Best Things to Do in Himarë: Why It Was Our Favourite Stop in Albania
Himarë was the only place on the Albanian Riviera we wanted more of. The boat trip, the two restaurants we still talk about and how to spend four slow days.Canonical:https://www.ellspassport.com/blog-things-to-do-himareExperience dates: 8 to 12 July 2025
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Himarë was the only place on the Albanian Riviera we left wishing we had booked longer. Four nights, and I gave it 10/10, the highest I scored anywhere on the coast.
It is not the most famous stop. Ksamil gets the photos and Sarandë gets the nightlife. Himarë gets the people who want a good beach, an excellent dinner and nothing else on the schedule, which turned out to be exactly what we wanted by the second week of a trip.
The single best thing to do here is get on a boat early. Everything after that is food and swimming, and I mean that as a recommendation.
Why Himarë and not the rest of the coast
We stayed in four different places along the Albanian Riviera in nine nights, and Himarë is the one we would go back to.
Sarandë has more going on and works better as a base for the far south, which is why we recommend it in our Sarandë or Ksamil comparison. Ksamil has the beaches everybody has seen, and the sunbeds and prices that come with them. Himarë sits between them in size and above both of them in how it actually felt to be there.
It is relaxed in a way the busier towns are not. The restaurants run from genuinely cheap to properly good. And it is the one place where the beach was somewhere you swam rather than somewhere you rented a bed on.
1. Take a private boat trip, and go early
This is the thing to do in Himarë. If you do one paid activity here, do this.
We walked the esplanade the evening before and compared operators, which is worth doing because they are all sitting next to each other and the prices and boat sizes are not the same. We booked a private trip for the following morning and it came to A$120, recorded on the day.
The early start is the whole trick. We were into the caves and along the beaches before the day boats arrived, and the difference between 8am and 11am on that coastline is the difference between having a cave to yourself and queuing for it. Pirate Cave was the highlight, and the water changes colour as the light moves through the morning in a way that does not really come across in photos.
Three hours was the right length. It was the best thing we did in Himarë and I would book it again without thinking about it.
Two practical notes. Compare operators in person rather than booking ahead online, because the esplanade is where the actual pricing happens. And take more water than you think, because there is no shade on a small boat in July.
2. Eat at Cafe Kanda
Cafe Kanda is run by a mother and son. The mother cooks a small seasonal menu of traditional Albanian dishes, which means the menu is short and changes, and that is the point rather than a limitation.
We had roasted vegetables, vegetable patties, a whole fish and watermelon to finish. I gave it 10/10, and it is the meal from Albania we still bring up.
Go without a fixed idea of what you want to order. The value here is that somebody is cooking what is good that week, and the small menu is doing you a favour.
3. Breakfast at Eleni's Country Breakfast
The other 10/10. Eleni's is a home-cooked local breakfast: omelettes, olives, tomatoes, petulla and apricot jam.
Petulla are Albanian fried dough, and having them made properly at somebody's table is a different thing to having them anywhere else. This is a slow breakfast rather than a quick coffee stop, so give it a morning rather than squeezing it in before a drive.
Between Kanda and Eleni's, Himarë fed us better than anywhere else in Albania, and neither of them is expensive. Our everyday coffee in Himarë was 250 lek, about A$4.58.
4. Swim, and then swim again
The beaches are the reason the town exists and they were the reason our days here cost almost nothing.
This is where Himarë quietly separates itself from Ksamil. You are not walking onto a strip of rented sunbeds. Our stay had beach equipment we could take down with us, the water is clear, and a swim does not begin with a transaction.
If you want the honest financial version: our four Himarë days were the cheapest of the entire two weeks, and three of them came in under A$22 each. We have the full breakdown in what two weeks in Albania cost us.
5. Do nothing, properly
I am putting this on the list deliberately, because it is what Himarë is actually for and because we nearly did not do it.
We had come off a week of moving every two or three nights. In Himarë we cooked, did laundry, read on a terrace and swam. A week of groceries cost us 1,000 lek, about A$18.34. We drank coffee in the morning and walked down to the water in the afternoon and that was the entire plan.
Travelling full time, that kind of day is not a wasted day, it is the thing that makes the next month possible. If you are three weeks into a Balkans trip and starting to feel it, put Himarë in the middle of your route rather than at the end.
Where to stay in Himarë
We stayed in an Airbnb, Beleri House, and it was one of the best stays of the whole trip. A communal kitchen, a washing machine, books, fresh produce from the garden, tea, a terrace, beach equipment to borrow and a two minute walk down to the water. The owner was genuinely helpful. It cost us A$103.70 a night for the two of us.
If you would rather book a hotel, these are the two I would compare. Both are in Himarë, both scored well when I checked, and they suit different trips.
Dimitri Hotel
The highest rated stay in Himarë when I checked, at 9.5 from 760 reviews, which is an unusual number of reviews for a town this size. A pool matters more here than it sounds like it should, because the walk back up from the beach in July is a warm one.
Rea Boutique Hotel
The one I would book if the room itself is part of the holiday. Rooms open straight onto the bay and it scored 9.2 from 482 reviews when I checked. Worth comparing against the apartments if you are only giving Himarë two or three nights and want them to count.
Whichever way you go, check recent reviews and the exact room before booking. Small Albanian properties change hands more often than big chains do.
How many days do you need in Himarë?
Four, and we would give it five.
Two nights is enough to do the boat trip and eat well, but it is not enough to get the thing Himarë is actually good at. Four gave us a boat day, two proper beach days and enough slow time that we stopped checking what was next.
It is the one stop on our route where we would take nights from somewhere else to add here. Our how many days in Albania guide has the full split we would book instead of the one we did.
Getting to Himarë
Himarë sits on the coast road between Sarandë and Vlorë. From Ksamil it is about 63 kilometres and roughly an hour and a half by the route we drove, though that is a planning estimate rather than a measured time and the coast road in July runs slower than the map suggests.
Drive it in daylight and do not put anything in the diary for that afternoon. The road climbs and switches back above the sea and there are pull-offs you will want to stop at. It is one of the better drives we have done, not a transfer to get through.
We had a hire car for the whole coastal section and it made the beaches genuinely accessible. If you are pricing one, compare car rental prices for your exact dates, because July is not May.
What we did not get to
Four nights and we still left things. We did not make it up to the old town, and we did not do the longer hikes inland. If you have five or six nights, that is where I would put them.
I would rather tell you what we actually did than pad a list with places we only drove past.
Is Himarë worth visiting?
For us it was the best stop on the Albanian Riviera, and the only one we wanted more of.
Go if you want a good beach without a sunbed transaction, two restaurants worth planning a day around and a town that does not need you to be doing something. Do not go expecting nightlife or a long list of attractions, because that is Sarandë's job and Himarë is not trying to compete.
If you are still building the route, our free two-week Albania guide has the day by day version with stops and map links.
Keep planning with our where to stay across Albania and Albanian Alps guide.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best things to do in Himarë?
A private boat trip along the coast is the best thing to do, and going early is what makes it. After that it is the food and the beaches: Cafe Kanda for dinner, Eleni's Country Breakfast in the morning, and swimming in between.
Is Himarë worth visiting?
Yes. I rated it 10/10, the highest of anywhere on the Albanian Riviera, and it is the only coastal town we left wanting more nights. It suits slow days rather than a list of attractions.
How many days should you spend in Himarë?
Four nights, and we would give it five. Two is enough for a boat trip and a good dinner but not enough to get what the town is actually good at.
How much is a boat trip in Himarë?
Ours was A$120 for a private three hour trip in July 2025, booked the evening before after comparing operators along the esplanade. Prices vary by boat size and season, so compare in person rather than booking ahead.
Where should you eat in Himarë?
Cafe Kanda for dinner, run by a mother and son with a small seasonal menu of traditional Albanian food. Eleni's Country Breakfast in the morning for omelettes, olives, tomatoes, petulla and apricot jam. I rated both 10/10.
Is Himarë better than Ksamil?
For us, comfortably. Ksamil has the more famous beaches but it was the most expensive place we stayed in Albania and it is busier. Himarë is more relaxed, cheaper and better for eating. Ksamil is worth a day trip from Sarandë rather than a base.
Where should you stay in Himarë?
We stayed in an Airbnb with a kitchen and a terrace two minutes from the beach, which cost A$103.70 a night for two. For hotels, Dimitri scored 9.5 from 760 reviews and Rea Boutique 9.2 from 482 when I checked.
How do you get to Himarë?
By road along the coast. From Ksamil it is about 63 kilometres and roughly an hour and a half by the route we drove. A hire car makes the beaches along that stretch far easier to reach.
