MAY 2026

I decided to dedicate my first Albania blogpost to the most beautiful city we encountered: Berat! Berat was where we started our Albania roadtrip and we were super happy with our choice. Getting out of Tirana can be a bit chaotic and it doesn’t take you through the most beautiful part of Albania, so we were very happy once we arrived. Berat is like a real-life open-air museum. It feels like you are entering the Ottoman era, once you stroll through the quiet alleyways. In this blogpost I will give you all the details on our time in Berat.

Where we stayed

Tourism in Albania is quickly rising and the locals are trying to take advantage of that by transfering their homes into little B&Bs. To me this sounded like a lovely way to get to know the culture, so I knew we had to do a “homestay”. We chose DD Villa as our base to explore Berat. It is located a short walk out of the historical city center, in a lovely local neighborhood. The owner was very kind, spoke english and made us a great breakfast. DD Villa doesn’t have parking, but the owner helped us find a paid parking spot down the road. The rooms were traditional and comfy and we loved the shared rooftop terrace. We paid below € 40 per night for a three-person room.

Things to do in Berat

Panoramic viewpoint

When we started exploring we immediately visited the panoramic viewpoint of the old town. You can easily find it on google maps, it is next to the suspension bridge. Here is where you have the best views over the city of a thousand windows. Definitely come back at night, as the city lights up beautifully. The neighborhood that you are looking out on is called Mangalem. Just a little up from the viewpoint is a church. We happened to visit while the sunday mass was going on and encountered a very local scene. You can light a candle at a special open-air space behind the church. Antigoni restaurant is the restaurant above the viewpoint. Delicious food, a little more pricy than in the old town, but very worth it for the view.

Alleyways of Mangalem

Just behind the main street, you will find the cute little alleyways of the old town. This is where you find the best terraces in beautifully decorated restaurants. We loved Hani i Xheblatit. Apparantly, Homemade Food Lili is very good, but you need reservations to visit.

Explore Gorica

Gorica is the neighborhood across the river from Mangalem. It is still very much in development. Cute restaurants and boutique hotels are starting to pop up, but it is quiet, authentic and a bit chaotic.

Castle of Berat

It is quite an exhausting hike up, but the castle of Berat is definitely worth visiting. You cannot really see a castle, as most of it is in ruins, but the views over the surroundings are great. The castle dates back to the 13th century and lots of it has been ruined during the Sovject period. We hired a guide for € 10 for an hour to take us around and we found this a very good way to learn about Albanian and Berat’s history. What surprised me is that the castle had a lively terrace scene as well, so definitely factor this in when visiting.