Sarandë
Saranda or Sarandë is a town and municipality in Vlorë County, southern Albania. It is one of the most important tourist attractions of the Albanian Riviera. It is situated on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea in the central Mediterranean, about 14 km (8.7 mi) east of the north end of the Greek island of Corfu. The present municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Ksamil and Sarandë, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the town Sarandë.
Places to visit
Ksamili
The village of Ksamili is near Sarande. It has a beautiful beach with several small islands you could swim to. The bus from Sarande serves both Ksamili and Butrint. Ksamili is now heavily developed, with a large number of part-completed properties. An extraordinary sight is that some of these new buildings are toppling over; this is believed to be where buildings have gone up without permission, and the police have sabotaged the building by pulling out a couple of upright pillars, leaving the owner to clear up the damage.
The village of Ksamili is near Sarande. It has a beautiful beach with several small islands you could swim to. The bus from Sarande serves both Ksamili and Butrint. Ksamili is now heavily developed, with a large number of part-completed properties. An extraordinary sight is that some of these new buildings are toppling over; this is believed to be where buildings have gone up without permission, and the police have sabotaged the building by pulling out a couple of upright pillars, leaving the owner to clear up the damage.
Butrint
Just outside of Ksamili, lies Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Butrint was an ancient city throughout Greek, Roman, bishopric and Byzantine periods. The city was finally abandoned during the Middle Ages perhaps due to the marsh surrounding and subsequent malaria epidemic.
Despite being one of the greatest classical cities of the Mediterranean, Butrint remains largely unknown. The current archaeological site includes an impressive Roman amphitheater, a Byzantine Basilica (the largest in the world after Hagia Sophia in Istanbul), a Roman temple with mosaic floor, a beautifully carved lion's gate as well numerous constructions built throughout the periods. Furthermore, what you see is just 15 per cent of what lies beneath. As of summer of 2005, there is an international archaeological team performing excavations at Butrint which can be observed inside the park.
Despite being one of the greatest classical cities of the Mediterranean, Butrint remains largely unknown. The current archaeological site includes an impressive Roman amphitheater, a Byzantine Basilica (the largest in the world after Hagia Sophia in Istanbul), a Roman temple with mosaic floor, a beautifully carved lion's gate as well numerous constructions built throughout the periods. Furthermore, what you see is just 15 per cent of what lies beneath. As of summer of 2005, there is an international archaeological team performing excavations at Butrint which can be observed inside the park.
Roman temple at Butrinti
Things to do
Above Saranda is the old Castle of Lekures at "Qafa e Gjashtes" (The Pass of Six), also known as Lekursi Castle (Lëkurësi Castle). There is a nice outdoor restaurant within the castle from which you have panoramic views of Saranda Bay below, the inland mountains, the Butrint Lagoon and the island of Corfu on the Ionian Sea. After visiting Butrint and the Ali Pasha Tepelena Castle, you could go to the Pulbardha Beach and enjoy some great food aIn the afternoon, when the sun is setting, you should go to Lekures, and watch the sun set, or you could go to the beach and relax with your friends or family while enjoying the beautiful sunset. Something else that you can do, when it’s not a really hot day is to go camping. If it’s not a hot day, camping would be a really good experience, and it would be a change from going to the beach because it could get a bit boring and tiresome to just go to the beach. So for a change you could go camping because not only will you have a good time looking at the stars at night, but you would be trying something different. Something else you should do is visit a new beach each day, such as one day “pllakat” the next day “manastiri” and so on. You should also take a ferry to visit Corfu, for it is only a hour or two away from the coast of Saranda.nd relax on the sandy beach. Syri i Kalter is just 25 min away past the city of Saranda. This is a great place to visit and relax.