Two days in Albania means Tirana plus one great day trip, not the whole country, and that’s genuinely fine once you know it going in. Pay in LEK, not euros: businesses round the exchange rate, so paying in euros routinely costs about 5% more. It’s a cash economy (furgons, byrek stalls, and castle tickets all want cash), and Tirana International Airport (TIA) is the only real 2026 gateway. A furgon gets you to Berat and back for a few euros; skip the rental car at this length.

Three days in Albania buys you Tirana plus a real overnight in Berat, long enough to actually sleep in the City of a Thousand Windows instead of just day-tripping through it. Same ground rules the whole trip: pay in LEK (euros cost roughly 5% more almost everywhere), carry cash for furgons and byrek stalls, and fly into Tirana International Airport (TIA), the only real 2026 gateway. Furgons and scheduled buses cover Tirana-Berat for under EUR 5 one way in 2-2.

Four days is where an Albania trip starts feeling like a real loop: Tirana, a night in Berat, and a full day and night in Gjirokaster’s Ottoman stone old town before the drive back. Pay in LEK, not euros (euros cost roughly 5% more almost everywhere you’d use them), keep cash on hand for furgons and castle tickets, and fly into Tirana International Airport (TIA), the only real 2026 gateway. Renting a car starts paying off at this length, roughly EUR 10-25/day off-peak, since it turns the Berat-Gjirokaster leg into a flexible 2.

Five days pushes the loop all the way to the coast: Tirana, Berat, Gjirokaster, then down to Saranda and Ksamil for Butrint’s Greco-Roman ruins before a long drive back. Pay in LEK, carry cash (Butrint, the Blue Eye, and every furgon are cash-only), fly into TIA, and rent a car for this one, roughly EUR 10-25/day off-peak climbing to EUR 25-80+ in July-August, because the Saranda leg alone adds well over 250km of driving to the loop.

Six days means Saranda and Ksamil finally get more than a rushed afternoon: Tirana, Berat, Gjirokaster, then two full nights on the coast with Butrint, the Blue Eye, and Ksamil’s islands spread across separate days instead of crammed into one. Pay in LEK, keep cash for the Blue Eye’s 50-LEK entry and Butrint’s 1,000-LEK ticket, fly into TIA, and rent a car (roughly EUR 10-25/day off-peak) since this loop covers close to 500km round trip.

Seven days closes the full southern loop: Tirana, Berat, Gjirokaster, Saranda and Ksamil with Butrint and the Blue Eye, then north up the Riviera to Dhermi or Himare before the Llogara Pass drive back to Tirana. Pay in LEK, carry cash for the coast’s smaller guesthouses and every castle ticket, fly into TIA, and rent a car, this route alone covers over 600km. Want the northern mountains and the Komani Lake ferry too?