--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Gjirokastër, Albania | Wimup" description: "Ten ranked things to do in Gjirokastër, Albania’s UNESCO stone city: the castle, the Ottoman tower houses, the Cold War tunnel and the Drino valley beyond." url: https://wimup.com/city/gjirokaster type: City guide updated: 2026-10-18 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10 Things To Do in Gjirokastër Gjirokastër, Albania · Europe · By Wimup Editorial, 11 min read Gjirokastër climbs a slope above the Drino in slate and grey stone, an Ottoman town of tower houses under a fortress that ran as a prison until 1968. It is small enough to walk in a day and layered enough to hold you for two. ## Quick answer Start at the castle for the ramparts, the clock tower and the arms museum in the old prison cells, then walk down into the bazaar for lunch. Give the afternoon to two of the tower houses, Zekate and Skënduli, and to the Cold War tunnel under the main square. Antigonea, Libohovë and the Blue Eye fill a second day, but only with a car. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** May · Jun · Sep - **Ideal length:** 2 days - **Budget per day:** $40–75 - **Language:** Albanian, with Greek in the Dropull villages nearby - **Getting around:** On foot in the old town, taxi or car for the valley - **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://albania.al/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## The 10 best things to do in Gjirokastër ### 1. Walk the ramparts of Gjirokastër Castle Landmark · Gjirokastër Castle, above the Old Bazaar, Gjirokastër The first walls went up in the 12th or 13th century and Ali Pasha finished the job, adding the ramparts, the clock tower and an aqueduct. A run of regimes used it as a prison until 1968, and the arms museum now fills those cells. - **Time:** 2 hr - **Cost:** Paid entry at the gate - **Best at:** Late afternoon, for the valley light - **Tip:** Open 09:00 to 19:00 April to September, 09:00 to 17:00 October to March. Links: [Official site](https://akt.gov.al/en/atraksionet/kalaja-e-gjirokastres/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 2. Take the bazaar streets after dark Landmark · Pazari i Vjetër, Qafa e Pazarit, Gjirokastër Slate roofs, craft workshops and a mosque of 1757 at the head of the slope. This is the old town’s centre and the one part of Gjirokastër that fills in the evening, when the cafes put chairs out on the cobbles. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Free to walk - **Best at:** After sunset - **Tip:** The cobbles are polished limestone and turn slick in rain. Wear shoes with grip. Links: [Official site](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/gjirokastra_bazaar?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 3. See the painted rooms of the Zekate House Historic house · Zekate House, Palorto, Gjirokastër Twin towers, an arcaded front and a frescoed reception room on the top floor, completed in 1811 for an official under Ali Pasha. It is the most ambitious of the tower houses and the one that explains all the others. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Small entry fee, cash - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** The climb from the bazaar is steep. Take a taxi up and walk back down. ### 4. Go underground into the Cold War tunnel Museum · Cold War Tunnel, Sheshi Çerçiz Topulli, Gjirokastër Dug in secret in the early 1970s: 800 metres of corridor and 59 rooms meant to hold the district’s officials through an invasion or a nuclear strike. It has been left bare rather than dressed as a museum. - **Time:** 30 min - **Cost:** Paid entry, cash - **Best at:** The middle of a hot afternoon - **Tip:** Visits are guided and start from the ticket office beside the municipality. ### 5. Read a stone house at the Ethnographic Museum Museum · Ethnographic Museum, Palorto, Gjirokastër Built in 1966 on the site of Enver Hoxha’s birth house and furnished as a 19th-century Gjirokastër home: working rooms below, the summer reception above, cupboards cut into the walls. Nothing inside is about Hoxha. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Paid entry - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Pair it with the Kadare house, a few minutes away in the same quarter. Links: [Official site](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/the_ethnographic_museum?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 6. Let the family show you the Skënduli House Historic house · Skënduli House, Palorto, Gjirokastër An 18th-century tower house back in the hands of the family that owned it, and shown by them. Less restored than Zekate and better for it: you get the chimneys, the hiding places and the reasoning behind both. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Small entry fee, cash - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** The tour is given in person, so leave room in the schedule for it. Links: [Official site](https://gjirokastra.org/gjirokastra/?p=2748&utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 7. Stand in the house that wrote Chronicle in Stone Museum · Ismail Kadare House, Palorto, Gjirokastër Ismail Kadare was born here in 1936, in a house of 1799 that burned and was rebuilt. The museum is arranged around Chronicle in Stone, his novel of this town under Italian and then German occupation. - **Time:** 30 min - **Cost:** Paid entry - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Read the opening chapter first. The rooms are staged against it. Links: [Official site](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/ismail_kadare_house?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 8. Follow Ali Pasha’s aqueduct above Dunavat Landmark · Ali Pasha Bridge, Dunavat, Gjirokastër One stone span above the Dunavat roofs is all that survives of the channel Ali Pasha built in 1812 to carry water 10 km from Mount Sopot to the castle cisterns. The walk out gives the best view back at the town. - **Time:** 1 to 2 hr - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Early morning - **Tip:** An unshaded track from the top of Dunavat. Carry water and start early. ### 9. Cross the valley to Antigonea Archaeological site · Antigonea Archaeological Park, Saraqinishtë, Gjirokastër Pyrrhus of Epirus founded this city in 295 BC and named it for his wife Antigone. Four kilometres of wall, a street grid and mosaics sit along a ridge 14 km east, with the whole Drino valley laid out below. - **Time:** 2 hr - **Cost:** Paid entry - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** No bus goes there. Drive, or agree a taxi fare for the wait and the return. Links: [Official site](https://akt.gov.al/en/trashegimia/antigonea/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 10. Look in on the Bazaar Mosque Landmark · Bazaar Mosque, Pazari i Vjetër, Gjirokastër Built in 1757 at the head of the bazaar, and one of the few mosques in Albania left standing when the state closed religious buildings in 1967. Stone wash fountains line the street outside it. - **Time:** 15 min - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Outside prayer times - **Tip:** Shoes off at the door, shoulders and knees covered. ## Best historic houses & museums in Gjirokastër Six interiors, from the grandest of the tower houses to the bunker the district’s officials would have sheltered in. 1. **Zekate House** (Tower house · Palorto): Twin-towered mansion of 1811, frescoed reception room on the top floor. 2. **Skënduli House** (Tower house · Palorto): Eighteenth-century house shown by the family that owns it, chimneys and all. 3. **Ethnographic Museum** (Museum · Palorto): A 1966 rebuild on Enver Hoxha’s birth site, furnished as a 19th-century town house. 4. **Ismail Kadare House** (Writer’s house · Palorto): The writer’s childhood house, staged around Chronicle in Stone. 5. **Babameto House** (Heritage centre · Old Bazaar): Two houses of 1885 and 1887, restored in 2013 as a heritage centre and hostel. [Official site](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/babameto_house?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 6. **National Museum of Armaments** (Museum · Castle): Inside the castle, in the cells of the prison that closed in 1968. [Official site](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/national_museum_of_armaments?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## Best restaurants in Gjirokastër Six kitchens in and around the bazaar, all working the same regional repertoire. 1. **Kujtimi** (Traditional · Old Bazaar): Family-run, tables under a plane tree. This is where to order the qifqi. 2. **Odaja Taverna Tradicionale** (Traditional · Old Bazaar): Top of the bazaar in an old market building, known for byrek and baked veal. 3. **Taverna Kuka** (Grills · Old Bazaar): Terrace near the old mosque, meatballs and grills. 4. **Restorant Gjoca** (Traditional · Old town): Old town cooking, everything made to order. 5. **Rrapi** (All-rounder · Old Bazaar): In the historic bazaar, with a menu that runs from vegan plates to fish. 6. **Corner of Bazaar** (Traditional · Old Bazaar): One small room doing the classics: byrek, qofte, stuffed peppers. ## Best bars & cafes in Gjirokastër Four rooms for a coffee in the morning and a raki when the bazaar cools down. 1. **Te Kubé** (Coffee · Old Bazaar): Cafe and bookshop under the stone arches below the mosque. 2. **Bar Café Kotoni** (Cafe bar · Old Bazaar): Coffee, raki and a short food menu, run with genuine warmth. 3. **Hangover Cocktail Bar** (Cocktails · Old Bazaar): Cocktails, several of them raki-based, and a wide view over the roofs. 4. **Old Bazaar Cafe** (Cafe bar · Old Bazaar): Back-street table with a long list, coffee through to cocktails. ## Best crafts & shopping in Gjirokastër The bazaar workshops still cut stone and weave cloth. Five things worth carrying out. 1. **Carved stone and slate** (Stone · Old Bazaar): Masons work the same limestone that roofs the town into pieces you can carry. [Official site](https://bashkiagjirokaster.gov.al/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 2. **Kilims and woven rugs** (Textiles · Old Bazaar): Handwoven qilims in the bazaar shops, from doormat to full floor. 3. **Embroidery and lace** (Textiles · Old Bazaar): Household cloth worked to patterns handed down between generations. 4. **Wood carving** (Wood · Old Bazaar): Carvers work in the open, so you can watch a piece being finished. 5. **Mountain tea, honey and raki** (Larder · Old Bazaar): Çaj mali, valley honey and raki from the villages above the Drino. ## Best neighborhoods in Gjirokastër Five quarters spread downhill from the castle, and they are not interchangeable. 1. **Pazari i Vjetër** (Bazaar · Old town): The bazaar quarter, and where every walk in Gjirokastër starts. 2. **Palorto** (Tower houses · Old town): Historically the wealthiest quarter, and the birthplace of both Kadare and Hoxha. 3. **Dunavat** (Residential · Old town): Two quarters of stone-roofers’ houses under the aqueduct span, with a Bektashi tekke. 4. **Manalat** (Residential · Old town): Quiet lanes below the castle, and a reputation for taking visitors in. 5. **Cfaka** (Oldest houses · Old town): Some of the oldest houses in the town, many listed as first-category monuments. ## Best day trips in Gjirokastër Six runs down the valley or over the ridge, all of them possible in a day with a car. 1. **Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër)** (34 km · Toward Saranda): Karst spring 34 km toward the coast, the water rising cold and very blue. 2. **Butrint National Park** (About 90 km · Near Saranda): Greek, Roman, Venetian and Ottoman layers on a lagoon, World Heritage since 1992. 3. **Saranda and Ksamil** (56 km · Ionian coast): The nearest coast, 56 km away, and the islets off Ksamil beyond it. 4. **Përmet and the Bënja baths** (About 60 km · Vjosa valley): Thermal pools beside an Ottoman bridge on the Lengarica, 13 km from Përmet. 5. **Libohovë Castle** (20 km · Drino valley): Built by Ali Pasha in the 1790s, by tradition for his sister Shanisha. [Official site](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/libohova_castle?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 6. **Zagoria valley** (Full day · East of the Drino): Stone villages and a canyon east of the Drino, worth an unhurried day. ## Best outdoors in Gjirokastër Four ways to spend a morning out of the stone. 1. **Viroi Lake** (Half day · Edge of town): Karst spring lake at the edge of town, with a cafe out on a wooden bridge. 2. **Sotira waterfall** (Half day · Sotirë): About 25 km southwest, then a two-hour return walk from the car park. 3. **Mali i Gjerë** (Ridge · Above the town): The wall of rock above the town, and the massif the Blue Eye drains. 4. **The aqueduct walk** (1 to 2 hr · Dunavat): Up through Dunavat to the surviving span, and the best view back at the roofs. ## Festivals & annual events in Gjirokastër (2026) - **Summer Day** (14 Mar): A national holiday marking the end of winter, fixed to the same date across Albania. - **Sultan Nevruz** (22 Mar): Bektashi new year and a public holiday. Gjirokastër keeps a tekke in the Dunavat quarter. - **Musical Encounters Between Two Worlds** (Summer): The Argjiro foundation stages traditional and classical music inside the castle walls. - **Rock the Rock** (Summer): Young Albanian bands at the castle, the loud counterpart to the folklore festival. - **National Folklore Festival** (Every five years): About a thousand performers at the castle, iso-polyphonic choirs included. Last held in 2023. - **Liberation of Gjirokastër** (18 Sep): The town marks its 1944 liberation with wreaths at the memorials and a concert at the castle. - **Independence Day** (28 Nov): Albania’s 1912 declaration of independence, followed by Liberation Day on 29 November. - **Christmas lights** (Dec): Çerçiz Topulli square takes a winter market, food stalls and the switching on of the tree. ## Must-try dishes in Gjirokastër, Albania - **Qifqi**: Rice, egg and mint rolled into balls and cooked in a dimpled pan. Made nowhere else. - **Pasha qofte**: Meatballs poached in a thickened rice soup, the town’s best-known plate after qifqi. - **Shapkat**: Cornmeal baked with wild sorrel, a spring dish that arrives with the greens. - **Qahi**: Spinach pie in thin pastry, sold by the slice in the bazaar. - **Japrak**: Vine leaves, or courgette flowers in season, stuffed with rice and mint. - **Oshaf**: Dried figs stewed in sheep’s milk and served cold. The local dessert. - **Kaçkavall and djathë i bardhë**: Hard yellow and soft white cheeses from the flocks on the mountains above. - **Çaj mali**: Mountain tea gathered on the ridges, drunk in the bazaar tea houses. ## Gjirokastër transport & airports - **Airports**: Tirana International Airport is the practical gateway, about 230 km north and roughly four hours by road. Corfu and Ioannina are the alternatives on the Greek side. [Tirana airport](https://www.tirana-airport.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Intercity buses**: Furgons and coaches use stops either side of the roundabout below the old town rather than a station, running north to Tirana and south to Saranda and the Kakavijë border. [Official site](https://bashkiagjirokaster.gov.al/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Taxis**: The old town sits well above the new one on steep cobbles. Taxis run up to the castle and into Palorto, which is how to see the tower houses without the climb. - **Car**: The valley road from Tepelenë to the Greek border at Kakavijë passes the town, and it is the only sensible way to reach Antigonea, Libohovë and the Zagoria villages. ## Gjirokastër at a glance - **Country:** Albania - **Region:** Gjirokastër County, in the Drino valley of southern Albania - **Population:** 16,569 in the city proper, 23,270 in the municipality (2023 census) - **Founded:** First recorded as Argyrokastro in 1336, on walls of the 12th to 13th century - **Nickname:** The stone city - **Language:** Albanian, with Greek in the Dropull villages nearby - **Currency:** Albanian lek (ALL) - **Time zone:** CET (UTC+1), CEST in summer - **Calling code:** +355, city code 084 - **Airports:** Tirana International (TIA), about 230 km north - **Power:** 230V, 50Hz, plug types C and F - **Emergency:** 112 ## Interesting facts - UNESCO inscribed the historic centre in 2005. Berat was added to the same listing as an extension in 2008. - Ismail Kadare and Enver Hoxha were born in the same quarter, Palorto, a few minutes’ walk apart. - The roofs are slabs of limestone quarried from the Gjerë mountains and laid without mortar. - A US Air Force Lockheed T-33 sits in the castle grounds, after an emergency landing in Tirana in 1957. - Ali Pasha’s aqueduct carried water 10 km from Mount Sopot. One span above Dunavat is all that is left. ## Watch [Gjirokastër Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/gjirokaster.md), 6:40 ## Gjirokastër travel FAQ ### How long do you need in Gjirokastër? Two days. The first covers the castle, the bazaar and two tower houses on foot. The second is for the valley: Antigonea, Libohovë and the Blue Eye, none of which are reachable by bus. ### How do you get to Gjirokastër from Tirana? Buses and furgons run through the day from Tirana and take about four hours for the 230 km. They set down at the roundabout below the old town rather than at a station, and a taxi covers the last climb. ### Is Gjirokastër walkable? The old town is, but it is steep and paved in polished limestone that turns slick in rain. Palorto and the castle are climbs of ten to twenty minutes from the bazaar. Wear shoes with grip. ### When is the best time to visit? May, June and September. July and August are hot and dry, with daytime highs near 30°C and the year’s heaviest visitor numbers in August. November is the wettest month by a distance. ### Can you visit Gjirokastër as a day trip from Saranda? Yes. It is 56 km and buses run several times a day, which is enough for the castle and the bazaar. You will miss the tower houses and the tunnel, so stay a night if the itinerary allows it. ## Nearby guides - [Ohrid](https://wimup.com/city/ohrid.md): North Macedonia · 10 picks - [Meteora](https://wimup.com/city/meteora.md): Greece · 10 picks - [Tirana](https://wimup.com/city/tirana.md): Albania · 10 picks - [All of Europe →](https://wimup.com/europe): 158 cities Part of the [Albania guide](https://wimup.com/country/albania.md) · [Europe](https://wimup.com/europe.md) ## Sources - [Gjirokastër tourism board](https://albania.al/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Walk the ramparts of Gjirokastër Castle (official site)](https://akt.gov.al/en/atraksionet/kalaja-e-gjirokastres/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Take the bazaar streets after dark (official site)](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/gjirokastra_bazaar?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Read a stone house at the Ethnographic Museum (official site)](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/the_ethnographic_museum?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Let the family show you the Skënduli House (official site)](https://gjirokastra.org/gjirokastra/?p=2748&utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Stand in the house that wrote Chronicle in Stone (official site)](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/ismail_kadare_house?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Cross the valley to Antigonea (official site)](https://akt.gov.al/en/trashegimia/antigonea/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Babameto House (official site)](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/babameto_house?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [National Museum of Armaments (official site)](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/national_museum_of_armaments?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Carved stone and slate (official site)](https://bashkiagjirokaster.gov.al/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Libohovë Castle (official site)](https://visit-gjirokastra.com/article/libohova_castle?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Airports: Tirana airport](https://www.tirana-airport.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.