Bënjë Thermal Baths

Getting there

car. About twenty minutes from Përmet up a side road off the SH75, with an Ottoman bridge at the end of it and the pools on the riverbank beside it. The last stretch is rough, and the pools themselves depend on the level of the Lengarica: after heavy rain, or in a snowmelt spring, some of them are under the river.

Parking: Informal parking by the bridge.

Photography

Best light: morning, golden.

The Ottoman bridge with the canyon mouth behind it is the picture and it works in low sun; steam off the pools reads best on a cold morning. Check drone requirements with the AAC before travelling.

Drone: not confirmed. Albania's registration requirement is reported differently by every secondary source, so verify with the AAC before you fly.

Bënjë is a set of stone-walled thermal pools on the bank of the Lengarica, at the mouth of a canyon and beside an Ottoman bridge, twenty minutes from Përmet. The water comes out hot and sulphurous, the river next to it is cold, and that contrast is most of the appeal.

The pools are at the mercy of the river. In a wet spring, or after heavy rain, the Lengarica rises over some of them, and the walk up into the canyon that most people pair with a soak is not always on. Late spring and autumn are the dependable windows.

It is the most visited thermal stop in the south and it is small, so a Saturday in August is a different proposition from a Tuesday in May. If the Blue Eye near Sarandë is on your list for the same reason, this is the quieter version of it.