Decision
Peshkopi or Bënjë for the thermal water?
Albania's two thermal options sit at opposite ends of the country and, more usefully, at opposite ends of the thermometer. That is what decides it, and it decides it by season.
Side by side
| Llixhat e Peshkopisë | Bënjë, near Përmet | |
|---|---|---|
| Water temperature | The main spring group runs 35 to 43.5 °C; a second group about 600 m away runs 29.2 to 35.5 °C. | Lukewarm rather than hot, which is what makes it a summer proposition. |
| Cost | The state complex charges and the amount is not published; a natural outdoor basin alongside it is free. | Free. No ticket office and no ticket; parking at the road end is charged separately. |
| Setting | A state-run balnear complex two kilometres east of the town, in Dibër. | Stone-walled pools on the bank of the Lengarica, beside an Ottoman bridge. |
| Best months | The cold half of the year. A 43 °C soak is a poor idea in August. | The warm half, and it is crowded in August. |
| Getting there | Three to three and a half hours from Tirana, in the least-visited region. | Twenty minutes from Përmet, on the inland road between Berat and Gjirokastër. |
Our answer
Bënjë in summer, Peshkopi in winter, and never the other way round. Peshkopi's springs run up to 43.5 °C and that is a February pleasure and an August hazard; Bënjë is lukewarm, free, and exactly right when the air is hot. They are four hours apart, so in practice you take whichever is on your road.
IfYou are travelling between November and MarchPeshkopi, where the heat is the point.
IfYou are driving Berat to GjirokastërBënjë. It is twenty minutes off that road and it costs nothing.
IfYou want it to yourselfPeshkopi in any month. It serves local visitors rather than international ones.
IfYou are here in AugustBënjë, early, before the pools fill.
Sources: Hot Springs Guides, Llixhat e Peshkopisë (read 2026-08-25); Albania Guidebook, Bënjë thermal baths (read 2026-08-25); visitalbania.guide seed dataset (read 2026-08-23).