The best beaches of the Albanian Riviera

The albanian riviera

It is of dreams, this place. Relatively unknown to tourists, Caribbean blue waters, and a bargain at every purchase. Before even unpacking our bags in Saranda we bragged on every network of this view that we would enjoy for three weeks.

We surmised on our last day, as we walked on the boardwalk under the hot spring sun, that we had probably just come a month too early, for what makes Saranda a paradise also makes it a bit of a torment. With very few tourists to contend with at this time of year, it also meant that little tourism infrastructure was in place. We would have loved the opportunity to get out into the bay on kayaks but that was not available. We had our choice of just a handful of restaurants.

Twice we climbed up to Lekursi Castle, and both times it was closed to visitors. When it's off-season in Albania, it is quite literally off-season in Albania, moreso than any other country we've been in.The view did help, mind you, with morning coffee or afternoon cocktail in hand, and in between the mountain of behind-the-scenes work that we finally got to.