Duration: | 3 Day(s) - 2 Night(s) |
Tour Category: | Classic Tours |
WEEKEND IN SARANDE or SARANDA
1st DAY: Sarande
Transfer from the port to the hotel. Dinner and Overnight. In hotel 4 stars
2nd DAY : Sarande – Butrint - Sarande
Breakfast and starting to discover Butrint.Inhabited since prehistoric times, Butrint has been the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city, and a bishopric. Following a period of prosperity under Byzantine administration, then a brief occupation by the Venetians, the city was abandoned in the late Middle Ages after marshes formed in the area. The present archaeological site is a repository of ruins representing each period in the city’s development. Return to the hotel. Free time.
Dinner and overnight in Sarande
3rd DAY: Sarande
Breakfast. Transfer to the port and end of our service.
Prices per person in Euro
Hotel Nertili 3 stars
Hotel Butrint
4 stars
The Above Price Includes the Following Services :
2 nights in a hotel in a bed and breakfast
Transportation by car or minibus
English guide speaking
Not Included:
Services not mentioned
Personal extras
Flight and ferry tickets
Entrance to museums
Best Places to Visit in Saranda:
1. The Town’s Bay
Saranda’s main beach is a horseshoe bay with a mix of sand and pebbles next to calm blue Ionian waters. The beach is public and brings you all the facilities of a European seaside getaway. You can hire paddleboats by the shore, sunbeds are provided, and the beach is skirted by a promenade. This walkway is fringed with lush palm trees that shelter ice cream carts and pop-up bars selling their wares in the summer. If hunger strikes you can cross the road behind the promenade for a sit-down lunch at Saranda’s choice of front-row cafes and seafood restaurants.
2. Mirror Beach
South of Saranda, on the way to the village of Ksamil, is this secluded natural bay rated by most visitors as the best on the entire Albanian Riviera. Despite this, holidaymakers to the area usually opt for the convenience of the urban beach at Saranda, so Mirror Beach, which doesn’t have much by way of services, remains pretty quiet throughout the summer. This leaves you free to relax in this natural setting, protected by cliffs and with shimmering turquoise waters that are calmed by the limestone outcrops that lie just offshore.
3. Lekuresi Castle
Saranda is hemmed into the coast by tall hills, and atop one of these is a rambling old structure that goes back to Albania’s early Ottoman times. Lekuresi Castle was once a citadel that enclosed an entire village, but today lies in a semi-ruin. What remains are portions of the walls and a crumbling watchtower looking out over the bay. Most people will make the steep walk to admire panoramic views that reach all the way out to Corfu and the Greek border.
4. Synagogue
Ancient Saranda had a thriving Jewish community, as the remnants of this Synagogue from the 200s attest. It had a whole network of buildings, with a school and community centre. Exploring the complex you’ll notice the ornate Jewish mosaics on the floor, the details of which revealed the identity of the building when it was first discovered in 2003. The mosaics depict the menorah, as well as a shofar (ancient musical horn) and etrogs (the citron fruit consumed during the Sukkot holiday).
5. Syri Kalter
The Blue Eye in English, Syri Kalter is a natural spring and a mesmerising natural phenomenon in Saranda’s hilly hinterland. What enthrals people about Syri Kalter is the way the sunlight catches the spring on a clear day, creating a deep shade of blue that glistens like an eye. This effect is caused by oxygen bubbles rising from the bottom of the spring, which is at least 50 metres beneath the surface but maybe much deeper. The location is also gorgeous, with oak and sycamore trees around the water, and a wooden viewing platform positioned directly above the “Eye”.