Where to Stay in Albania: The Three Bases We Would Book Again
Sarandë, Himarë and Shkodër. Three bases cover the whole country, and if we did Albania again those are the only three places we would unpack.
We used six over fourteen nights, which was two too many. Two of them we would not book again at all. That is the useful part of this, because almost every guide to where to stay in Albania is written by somebody who has not slept in any of them.
Everything below is a place we actually stayed, with what we paid in July 2025, or a hotel we checked ourselves and would book next time. Both are labelled so you know which is which.
Where to stay in Albania: the short version
Albania splits into two halves that are five hours apart, and you base differently in each.
On the coast, two bases are enough. Sarandë covers everything in the south, including Ksamil, Pulëbardha and the castle. Himarë covers the middle of the Riviera. There is no need for a third, and we used four.
In the north, one base. Shkodër, either side of the mountains. Up in the valleys you stay in guesthouses that come with whatever trip you book.
Skip Ksamil and Vlorë as bases. Ksamil is worth a full day and cost us more per night than anywhere else in the country. Vlorë we did not enjoy.
What we actually paid
Six stays, fourteen nights, July 2025 prices for two people.
Scroll to see the full table →
| Stop | Nights | Total for two | Per night | Would we again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarandë | 3 | A$285.03 | A$95.01 | Yes |
| Ksamil | 2 | A$231.00 | A$115.50 | No, day trip it |
| Himarë | 4 | A$414.78 | A$103.70 | Yes, and longer |
| Vlorë | 2 | A$144.59 | A$72.30 | No |
| Shkodër | 1 | A$82.63 | A$82.63 | Yes, but two nights |
| Albanian Alps package | 2 | A$499.56 | A$249.78 pp | Yes |
The coastal average was A$96.50 a night for two, which is the number to plan around. Ksamil being the most expensive night of the trip is the detail that changed how we would do it. The full Albania cost breakdown has the rest of the spending.
Most of these were apartments rather than hotels. Travelling full time, a kitchen is not really about saving money, it is what stops every evening feeling like a holiday you have to perform.
Sarandë: the best base for southern Albania
I rated Sarandë 9/10 and it is the one place on the coast where you can leave the car parked and walk to dinner.
Base here and Ksamil is 15 kilometres down the road, Pulëbardha Beach is a short drive, and Lëkurësi Castle is up the hill for sunset. You do not need to move accommodation to see any of the south.
The honest drawback is parking, which was consistently difficult, so being central matters more here than it sounds.
Hotel Real
Central, which in Sarandë is the thing that matters most, because it solves the parking problem by making the car irrelevant. Walk to dinner, walk to the beach, drive out only for the day trips. It scored 9.1 from 443 reviews when I checked, which is a lot of reviews for reassurance in a town this size.
We stayed in an apartment here for three nights at A$95.01 a night. Hotel Real is the hotel we would compare it against next time. Our Sarandë or Ksamil comparison has the full argument for basing here rather than down the road.
Ksamil: go for the day, do not sleep there
Ksamil has the beaches everyone has seen and it was the most expensive place we stayed in Albania at A$115.50 a night. I rated it 7.5/10.
It is a small strip. Once you are off the sand there is noticeably less to do than in Sarandë, and in July it is busy in a way that makes the evenings less appealing than the mornings. Two nights was one and a half more than we needed.
Go for a full day from Sarandë instead. You get the water, you skip the premium and the crowds at either end of the day.
If you do want to be on that stretch, this is the one I would look at rather than the cheap apartments behind the strip:
Sunlight Hotel
The strongest reviewed option in Ksamil when I checked, at 9.2 from 1,147 reviews, which is an unusual amount of feedback for a town this small and makes it a safer bet than the apartment blocks. A pool matters here, because the beaches get crowded from mid-morning and having somewhere to retreat to changes the day.
Himarë: the one we would give more nights
I rated Himarë 10/10, the highest anywhere on the coast, and it is the only town we left wishing we had booked longer.
We paid A$103.70 a night for an apartment with a kitchen and a terrace over the bay, a short walk down to the water. It made our cheapest days of the whole trip possible: three of our four days here came in under A$22 each.
Himarë is quieter than Sarandë, cheaper than Ksamil and the food is better than both. If you only base in one place on the Albanian Riviera, base here.
Dimitri Hotel
The highest rated stay in Himarë when I checked, at 9.5 from 760 reviews, which is a lot of reviews for a town this size. The pool earns its keep after the walk back up from the beach in July.
Rea Boutique Hotel
The one I would book if the room is part of the holiday rather than somewhere to sleep between beach days. Rooms open straight onto the bay and it scored 9.2 from 482 reviews when I checked. Worth comparing if you are only giving Himarë two or three nights and want them to count.
Our own Himarë stay was an Airbnb with no hotel listing, so it carries no link. These two are the hotels we would compare against it. There is more on the town in our things to do in Himarë guide.
Shkodër: the base for the Albanian Alps
Everything in the mountains runs out of Shkodër. It is where the transport leaves from, where you leave your luggage while you walk, and where you come back to.
We gave it one night and that was a mistake. Book two: one before the mountains and one after. Arriving off a bus and repacking for a 6am start on the same evening is not the way to start a three-day trip.
Tias Hostel
This is where we booked the entire Alps trip, and organising the mountains through your Shkodër base rather than assembling it yourself is the best planning decision available in Albania. Dinner was included at one long table with everyone heading up the next morning, they held our luggage while we walked the pass, and we came back to the same beds. It scored 9.4 from 66 reviews when I checked.
A Gallery Hotel
The step up in Shkodër for anyone who wants a private room and a quiet night before an early start, rather than a communal table. Rooms are apartment style with a kitchen, which is useful if you are in Shkodër either side of the mountains. It scored 9.1 from 272 reviews when I checked. You would still book the mountain trip separately, so weigh that against what the hostel bundles in.
Up in the mountains you do not really choose
Once you are past Shkodër, accommodation is family-run guesthouses in Valbonë and Theth, and if you book a package it is chosen for you. That sounds like a compromise and it is the opposite: the homestays were the best part of the trip.
Dinner is a long communal table with everyone walking the pass the next morning, and the meals are included. Our whole Alps package was A$249.78 each for two nights, every transfer and the Shala River day. There is more in our Albanian Alps guide.
Vlorë: we would not stay again
We gave Vlorë two nights as a break in the drive back towards Tirana. I rated it 4/10 and we did not enjoy the parts of town we saw.
That is our experience of specific areas at one time of year, not a verdict on the whole city, and plenty of people holiday in the resort areas further along. But with fourteen nights to allocate we would not spend two of them there again, and we are not going to recommend somewhere to stay in a place we would not return to.
Apartment, hotel or hostel in Albania?
Apartments are what we used most, and in Albania they are excellent value. Ours ran between A$72 and A$116 a night for two. A kitchen matters more than the saving: after a few weeks of moving, cooking your own dinner is what makes the trip sustainable.
Hotels make more sense for short stays and in Shkodër before an early start. Albanian hotels at this price point are newer and better equipped than the equivalent in Greece or Croatia.
Hostels are the outlier here, because Tias is not really a hostel in the usual sense, it is a trip organiser with beds. If you are travelling solo or want to go cheaper than we did, comparing hostels and budget stays will get you well under A$40 a night in Shkodër and Sarandë, roughly half what we paid as a couple.
Whatever you book, check recent reviews and the exact room first. Small Albanian properties change hands more often than big chains do, and a listing that was excellent two summers ago may be under new management.
So where should you stay in Albania?
If you have two weeks: three nights Sarandë, five Himarë, two Shkodër, four in the Alps. That is the split we would book instead of the one we did, and our how many days in Albania guide explains the reasoning.
If you have one week on the coast: Sarandë and Himarë, and nothing else.
If you have one week in the north: Shkodër either side, and the mountains in between.
Start with our free two-week Albania guide for the day-by-day route and map links.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the best place to stay in Albania?
Himarë if you want one base on the coast: quiet, good food, and the best value we found at A$103.70 a night for two. Sarandë if you want more to do in the evenings and easy access to the whole south. Shkodër if you are heading for the Albanian Alps.
How much does accommodation cost in Albania?
We paid A$96.50 a night on average for two people across twelve coastal nights in July 2025, in apartments and guesthouses. Ksamil was the dearest at A$115.50 and Vlorë the cheapest at A$72.30. Hostels run roughly half that.
Should you stay in Sarandë or Ksamil?
Sarandë. It is the better base, there is more to do off the beach and it cost us less per night. Ksamil has the famous beaches but was the most expensive place we stayed in the country, and it works better as a day trip 15 kilometres down the road.
How many bases do you need in Albania?
Three: Sarandë, Himarë and Shkodër. We used six in fourteen nights and it was at least two too many. Every extra base is another packing day.
Where should you stay for the Albanian Alps?
Shkodër, two nights, one either side of the mountains. Book the trip through your accommodation there rather than assembling transport yourself. In the valleys you stay in family-run guesthouses, which are usually included in the package.
Is Airbnb or Booking better in Albania?
We used both. Airbnb had the better apartments with kitchens, which suited us. Booking had the better hotels and the more reliable review counts, which matters in a country where a lot of properties are new. For one or two nights we would use a hotel; for four or more, an apartment.
Where should you not stay in Albania?
We would not stay in Vlorë again after two nights there, and we would not base in Ksamil, though it is well worth a day. That is our experience rather than a rule, but both cost us nights we would rather have spent in Himarë or the mountains.
