About this trip
Step into the White City on this 2-day journey from Tirana to Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage site whose tiered Ottoman houses, all white walls and tall wooden windows, have earned it the name "City of a Thousand Windows." A still-inhabited castle quarter sits high above the river, the country's finest icon collection rests inside a 14th-century church and the Mangalem and Gorica neighbourhoods face each other acro...
Itinerary
Day 1 – Tirana → Berat castle quarter
- Departure from Tirana (Skanderbeg Square / Airport )
- Scenic drive south through the Myzeqe plain (~2.5 hours) with a coffee stop along the way
- Arrival in Berat
- Walk up the cobbled path to Berat Castle, a still-inhabited fortress on the hill
- Explore the castle quarter
- Visit the Onufri Iconographic Museum inside the Cathedral of the Dormition
- See the Red Mosque, the Holy Trinity church and the castle ramparts with sweeping valley views
- Lunch at a traditional restaurant in the castle (not included)
- Late afternoon descent into the Mangalem quarter to wander among the famous Thousand Windows
- Dinner by the river with views of the illuminated houses on the hillside (not included)
- Overnight stay in a traditional Berat guesthouse
Day 2 – Mangalem, Gorica and the Osum
- Morning visit to the King's Mosque, Bachelors' Mosque and the Halveti Tekke in the Mangalem quarter
- Walk across the 18th-century Gorica stone bridge to the Gorica quarter
- Explore the white houses and the Holy Saviour church on the Gorica side
- Photo stop with the classic view of Mangalem's Thousand Windows facade
- Visit the Ethnographic Museum inside a beautifully restored 18th-century Berat house
- Light lunch and last coffee with a river view (not included)
- Optional stop at the Osumi Canyon viewpoint or a local winery on the way back
- Departure toward Tirana
Photos from this trip
