Inland Day Trips from Vlore
Turn away from the sea and Albania gets older fast: Apollonia, a Greek colony founded in the sixth century BC, an hour north; the Ardenica monastery on its hill above the plain; and Berat, the UNESCO-listed "city of a thousand windows" with Ottoman houses stacked up both banks of the Osum and a castle still lived in.
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Inland Day Trips in Vlore — FAQ
How far is Berat from Vlore?
About 120 km inland, two hours by road. Day trips usually combine it with the Ardenica monastery on the way and cost around €69, taking in the castle quarter, the Onufri icon museum and the Ottoman houses that give Berat its nickname.
What is Apollonia?
The ruins of a Greek colony founded around 588 BC near modern Fier, an hour north of Vlore — a Hellenistic and Roman city with a restored bouleuterion, a museum in a thirteenth-century monastery, and almost no visitors. It pairs naturally with Ardenica on the same trip.
What is worth seeing inland from Vlore?
Berat and its castle, the Ardenica monastery, the ruins of Apollonia, and the Narta lagoon with its salt pans and flamingos closer to the city. Further afield, Gjirokaster and the Blue Eye are usually reached on a long Riviera day instead.