05/08/2025
⚡ALBANIA⚡ Travel writer Owen Morton was recently on the road for our first-ever Rough Guide to Albania, where he discovered there’s more to the Albanian riviera than its beautiful beaches – here’s his top cultural picks around the coast
1. St Mary’s Monastery on Zvërneci Island, accessed via a lovely sweeping boardwalk from the mainland
2. The less-visited Borshi Castle has Byzantine and medieval remains, a sixteenth-century mosque & fine sea views
3. Amantia, with it's 3rd-century BC stadium, Temple of Aphrodite and a late-Byzantine-era basilica
4. The ruins of Butrint span the centuries from the ancient Greek period through to the Venetian era
5. Porto Palermo Fortress has battlements you can climb for views across to Corfu
6. A little off the beaten track, the multi-arched Ottoman-era Brataj Bridge is a locals' favourite for a dip in the summer
7. The 5th-century-BC site of Phoenice is also home to fortifications of a far more modern nature: a cluster of communist-era bunkers
8. The late Byzantine St Nicholas Monastery Church is adorned with medieval frescos and intricate bas-reliefs
9. Vlora’s Independence Square is dominated by a socialist realist monument commemorating the country’s independence in 1912
10. On Zvërneci Island, four communist-era bunkers dot the coast, the exteriors of which have been painted with street art
Have we missed any cultural big-hitters on the Albanian riviera? Comment your favourites below and full name for potential inclusion in the next edition. To pick up your copy of the RG to Albania, click https://shop.roughguides.com/book/the-rough-guide-to-albania/9781835292150
