Albania was closed. Between 1945 and 1991 the country was run by Enver Hoxha on a policy of near-total isolation — private cars were effectively banned for ordinary citizens, foreign travel was impossible for almost everyone, religion was outlawed outright in 1967, and the entire coastline was a military zone.
Hoxha also built bunkers. Somewhere in the order of 170,000 reinforced concrete domes were poured across the country between the 1960s and 1980s, roughly one for every four citizens, against an invasion that never came. They are still there — in fields, on beaches, in gardens, some converted into cafés and storage, most simply sitting where they were dropped.
The consequence for a visitor is that the Ionian coast between Vlorë and Sarandë spent the twentieth century untouched. It is the last substantially undeveloped stretch of Mediterranean shoreline in Europe.
That is changing fast. Construction along the Riviera has accelerated sharply since the late 2010s, planning enforcement is inconsistent, and several of the bays that guidebooks described as empty a decade ago now have concrete behind them. Anyone going for the undeveloped version should understand that the window is closing and that some of what is being built is not good.
Butrint
At the southern end, near Sarandë, is one of the more remarkable archaeological sites in the Mediterranean — a city occupied from at least the eighth century BC, with Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman layers stacked on a wooded promontory between a lagoon and a channel. A Greek theatre, a Roman forum, a sixth-century baptistery with a mosaic floor, and a Venetian castle above it. UNESCO-listed in 1992, and quiet.
Corfu is two kilometres across the strait and visible from the beaches.
An honest note on the hotel count
The four and five star inventory on this coast is genuinely thin. Five properties clear the bar with any confidence and most of the accommodation is family-run guest houses, apartments and new-build places whose ratings are self-assigned and inconsistent.
This is a destination for people who will accept that in exchange for the coast. It is not yet one for people who will not.
The five below run north to south.
Vlorë and the northern Riviera
Where the Ionian begins.
Regina Blu Hotel occupies a position on the Vlorë waterfront with a pool, contemporary rooms and the Llogara pass road starting south of it.
Regina Blu Hotel
Vlorë waterfront · 4★ · $$
Contemporary rooms where the Ionian coast begins
Check availabilityGreen Coast Hotel sits at Palasë, below the Llogara pass, with a pool, a beach and the newest development on the coast around it.
Sarandë and Ksamil
The southern end, facing Corfu.
Bougainville Bay Resort & Spa occupies a position outside Sarandë with a private beach, several pools and a spa. It is the most complete property on the Riviera.
Bougainville Bay Resort & Spa
Near Sarandë · 5★ · $$
A private beach, several pools and a spa
Check availabilitySanta Quaranta Premium Resort sits on the Sarandë seafront with a pool, a beach and views across to Corfu.
Santa Quaranta Premium Resort
Sarandë seafront · 4★ · $$
A pool and beach looking across to Corfu
Check availabilityHotel Brilant occupies a building in Sarandë with reliable rooms and the harbour outside.
What we have left off
The guest houses across Dhërmi, Himarë and the villages of the Riviera are excluded, and they are the great majority of the accommodation here — family-run, inexpensive, and frequently in the best positions. On this coast more than most, the guest houses are the answer.
What to do
Go to Butrint early and give it two hours. It is one of the great layered sites of the Mediterranean and it takes a fraction of the visitors it deserves.
Drive the Llogara pass, which climbs to about 1,050 metres over the Ceraunian mountains and drops to the Ionian in a series of hairpins with the whole coast below.
Swim at Gjipe, reached by a track and a gorge walk rather than a road, and at the quieter ends of Ksamil.
Go up to Gjirokastër, an Ottoman hill town of stone-roofed tower houses, UNESCO-listed, about an hour inland from Sarandë.
Look at a bunker. They are unavoidable, and the Bunk'Art museums in Tirana convert two large ones into serious accounts of the Hoxha period.
Practical notes
Tirana's airport is the main gateway, about three and a half hours from Sarandë; Corfu is a short ferry from Sarandë and is often the easier route.
June to September is the season and August is very busy with Albanian and Kosovar families. May, June and September are better. Winter closes most of the coast.
Roads have improved substantially but the coastal route is slow and mountainous.
Every hotel bookable on the Albanian Riviera
Why is the coast undeveloped?
The entire coastline was a military zone under a regime that isolated the country until 1991. Development began only recently and is now moving quickly.
What are the bunkers?
Around 170,000 concrete domes built against an invasion that never came, roughly one per four citizens, still scattered across the country.
Is the hotel standard good?
Thin. Five properties clear four stars with confidence and most accommodation is family-run guest houses. Come knowing that.
How many nights?
Five. Three around Sarandë for Butrint and the beaches, two on the northern Riviera.