From Tirana; Semi - Private Day Trip to Berat & Belsh Lake
Description
Walking through the narrowed stone streets of UNESCO-city, Berat offers a fantastic view of the windows that seem to stand on top of each other.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Our tour leader will come and pick you up at your hotel to begin the day tour of Berat.
We can pick you up at your hotel in Durres
Berat is known as the town of 1001 windows, part of UNESCO world heritage. Walking through the narrowed stone streets offers a fantastic view of the medieval old houses, with windows that seem to stand on top of each other. The city’s life began in the 6th-5th century B.C. as an Illyrian settlement. Later, in the 3rd century B.C., it was turned into a castle-city known as Antipatrea. Uniquely today, residents still live inside of the castle walls
Berat has it all; a beautiful medieval castle, ancient churches and mosques, a lively lower town consisting of grand old houses draped on steep hillsides, an old stone bridge, great museums and remains from the communist era in Albania
Berat is also known as the birthplace of Onufri, the famous painter of churches all-over the Balkans, distinguished for creating a specific reddish colour still difficult to imitate.
We will continue our tour and visit the Gorica Neighbourhood.
Returning back to Tirana we will drive past Belsh lake, offering a picturesque view. We will have some free time to walk by the promenade surrounded by the emerald waters or even a stop at one of the coffee shops
After this amazing experience through history, culture and amazing views we will drive back to Tirana
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
The tour departs from Choose Balkans office at Bulevardi Dëshmorët e Kombit Twin Towers, Tower 2 On request (at least 12 hours before tour departure) we can pick you up from your hotel within Tirana or free of charge.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Tips are not a must in Albania or the Balkans, however, our recommendation is to tip the tour leader/driver as an international practice to tip good service.
Reviews(64)
We had an excellent private tour of Macedonia with this company previously (booked with another platform) and booked directly for a private tour to Berat. Service is professional and very good with Choose Balkans. We asked for the same guide as before, Altin. He is very knowledgeable about many things and funny as well! We also added a wine tasting experience for a small amount. Highly recommend this tour and ask for Altin!
Our tour guide, Klodi, was friendly and knowledgeable. The highlight of the tour was Berat Castle - 800 years old. Klodi was very insightful. We learned much about the sites visited and about Albanian culture, customs and life in general. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
Our day with Toni our guide could not have been any better. He arrived at the hotel in good time and we immediately set off for the city of Berat in a very comfy and air-conditioned car. We were led along smooth, largely traffic-free roads, and into the countryside. The views all around were breath-taking. Along the way, we stopped off at a developing eco-site for a coffee and rest, before completing the rest of the journey. Berat was steeped in history and its beauty didn't disappoint. Toni led us up some well-worn stone tracks around the castle grounds and other historical buildings including a church, providing us with a running commentary, which was both informative and fascinating. After lunch and a little time around the main shopping area, Toni took us across the river to take photos of what Berat is famous for 'the city of 1000 windows', rows and rows of houses built on the slopes of the mountain overlooking the river and the city below. Returning to Tirana we passed by a number of lakes as well as the beautiful lake Belsh itself, and one of a number of oil-fields set into the landscape. Throughout the whole trip, Toni treated us to a wealth of knowledge and information about Berat, and Albanian history in general. He was very patient with our continued questioning, and was eager to enter into discussions which only added to the fun. Toni was such a warm and friendly guy and he provided us with a day to remember for many years to come.
Our guide Altin is very friendly and knowledgable, learnt a lot especially on how Albanians think and perceive the world. We had a great time in Berat too.
Altin was a great tour guide. He took me to see the Berat castle, museums and we had a very tasty authentic Albanian lunch in Berat. I learned a lot about local culture and the country history.
They are a fantastic tour operator and all our excursions with them were well planned with fantastic guides. They send you messages for pick up and your guides will call you to make sure you know where to meet. Fantastic!
A great tour with our friendly and knowledgeable tour guide Astrit - he was very kind and couldn’t do enough for us. Berat is beautiful and well worth a visit, the added bonus was the two stops in Belsh - one at a eco park for coffee and another by a lake. It was beautiful, peaceful and quiet - very different to huddle and bustle of the cities.
Excellent tour leader Arian. A worth day tour to hot part of the country. Time management, restaurant suggestion, car provided everything was nice.
The hottest city Berta is extremely beautiful and a must visit. It looks exactly as given in pictures. Vegetarian food we asked for tasty and the location of the restaurant was superb. Our tour guide Arjan was very punctual for pick up and drop off. He gave answers to all our questions and general discussions were amazing. We only mentioned if we can taste the plums there and he directly bought them and gifted us. He was also aware of our flight timings and he dropped us quite ahead of time and so requested a coffee shop owner to let us hang in there for a couple hours. Also if there was any confusion with taxis he asked to call him immediately. This humanity of Albanian people is beyond words.
Thank you for your feedback, it was a pleasure for us and for our guide Arjan showing you around. Best regards, Choose Balkans Team
It was a nice trip ,,, berat was a beatiful city ,,, the guide was very kind and make ur trip even better and easier !!!!!!!!
It is great hearing you enjoyed your trip, it was a pleasure having you with us.
