Day trips from Saranda to Gjirokastra the Blue Eye Lekursi castle

Our driver was professional and drove well, but his English was limited. I booked this tour expecting a tour guide, not just a driver. He was unable to tell us facts or history about Albania during our van ride. We googled the information after the fact but I would have liked to have had information during the tour.

I was left feeling a little underwhelmed with this day trip. To start with, the activity was supposed to started at 8am, but I didn't receive a message until late the night before that we wouldn't be getting picked-up until 9.30am. The description also says the trip was a total of 5-6 hours. Based on this, I'd assumed we'd be back around 2-3pm at the latest (as I had to start work at 3pm), but we ended up getting back at 5.30pm. Gjirokastra & the castle were okay, but I actually preferred Kruja. The blue eye was very disappointing, only one small spot to really see and totally the wrong time of day late afternoon for good lighting.

We recently took a tour in Albania through Viator while staying in Saranda, and it was a fantastic experience. It wasn’t a typical guided tour; it was more like a chauffeur service that picked us up right in front of our Airbnb. My family and I had a private car all to ourselves. Our driver even switched out with his dad at one point, who didn’t speak any English, but that didn’t matter at all—he was super friendly and we got along great. We visited a beautiful castle and then the famous Blue Eye. A huge highlight: our driver took us right to the front of the line, so we got in without any waiting. By the way, if you go to the Blue Eye, definitely take a kayak halfway through—it’s absolutely the best part and way more fun than any motorized option. We also stopped in Gjirokastër, explored the old town, did a bit of shopping, had a nice lunch, and even got to extend our tour by an hour so we could enjoy everything at a relaxed pace. At the end of the day, they dropped us right back at our Airbnb in Saranda. Overall, it was a perfect, stress-free day, and we really appreciated the flexibility and friendliness.

Great experience! Goni wrote to us on whatsapp, and since only me and my boyfriend had booked for this day, we agreed on the place and time of the start of the tour. He was always very kind and helpful, made us feel comfortable. Goni was then due to return to Tirana but left us with his father, a fast and very skilled driver, who took us to Lekursi Castle, Blue eye and Gjirokastra, left us the time necessary to be able to visit everything calmly and was really friendly. We highly recommend this experience. Thank you very much♡.

Goni was a great driver! He took us to Gjirokaster and gave us ample time to explore! It is an amazing castle with lots to see. Also the old town has plenty of souvenir shops to enjoy as well. We messaged him when we were ready to go and he picked us back up and drove us to the Blue Eye. It is beautiful and worth a visit. It is about a mile walk to get there, but it is on pavement; not bad. Then Goni drove us to Lekuresi castle which is above Sarande. Also a nice place to go. You can see for miles from up there. And there are several bunkers around the area that you can peer down into. The trip was great! Well worth the price!