Berat · 13.5 hours · private
€31828,558 L for the car · up to 4 people
−10% cash · €286 for the car
Why go
Berat in the morning, the Osumi canyon at midday and the Bogovë waterfall on the way back. One car, one driver, door to door from Tirana.
Berat is a UNESCO town of Ottoman houses stacked in tiers above the Osum, with an inhabited castle quarter on the hill and the Mangalem and Gorica neighbourhoods facing each other across a stone bridge.
South-east of it the Osum has cut a canyon 13 km long and up to 80 metres deep through the limestone of Skrapar. In the warm months the river is shallow enough to walk, raft or tube; the rest of the year you look down into it from the rim.
Above the village of Bogovë a short path leads to a waterfall and a set of cold, clear pools, which is where most of this day ends before the drive home.
On the ground
In pictures
The stacked windows of the Mangalem quarter in Berat
Berat castle hill above the Osum river
Rafting the Osum river between the canyon walls
The rim of the Osumi canyon
The Bogovë waterfall falling into its pool
Clear water below the Bogovë falls
Swipe for more. Photographs of the places on this route, under Creative Commons licences. Full credits.
Itinerary
07:00
Pick-up at your door, then south on the SH4. About two hours to Berat.
09:00
Coffee and a walk through Mangalem and Gorica, the two old quarters joined by the stone bridge.
10:00
Up to the 13th-century fortress for the walls, the churches inside and the view down over the Osum.
11:00
The SH74 toward Çorovodë, climbing through narrowing valleys and forested hillsides. About an hour and a half.
12:30
The rim walk and the viewing platforms over 80-metre limestone walls and green water. In the warm months you can add a two to three hour rafting or tubing run.
14:30
A long lunch near Çorovodë or on the road back, mountain cooking.
16:00
A short hike from the village to the falls and the pools below them.
17:30
Through Berat, Lushnjë and Durrës, at your door by about 20:30.
The price
Your price
1 person · 1 car
€31828,558 L
The whole trip. That is the card price.
−10% cash · €286if you pay the driver in cash on the day
How many of you?
Where do we start?
Door to door from your hotel or address in Tirana, included
How it adds up
Or pay the whole thing by card now. Free to cancel up to 24 hours before.
Included
Not included
Best months: April to October; May to July for rafting in the canyon
On foot
Your driver waits while you walk. Distance, climb and season for each, from public sources.
easyBerat · heritage walkKalaja e Beratit
1.5 km↑ 100 m0.8–1.5 h
A living medieval castle, where descendants of the original residents still live, with layered Byzantine, Ottoman and Christian history.
Best: April to October
moderateBerat · heritage walkMangalem, Gorica
6.5 km↑ 354 m2–2.5 h
A walk through an intact Ottoman-era town, where the stacked white houses and steep alleys make one of the Mediterranean's most photogenic old towns.
Best: April to October
moderateOsumi Canyon · canyonKanjoni i Osumit
2–4 h
One of the Balkans' most dramatic gorges, rafted in spring or walked and swum in summer alongside pristine limestone cliffs.
Best: March to June for rafting, July to September for walking
easyBogovë · waterfallUjëvara e Bogovës
3.2 km1–1.5 h
A short, refreshing forest walk to a waterfall and pool, good for cooling off in summer or seeing the rush of spring snowmelt.
Best: April to June for the strongest flow
hardMount Tomorr · hikeMaja e Tomorrit
12.6 km↑ 1500 m7–9 h
Albania's most sacred mountain, revered in both Christian and Bektashi tradition, with views across the whole country from the summit.
Best: June to September
Still deciding?
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Questions
Up to eight. One car takes four at 30,000 lek for the day; from five people a second car and driver go out, at 80,000 lek for the two.
Long: away about thirteen hours, roughly six of them driving. It is the price of seeing a UNESCO town and a canyon in one day without staying overnight.
In the warm months, yes. Local operators run two to three hour trips on the Osum and we build the day around one if you want it. It is paid separately, on the spot.
Castle entry, lunch and any rafting or tubing. Everything else, the car, the driver, the fuel and the waiting, is in the price.
Nearby in spirit
