Albania has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and two of them are stone Ottoman cities you can reach in a single drive from the airport: Berat and Gjirokastër. Here is how to visit them from Tirana Airport, what to see, and how to build them into a longer trip.
Berat — the City of a Thousand Windows
Berat is the closer of the two, about 120 km (roughly 1¾ hours) south of Tirana Airport. Its old quarters — Mangalem and Gorica — climb both banks of the Osum river in tiers of white Ottoman houses, watched over by a castle that people still live inside. Don't miss the Onufri iconography museum in the castle cathedral. Full route and options on our Tirana Airport to Berat transfer page.
Gjirokastër — the City of Stone
Further south, about 230 km (around 3 hours) from the airport, Gjirokastër rises in slate-roofed mansions beneath one of the Balkans' largest castles. It is the birthplace of writer Ismail Kadare, and its Old Bazaar and tower houses are beautifully preserved. See the Tirana Airport to Gjirokastër transfer page for details.
Can you do both in one trip?
Easily. Berat and Gjirokastër are both on the southern axis of the country, so a natural route is: airport → Berat (one or two nights) → Gjirokastër (one night) → on to the coast. From Gjirokastër the Blue Eye spring and Saranda are within easy reach, so many travellers finish a stone-cities trip on the Riviera at Ksamil.
Why a private transfer suits this trip
Both cities have steep, cobbled old towns where buses drop you far from your guesthouse. A private transfer takes you as close to the door as the lanes allow, and lets you break the journey for photos and lunch. It also means you can string the two cities — and the coast — into one seamless route rather than juggling timetables.
Plan your UNESCO trip
Get an instant quote for Berat or Gjirokastër, or ask us to plan a combined stone-cities-and-coast itinerary from the airport.