Ottoman Cities and Ionian Coast - Road Tripping from Albania to Greece

Eleven days through Albania and across to Corfu, which is one of the more interesting routes in the operator’s range because Albania was closed to outsiders entirely until the 1990s and is still barely touristed.

Tirana opens it with two nights and a private walking tour of Skanderbeg Square, the Et’hem Bey Mosque and the National History Museum, which is the quickest way to make sense of a complicated century. Berat follows for two nights by way of Apollonia, a Greek city founded around 620 BC that once held sixty thousand people and is now a quiet archaeological park. Berat itself is UNESCO listed for its Ottoman houses stacked up the hillside, and families still live inside the hilltop citadel, which is unusual for a site of that status.

Gjirokaster comes next, also UNESCO listed, with a thirteenth-century citadel above it and stone-roofed houses below. It is the birthplace of Ismail Kadare, the novelist who wrote about Albania under the dictatorship while living in it.

Sarande follows for two nights, giving access to Butrint, where Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Venetian builders each left a layer on the same site, and to Ksamil Beach. A hydrofoil then crosses to Corfu for the final two nights, with a second hire car, where the beaches and quiet coves around Kommeno are the point. Original Travel include both hire cars, accommodation, the ferry, the private tours, concierge access, a 24-hour helpline and carbon absorption. Flights and most meals are separate. Prices run from 3,000 to 3,900 pounds per person.