Weekend Guide · Albania
Weekend in Gjirokaster
Gjirokastër, the ‘City of Stone’, is one of the most dramatic and best-preserved towns in the Balkans. Its skyline is dominated by a colossal Ottoman castle looming over a cascade of grey-stone mansions with distinctive slate roofs and towers — an ensemble that earned UNESCO World Heritage Status in 2005.
Arrive & Explore Gjirokaster
Gjirokaster Castle
One of the largest castles in the Balkans, Gjirokastër Castle dominates the city from a dramatic rocky ridge
Ethnographic Museum (Hoxha’s Birthplace)
Housed in the birthplace of Albania’s communist dictator Enver Hoxha — a traditional 18th-century kule (tower house) in the old town — this museum recreates traditional Albanian domestic life with period furnishings, textiles, weapons, and household items
Zekate House
The finest example of Gjirokastër’s unique Ottoman-Albanian tower house architecture, the Zekate House was built in 1811 and has been in the same family for seven generations
Hidden Gems & Local Flavours
Old Bazaar (Pazari i Vjetër)
The historic commercial heart of Gjirokastër, a collection of Ottoman-era stone shops and arcades clustering around the foot of the castle hill
Cold War Tunnel
A vast underground bunker complex secretly built by the communist regime as a nuclear shelter and military command centre during the Cold War
Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs
A Byzantine Orthodox church dating to the 13th century, one of the oldest surviving religious buildings in Albania
Local Tips
- 1Albania is one of the most affordable countries in Europe.
- 2Albania is generally very safe for tourists.