Berat, the city of a thousand windows where Albania slows down

Berat announces itself from afar with its most famous image: rows of white houses with wide, dark wooden windows, packed one against the other on the hillside, which have earned it the nickname "city of a thousand windows". It is a view that stays in the memory, and yet here you will not meet the queues and dense selfie crowds that now besiege so many Balkan destinations. Berat remains a place where you walk unhurried, where the historic quarters of Mangalem and Gorica face each other from opposite banks of the Osum river, linked by an old stone bridge.

The heart of the visit is the Kala, the fortified quarter at the top of the hill: unlike so many citadels reduced to fenced-off ruins, this one is still inhabited. Families live within the walls, vegetable gardens and hens are tended, and you enter freely along paved lanes where every so often a view over the valley opens up. The small Byzantine churches and the traces of the different peoples who have crossed this land tell a story of coexistence, with no need for tickets or crowds.

Down in the town, it is worth wandering aimlessly among the alleys, stopping at a café in the shade and tasting the local cuisine of vegetables, cheeses and simple dishes. The people are used to a discreet kind of tourism and welcome those who arrive with genuine curiosity. Spending a few nights here, rather than touching down and fleeing, means leaving value with the community and living the town's real rhythm.

Berat is also the ideal base for exploring the surroundings: the Osum canyon, the mountain villages and the vineyard-covered countryside. Going outside the hottest months, you avoid both the heat and the modest summer crowding, and you discover an authentic Albania, far from the overloaded beaches of the coast.

How to get there

The reference airport is Tirana, from which Berat is a couple of hours away by road to the south. By car you follow the route towards Lushnjë and Fier; without your own vehicle, the minibuses to Berat leave from the south bus terminal in Tirana, with frequent departures during the day. There is no useful railway station, so bus or car remain the practical options.

Practical guides for Alba

• Where to stay in Alba
• What to see in Alba
• Where to eat in Alba
• How to get to Alba