The Llogara pass and Albania's coast road to Himara

There are roads that are simply ways of getting somewhere, and there are roads that are the reason for going. The road over the Llogara pass is one of the second kind. South of Vlora it leaves the Bay of Vlora behind and climbs into the Ceraunian Mountains, the range that runs along this part of the Albanian coast, through slopes of pine to a saddle a little over a thousand metres up. Then the land falls away, and below you, a very long way below, is the Ionian Sea.

Most people stop at the top. There is no need to be told to. The view from the pass looks down the whole of the southern coast, a line of mountains dropping straight into water so clear that from this height it shows its colours in bands, turquoise near the shore and deep blue beyond. On a clear day the horizon seems to go on for ever.

The national park on the pass

The woods around the pass have been protected as the Llogara National Park since 1966, which makes it one of the older protected areas in Albania. It is a small park, of about ten square kilometres, but a high and steep one, covering the pine slopes on either side of the road. Above it rises Çikë, the highest peak of the Ceraunian range at 2,044 metres, a long ridge above the woods.

The mountain air up here can be a surprise after the heat of the coast. People who have driven up from the beaches in summer often find themselves reaching for a jumper at the top, and it is worth lingering over the view before going down.

Down to Himara

From the pass the road comes down in long loops towards the coast, and the coast it reaches is Albania's southern shore, a string of villages, beaches and headlands that runs south towards Saranda and the Greek border. Himara is the main town of this stretch, and a natural place to stop.

A little south of Himara, about eight kilometres along the coast, is Porto Palermo, a deep, sheltered bay with a small fortress on a promontory in the middle of it. The castle was built in the early nineteenth century by Ali Pasha of Tepelena, the Ottoman governor who ruled much of this region as his own, and it is one of a number of sea forts he put up along the Ionian coast. Most of the others lie in ruins. This one, unusually, is intact, its stone walls standing above the bay. It is a museum now, and the view of the bay from its walls is one of the quieter pleasures of the whole coast.

Further south, two of Albania's World Heritage Sites lie within reach of the coast. Gjirokastër, a hill town of Ottoman stone houses, was inscribed in 2005. Butrint, an ancient city near Saranda, was the country's first World Heritage Site, in 1992. Both are often combined with the coast road on a tour of the south.

Tours that take the coast road

Three tours in the catalogue cover this part of Albania, though not all of them name the pass.

Explore Worldwide's ten-night Highlights of Albania is the one that lists the Llogara National Park among its places, along with Himara and Vlora. It also includes Tirana, Elbasan, Pogradec, Voskopoja and Korca, Gjirokaster, Saranda, Butrint and an Ali Pasha Fortress. It has departures in every month from March to October.

Explore Worldwide's seven-night Family Albania Adventure reaches the same stretch of coast. Its places include Porto Palermo, Himara and Vlora, as well as Tirana, Gjirokaster, the Vjosa River and the Kelcyra Gorge, Apollonia and Mt Dajti. It does not list the Llogara pass itself. It has departures in May, July, August and October.

Travelsphere's seven-night Albania Discovered: Tirana & Beyond covers the south of the country, with Tirana, Gjirokastër, Sarandë, Butrint, Vlora, Berat, Durres and Krujë among its places, and Lukova, Borsh, Qeparo and Lazarat. It does not list the Llogara pass or Himara, so check the itinerary if the coast road is what you are after.

If you have a choice, cross the pass on a clear day, and stop at the top. Everyone does, and everyone is right.