Decision
Berat or Gjirokastër?
Albania's two UNESCO stone towns, three and a half hours apart on the inland road, and genuinely different objects rather than two versions of one.
Side by side
| Berat | Gjirokastër | |
|---|---|---|
| Castle entry | 300 lek, cash only. | 400 lek, plus 200 lek for the Weapons Museum. |
| What the town looks like | Stacked white Ottoman facades with rows of windows, above the Osum. | Grey slate roofs stepping down a hillside under the largest castle in Albania. |
| Where it sits | In a bowl on a river, which is why it holds the summer heat. | On a slope above the wide Drino valley, an hour from the coast. |
| What is nearby | The Osum canyon, and Apollonia and Ardenica out on the plain. | The Blue Eye, Sarandë and Butrint, all within about two hours. |
| Worst month | August. The bowl and the coaches arrive together. | August, though the slope moves more air than Berat's bowl does. |
Our answer
Gjirokastër if you are choosing one, because it is on the way to everything else in the south and its castle is the better object. Berat is the better photograph and the better single day. On a trip of a week or more the question does not arise: they are both on the inland road between Tirana and the coast, and the drive between them is one of the six worth taking.
IfYou have one inland day on a coast tripGjirokastër. It is an hour from Sarandë and the Blue Eye is on the way.
IfYou are coming south from TiranaBerat first. It is closer, and the road on to Gjirokastër is the interesting one.
IfYou care about the castle more than the townGjirokastër, and pay the extra 200 lek for the Weapons Museum while you are in it.
IfYou are travelling in July or AugustGjirokastër. Berat's bowl is the hottest place on this list.
Sources: The Endless Travellers, visiting Berat castle (read 2026-08-25); Love Albania, Gjirokastër castle (read 2026-08-25); visitalbania.guide seed dataset (read 2026-08-23).