In southern Albania, swimming distance from the Greek island of Corfu, the city of Butrint has stood for thousands of years. Its crumbled remains are a history buff’s dream: an open-air theatre from when the city was a Greek colony, a Byzantine baptistery and a Roman aqueduct.
Foxes, peregrine falcons and golden eagles roam the 93sq km national park that encompasses Butrint’s archaeological treasures.
A 10-minute bus ride away from Butrint, in the low-slung, modern beach resort of Ksamil, tourists lounge on sun beds, dance to pounding techno beats and manoeuvre personal watercraft around a picturesque bay made popular by social media influencers, who compare its lush setting to the Maldives.
Albania is the kind of destination where a traveller can start the day with a walk through antiquity and end it with a twirl on the sand. That might be one big reason so many people are going there. Last year, 11.7 million people visited the country – up from 10 million the previous year – and they not only headed to the beaches and historic sites, but also explored the mountains and lakes in the north, and the unspoiled Vjosa Wil
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