Small Group Tour of Albania, 12 Days: Culture, Coast & Food

Fly into Tirana International Airport, 17 km from the centre, with direct flights from most European cities. Your airport pickup is included on day 1 and the transfer back on day 12. Send us your flight details after booking.

Groups of 6 to 16 travellers, all ages welcome. A driver-guide is with you for all 12 days and local guides join you in Berat, Gjirokastra and Butrint.

The price is per person in a double or twin room, two sharing. A single room costs €550 extra for the trip, add it in the booking box. Triple and family rooms on request.

Breakfast every day, two farm lunches and two dinners are included. The rest is free, and your guide knows where to eat in every town.

The zipline in Theth, the ATV ride at Cape of Rodon (18 and over, with a licence) and rafting on the Vjosa are at extra cost and depend on the day's schedule and the weather.

Easy to moderate. Culture days with short walks on cobbles, a boat day, beach time and the thermal pools. Under three hours of driving on most days, with two nights in Shkodra, Himara and Gjirokastra.

Travellers who want to drive themselves, or who want one base for the whole stay.

Strongly recommended, and required for the optional zipline, ATV and rafting.

No vaccinations are required for most travellers. Tap water is best avoided, bottled water is cheap and everywhere. Bring any personal medication.

The currency is the Albanian lek. Euros are accepted in many tourist places, but carry some lek for markets, small cafés and tips. ATMs are in every town on the route. Tipping is appreciated, not expected.

Departures run in June, August and September. June is warm and balanced, August is hot and best for the beaches, and September has warm seas and quieter beaches.

Buy a cheap local SIM at Tirana airport or in the city. Most hotels and restaurants have WiFi.

A small group tour with set departures. You join a group of 6 to 16 travellers with a driver-guide for all 12 days and local guides at the main heritage sites. Everything on the itinerary is organised for you, from the airport pickup to the farewell dinner. If you would rather travel as your own party on your own dates, ask us about the private version of this route.

Yes. InAlb's small group tour covers the whole country in 12 days, in one loop from Tirana: Kruja, Shkodra and Theth in the Albanian Alps, UNESCO Berat and Gjirokastra, Apollonia, Vlora, the Riviera with a boat day from Himara, Butrint, Ksamil, the Blue Eye and the Benja thermal pools. You stay in 4-star and boutique hotels with a driver-guide for all 12 days, in a group of 6 to 16, all ages welcome. From €1,750 per person.

Yes. This tour has three fixed departures in 2027: 9 June, 11 August and 8 September. Each runs 12 days and 11 nights from Tirana to Tirana, starts on a Wednesday and ends on a Sunday, with InAlb's own driver-guide. Groups are 6 to 16 travellers. A departure runs once the minimum of 6 is reached, and 16 is the maximum, so the group fits one comfortable air-conditioned vehicle. From €1,750 per person, two sharing.

Eleven nights in 4-star and boutique hotels chosen for comfort and location: a 4-star hotel in central Tirana, boutique hotels in Shkodra, Berat, Himara and Gjirokastra, and 4-star hotels on the seafront in Vlora and near the beach in Ksamil. Rooms are double or twin, two sharing. Hotels are confirmed with your booking and are of a similar standard if one changes.

Breakfast every day, two lunches and two dinners. The lunches are the farmhouse lunch near Kruja on day 2 and the agritourism lunch near Berat on day 4, both built around fresh local produce. The dinners are the Albanian Night on day 1, an 8-course feast with music and dance, and the farewell dinner in Tirana on day 11. The other meals are left free, and your guide knows where to eat in every town.

From €1,750 per person, two sharing, with the driver-guide, local guides, 11 hotel nights, the listed meals, the Himara boat day, entrance tickets and airport transfers included. A private room for the whole trip costs €550 extra. You pay a 30% deposit to book and the balance 30 days before departure. International flights and travel insurance are not included.

Almost everything on the ground is included: 11 hotel nights, the driver-guide and local guides, the private vehicle, airport transfers, breakfast every day, two farm lunches, two dinners, the Himara boat day and all entrance tickets in the itinerary. Not included are international flights, travel insurance, the other lunches and dinners, drinks and the optional activities. Your guide knows where to eat in every town.

Yes. Solo travellers are welcome and make up part of most groups. The price is per person, two sharing, so a solo traveller who wants a room alone adds the single room supplement of €550 for the whole trip. If you would prefer to share a room with another traveller to avoid the supplement, ask us when you book and we tell you what is possible on your departure. If you would like a group made up of solo travellers, look at our Solo Travellers Small Group Tour, 11 days.

All ages are welcome on this tour. The pace is easy to moderate, the vehicle is private to the group and the days mix sightseeing with beach time, a boat day and thermal pools, so families do well on it. Tell us the ages when you book. Child prices, child seats and triple or family rooms are available on request, subject to availability.

A licensed English-speaking driver-guide travels with the group for all 12 days and handles the driving, the timing and the stops. In Berat, Gjirokastra and Butrint a local guide joins you for the visit, so the history comes from someone who grew up with it. The InAlb office in Tirana is on WhatsApp 24/7 from the moment you book until you fly home.

About 28 hours over the 12 days, under three hours on most days, in a private air-conditioned vehicle with stops along the way. The longest days are day 4 to Berat, day 11 back to Tirana and the Theth day, which is a scenic mountain road there and back. Day 7 is a boat day with no driving at all, and day 12 is only the airport transfer.

On day 7 you sail along the Himara coastline to Livadhi, Aquarium Bay, Mirror Beach and Jala, then on to places you can only reach from the sea: Turtle Cave, Marble Beach, Bat Cave and Pigeon Cave, Gjipe Canyon where the mountains open onto the water, Monastery Cave and the Pirates' Cave. The boat trip is included, bring swimwear and sun protection.

Three optional activities appear in the itinerary at extra cost: a zipline in Theth on day 3, an ATV ride at Cape of Rodon on day 4 for drivers aged 18 and over with a valid licence, and rafting on the Vjosa near Permet on day 10. All depend on the day's schedule and the weather. Tell your guide the day before or ask us when you book.

The tour is graded easy to moderate. Expect short walks on cobbled streets and castle paths, some steps at sites like Berat, Gjirokastra and Butrint, and optional beach time. Nobody in the group drives and the vehicle is with you all day. If you have mobility needs, contact us before booking and we tell you honestly which stops are not step-free.

All ages are welcome and nobody in the group drives. Walking is easy to moderate: short walks on cobbled streets and castle paths, with some steps in Berat, Gjirokastra and Butrint. The trip is not step-free. Driving is under three hours on most days, and you stay two nights each in Shkodra, Himara and Gjirokastra. Tell us about your mobility before you book and we tell you honestly which stops would be difficult.

The three departures run in June, August and September. June brings warm sea and good light with quieter sites. August is the hottest and the best for the beach days in Himara and Ksamil. September has warm water and fewer people on the Riviera. The thermal pools at Benja and the Theth day are good in all three months.

Yes, the airport pickup on day 1 and the transfer back on day 12 are included. Any flight time works, because day 1 is arrival day: the only fixed moment is the welcome dinner at the Albanian Night in the evening, and the Tirana tour is the next morning. On day 12 the transfer is timed to your flight. Send us your flight numbers after booking.

Yes. The tour starts and ends in Tirana, so you book your own flights to Tirana International Airport and InAlb's driver meets you on day 1 whatever time you land. The pickup is included. Day 1 is arrival day, so you can rest after a long flight, meet the group at the welcome dinner in the evening and tour Tirana the next morning. On day 12 the airport transfer is timed to your flight home. The 2027 departures are 9 June, 11 August and 8 September, and each ends on a Sunday.

Comfortable walking shoes for castle cobbles, swimwear for the beach days in Himara and Ksamil and for the Benja thermal pools, a light layer for cooler evenings in the Alps and the old towns, sun protection, and some cash in euro or lek for markets, drinks and small stops. Luggage stays on the vehicle between hotels, so one case per person is enough.

Yes. Albania is one of the safer countries in Europe for visitors and locals are warm with guests. On this tour you travel in a private vehicle with a driver-guide who knows the roads, the hotels are confirmed in advance, and the InAlb office is reachable 24/7. The usual city sense applies in Tirana at night, as anywhere.

The tour runs with an English-speaking driver-guide. The InAlb office works in English, Spanish, German, French and Greek, so you can book and prepare the trip in your language. A departure with a guide in another language depends on the group, ask us before you book and we tell you what is possible for your dates.

A 30% deposit secures your place and the balance is due 30 days before departure. The deposit is non-refundable. The balance is refunded in full 30 days or more before departure, 70% between 15 and 29 days, 50% between 1 and 14 days, and nothing on the departure day or for a no-show. For a valid reason you can ask to reschedule free of charge at least one month before, subject to availability.

Travellers who want to drive themselves and set their own pace, since the group moves together with one driver-guide, and anyone who prefers one base with day trips out, because you change hotels on most nights as the route moves down the country. If that sounds like you, our self-drive road trips and private tours cover a similar route on your own dates.

InAlb, a licensed tour operator and DMC based in Tirana. We designed this route ourselves and run it with our own driver-guides and the local guides we work with in every town, so the people you deal with before the trip are the same people who run it. We answer every enquiry within 24 hours.