transformation since the fall of communism in 1991 from a development perspective. Hospitality is at the forefront of the country and city, making it unique compared to other capitals and one of the safest cities in Europe. The famous and electric Block Area, once a residential area for the communist regime, is now the heart and entertainment district of the city with its beautiful bars, lounges, restaurants, and shops.
Scanderbeg Square was completely rebuilt and modified in 2016 making it a pedestrian square, to enhance the social life of the city, a very important aspect of our culture. The square itself is very dynamic and has become a beacon of social interaction where festivals, amusement parks, and small shops interchange depending on the time of year, making it a fascinating tourist attraction. Our city tour will give you a deeper insight into our history and culture.
Overnight: Tirana
Included for Guided Options: Dinner
Departure at 8:00 am and a two-hour transfer to the top of the Qafe Thane pass on the northern side of Lake Ohrid, where the bikes will be waiting for us with our support van and driver. The bikes will be set up according to everyone’s needs, and then we begin the descent towards Lake Ohrid. After reaching the hotel, where lunch will be held, we check in and after a short rest, we cross the border into Macedonia to visit the Monastery of St. Naum.
Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in Europe and its deepest point (288 m) contains a unique ecosystem and 200 endemic species. It is located between eastern Albania and southwestern Macedonia and became world famous in 1979 when it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It covers an area of 358 km2 with a coastline length of 87 km divided between Macedonia (55 km) and Albania (32 km). At its southern tip is the Monastery of Saint Naum, a beautiful Orthodox monastery founded in 905 by the Bulgarian Empire and by Saint Naum himself, who was buried there after his death.
During the 16th century, it housed a Greek school for many generations, and between the years 1912 and 1925, it was donated to Yugoslavia (as Macedonia was part of its republics) as a gesture of goodwill.
Overnight: Pogradec
Included for Guided Options: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included for Self-Guided Options: Breakfast
After waking up along the beautiful mountain and lake views in front of the hotel, we start cycling towards Korca, the Paris of Albania. With substantial funding from the European Union, the entire city was transformed, establishing it as one of Albania’s top cultural and historical destinations.
In between, a short stop for coffee and a fantastic tour of the well-preserved crops and viticulture that the historic centers halfway out of the city have to offer.
Upon arrival and check-in, your leader will guide you through the city to visit one of the largest Orthodox cathedrals in the country, the first Albanian school, and have a drink in the old bazaar.
Overnight: Korce
Included for Guided Options: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included for Self-Guided Options: Breakfast
We leave the agricultural plateau of Korce, to enter more remote areas and villages, along the green border with Greece where the Gramoz Mountains will be the mate on our the left for the entire bike ride.
The landscape is beautiful and varied, from farmland to high snow-capped mountains, depending on the time of year. After a stop for lunch in Albania’s highest town, Erseke, we will climb even further towards the Barmash Pass located at 1,160 m above sea level to end the day in Sotire, where a beautiful trout farm, and wine awaits us place to serve.
For dinner, a delicious trout freshly caught from the pond, is not to be missed!
Overnight: Sotire
Included for Guided Options: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included for Self-Guided Options: Breakfast
We leave Sotire towards a beautiful pine forest plain surrounded by imposing peaks before reaching the historic center of Leskovik. But wait, the beauty comes later, a fantastic 14 km descent on a completely asphalted and new road that sends us just 50 meters from one of the Greek borders with Albania.
It is there that we encounter for the first time the longest river in the Albania, the Vjosa River, a beautiful river with crystalline colors that we will follow for the next two days.
After reaching the second Guest House of the tour, another 4 km by bike to the most famous free natural hot springs in Albania, where hot pools await you under an 18th century Ottoman bridge.
If you feel like taking an excursion, take a hike towards the Langarica river which flows from the mountains towards one of the most beautiful canyons in Europe.
Overnight: Benje
Included for Guided Options: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included for Self-Guided Options: Breakfast
After leaving Benje, the soaring peaks of the Nemercka mountain range reappear before us again as we follow Vjosa to Kelcyre, where the river has created a stunning 20km gorge between the Trebeshina and Golika mountains.
Following the road, we say goodbye to the Vjosa River to meet and follow the Drino River, which will take us to the Drino Valley along the Lunxheri mountain range where right in front, suspended on a cliff, is the first UNESCO heritage-protected city in our tour, Gjirokaster.
After check-in, a city tour is scheduled to visit the Citadel at the top, the Bazaar, and a typical house.
Overnight: Gjirokaster
Included for Guided Options: Breakfast, Lunch
Included for Self-Guided Options: Breakfast
The day begins with a 30-minute transfer to the top of the Muzina pass, located at 550m, where the actual cycling begins, followed by a beautiful descent down to sea level approaching Saranda, the first coastal town of the tour.
Once we enter the city, we take a detour to complete a circular ride along the Butrint National Park reaching the southern end of the country.
Board a wooden ferry to cross the Vivari Canal, which connects the Ionian Sea with Lake Butrint, and have lunch near the UNESCO-protected site of Butrint.
After lunch, a guide will be waiting for us to visit the ancient Greco-Roman ruins of Butrint and explore its fascinating history. Following, a short bike ride to Saranda after the walking tour accompanied by the view of Corfu island on our left for the rest of the day.
The ancient Greco-Roman ruins of Butrint are considered the most famous archaeological site in Albania. In 1992 it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its historical and natural values and also a National Park in 2000.
The first archaeological signs of a city date back to the 10th and 8th centuries BC since it was one of the most important centers of the Greek Tribe of the Chaonians located in the Adriatic region of Epirus.
Today the ancient city is visited by more than 1500 tourists from all over the world during the high season.
Overnight: Saranda
Included for Guided Options: Breakfast, Lunch
Included for Self-Guided Options: Breakfast
A roller coaster ride awaits us as we leave Saranda to follow the Albanian “Riviera Road”. Passing through some of the most beautiful villages and crystal clear beaches that the Ionian Sea has to offer.
The view is dazzling, surrounded by mountains on one side and the sea on the other. The climbs are rewarded by breathtaking descents between the villages and along the sea.
Short lunch in Porto Palermo, in front of a fascinating Venetian Castle, to end the day in Himare, an ancient fishing village, where there will be plenty of time to relax on the beach and/or go to the center to enjoy a refreshing ice cream.
Overnight: Himarë
Included for Guided Options: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included for Self-Guided Options: Breakfast
This is the most beautiful, varied, and challenging day of the tour, the king of the mountain ride!
We gradually ascend through forests and gorges, passing ancient villages that lead to Albania’s most famous beaches, Jale and Dhermi.
As we pedal, in the distance we glimpse the extraordinary Llogara pass, where a gradual climb towards its summit awaits us accompanied by breathtaking views of the mountains surrounding the Ionian Sea.
Having reached the top, we descend towards Llogara National Park to complete the tour in Rradhime at one of the most famous hotels in the area.
Relax by the sea and enjoy a drink while watching the sunset over Albania’s Karaburun peninsula.
Overnight: Radhimë
Included for Guided Options: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included for Self-Guided Options: Breakfast
After a delightful seaside breakfast, we’ll bid you farewell with a three-hour transfer to Tirana International Airport for those with flights, while a separate transfer is available for those extending their stay in Tirana. We’re confident you’ll carry wonderful memories from your Albanian cycling adventure and hope to welcome you back to other Mediterras destinations!
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