The 13 must-do things on the Albanian Riviera

Saranda is the main resort town of the southern Riviera, facing the Greek island of Corfu. Its seafront promenade is lined with hotels, cafés and fish restaurants; above the town, Lëkurësi castle gives a wide view over the bay and Corfu.

Above all it is the best base for the southern day trips: the ancient site of Butrint 14 km away, the beaches of Ksamil, the Blue Eye and Gjirokastër inland. Hydrofoils reach Corfu in about thirty minutes, which also makes it a gateway from Greece.

Fourteen kilometres south of Saranda, Butrint is the Riviera's great archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992. On a wooded peninsula between a lagoon and the Vivari channel lie layers of a Greek city, a Roman colony founded under Caesar in 44 BC, a Byzantine town, and Venetian then Ottoman fortifications.

The route takes in the theatre, the mosaic-floored baptistery, the great basilica, the Lion Gate and the Venetian tower, up to the museum in the castle at the top of the site. Allow two to three hours under the trees.

Ksamil, about fifteen kilometres south of Saranda, owes its fame to its small sandy beaches and the shallow turquoise water around them. Just offshore, a few wooded islets can be reached by boat, pedalo or kayak, and strong swimmers swim across.

The village has grown fast in recent years and its beaches are packed in July-August. Its location is still ideal: Butrint is minutes away, and the coast is good for snorkelling.

Dhërmi is a village clinging to the foothills of the Ceraunian mountains above the Ionian Sea, on the SH8 coast road south of the Llogara pass. The old village climbs the slope, while the pebble beach stretches below, reached by a hairpin road.

It is one of the Riviera's highlights: Drymades beach to the north, the canyon and cove of Gjipe to the south, and coves reachable by boat. The mood is livelier in summer than in the neighbouring villages.

Himarë is a small town in the middle of the Riviera, on the SH8 between the Llogara pass to the north and Saranda to the south. It is split between the seafront, with its beach and fishing harbour, and the fortified old town on the hill, whose castle overlooks the coast.

It makes a handy base: Livadhi and Jale beaches, Porto Palermo castle a few kilometres south, Qeparo and Gjipe. Boat trips to the caves and coves along the coast leave from Himarë's quay.

The Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër) is a karst spring near the village of Muzinë, about 25 km north-east of Saranda on the road to Gjirokastër. The water wells up from a shaft more than 50 metres deep, deep blue ringed with turquoise, and stays at 10-13 °C all year.

The protected site is reached by a path under oaks and plane trees to a platform above the spring. Allow an hour; it is a natural stop on the way to Gjirokastër.

Vlorë (Vlora) is a large port city and the northern gateway to the Riviera. Albania's independence was proclaimed here in 1912, which gives it a special place in the country's history. Beyond its seafront promenade and town beaches, it is the starting point for boat trips to Sazan island and the Karaburun peninsula.

South of the city begins the Riviera's spectacular road, which crosses the Llogara pass (1,027 m) before dropping to Dhërmi and Himarë: the natural start of a road trip to Saranda.

Jale beach is a cove of white pebbles and turquoise water between Dhërmi and Himarë, below the village of Vuno. It is one of the Riviera's most popular beaches in summer, with beach bars and campsites.

Quieter in spring and autumn, Jale is good for swimming, paddleboarding and snorkelling. A small road leads down from the SH8 near Vuno; boat trips from Himarë often stop here.

Qeparo has two parts: the old village, a maze of cobbled lanes and stone houses clinging to the hillside, and the coastal part, with its pebble beach on the Ionian Sea. The contrast between the partly abandoned old settlement and the seafront is what makes it special.

It is one of the calmest villages on the Riviera, away from the crowds of Dhërmi or Ksamil. People come for the quiet, the coastal views and a few family-run tavernas.

Gjirokastër, the "stone city", lies in the Drino valley, about an hour's drive inland from Saranda. It is not a Riviera stop but the essential cultural day trip from the coast: the town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005, a listing shared with Berat as the "Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra".

Come for its Ottoman tower houses with stone-slab roofs, its old bazaar and its castle overlooking the valley. Enver Hoxha's birthplace now houses the ethnographic museum.

A few kilometres south of Himarë, Porto Palermo castle sits on a peninsula at the head of a sheltered bay. It was built in the early 19th century for Ali Pasha of Tepelena; an inscription above the entrance dates it to 1804 and credits French engineers. The site was originally a small island, later joined to the shore by landfill.

The three-sided fortress, with three large corner bastions, is open to visitors: walk through its vaulted rooms and onto its terrace, with views over the turquoise bay and the coast.

Vuno is a small stone village clinging to the mountainside along the SH8 between Dhërmi and Himarë. Its narrow lanes and traditional houses look down on the Ionian coast.

The village is mainly a starting point for Jale beach below and the Gjipe canyon. It is a stop for anyone wanting to see a coastal village that has stayed away from the beach bustle, over a coffee on the square.

Apollonia is an ancient city near the village of Pojan, in the Fier area, north of the Riviera. Founded by Greek colonists around 600 BC, it prospered under the Roman Empire. You can see the portico with niches, the odeon, the bouleuterion and the Byzantine monastery of St Mary, which houses a museum.

It is not a beach stop but an archaeological detour, best done on the way to or from Tirana. The large, little-visited site takes a relaxed two hours.