Planning a Multi-Day Trip to Ksamil
A longer stay in this corner of Albania is built from one base and several outings. Ksamil gives you the beach and Butrint, while Saranda gives you the ferry port and an easier start for inland trips. Costs below are in lek (ALL), and the timings are the ones that decide whether a plan works.
Choose a base
| Base | Good for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ksamil | beach, islets, Butrint | seasonal, most places close about October to April |
| Saranda | Corfu ferry, Blue Eye | ferry runs all year, less often in winter |
Two to three nights in Ksamil covers the beach, the islets and Butrint, which is about 4 km away. In winter much of Ksamil shuts, so a Saranda base keeps the ferry within reach. Browse stays on Booking.com once your dates are fixed.
A three-day loop
- Day one, Butrint. Adults pay 1,000 ALL, and last entry is 18:00 from April to October or 15:00 from November to March. Finish with a late swim.
- Day two, the Blue Eye. The road is about 40 km, roughly an hour each way. Entry is 50 ALL, and the walk from the car park is about 2 km.
- Day three, Gjirokaster. It is about 1.5 hours by road. Budget about 200 to 400 ALL per site.
Swap the order to suit the weather.
Corfu as an add-on
Corfu ferries sail from Saranda port. Crossings take about 30 to 45 minutes on a hydrofoil or 55 to 70 minutes on a conventional ferry, and Greece is an hour ahead of Albania. The summer timetable has up to 12 to 13 sailings each way daily, so a day trip is easy. From 11 November to early March only one boat each way sails, and the next boat home leaves the next morning, which turns a day trip into an overnight stay. Hire cars cannot cross from Corfu to Albania. The Ionian Seaways timetable has the sailings.
Winter notes
- Butrint switches to winter hours on 1 November, and last entry is at 15:00.
- Kayak and sunbed hire, island boats and the mussel tour may not run, so ask first.
- Rain leaves mud on the Blue Eye path.
- Corfu drops to one sailing a day each way.
Getting here
Ksamil has no airport. Corfu is the nearest, reached by ferry from Saranda, and Tirana is about 280 km away, roughly 4.5 to 5.5 hours by road. Albania is a normal destination, and current UK and US government advice is worth a read before you book.
Read more: day trips from Ksamil and Ksamil activities .