Sarandë Cruise Port Guide

The short answer

Sarandë is Albania's southern beach town, and its big draw is Butrint, a UNESCO ancient city south of town, past Ksamil. City buses run there via Ksamil about every 30 minutes (reported 2024), so a DIY visit is easy. Albania uses the lek, is outside the EU, and is not in the Schengen zone.

Getting ashoreDock or tender

Distance to townThe port is in the middle of town, beside the seafront promenade.

Gateway forButrint National Park (UNESCO), Ksamil beaches, the Blue Eye spring, Lëkurësi Castle

City bus (via Ksamil) to Butrint National ParkNot verified; summer traffic on the SH81 road can be heavy (Wikivoyage) · Reported 100-200 lek (Wikivoyage, 2024; approximate)

On the chart

Where Sarandë lies

Antique-style chart of Europe with ports marked

Sarandë Amsterdam Avignon Barcelona Basel Bergen Budapest Rome Copenhagen Dover Genoa Hamburg IJmuiden Istanbul Kiel Lisbon Lyon Marseille Nuremberg Oslo Paris Passau Athens Porto Ravenna Regensburg Reykjavik Rotterdam Savona Southampton Stockholm Trieste Valletta Venice Vienna Warnemünde A Coruña Aarhus Ajaccio Akureyri Ålesund Alicante Almería Amalfi and Positano Argostoli Arrecife Bari Bastia Belfast Bilbao Bodrum Cadiz Cagliari Cannes Cartagena Catania Chania Cherbourg Cobh Corfu Dublin Dubrovnik Edinburgh Falmouth Flåm Funchal Gdańsk Geiranger Gibraltar Gothenburg Greenock Guernsey Hammerfest Haugesund Hellesylt Helsinki Heraklion Holyhead Honfleur Honningsvåg Hvar Ibiza Invergordon Ísafjörður Itea Izmir Katakolon Kirkwall Klaipėda Koper Korčula Kos Kotor Kristiansand Kuşadası La Spezia Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Le Havre Leknes Lerwick Limassol Liverpool Livorno Mahón, Menorca Malaga Messina Milos Molde Monaco Mykonos Nafplio Naples Newcastle Nordfjordeid Olbia Olden Palermo Palma de Mallorca Patmos Ponta Delgada Portland Portoferraio Portofino / Santa Margherita Ligure Portree Puerto del Rosario Pula Rhodes Riga Rovinj Saint-Malo Saint-Tropez Salerno Santa Cruz de La Palma Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santorini Sète Šibenik Skagen Skjolden Sorrento Split Stavanger Stornoway Syros Tallinn Tarragona Thessaloniki Tórshavn Toulon Tromsø Valencia Vigo Villefranche-sur-Mer and Nice Visby Volos Waterford Zadar Zakynthos Zeebrugge

Where your ship docks

Sarandë has a small port in the town center (also used by the Corfu ferries). Small ships may dock; most cruise ships anchor in the bay and tender to the port (not verified for individual ships).

Shuttle. Not verified.

From the gangway

Getting to the sights

The way	Time	Cost
City bus (via Ksamil) to Butrint National Park	Not verified; summer traffic on the SH81 road can be heavy (Wikivoyage)	Reported 100-200 lek (Wikivoyage, 2024; approximate)
Taxi to Butrint	Similar to the bus in summer traffic (Wikivoyage)	Not verified; agree the price before you get in
Same bus to Ksamil	Not verified	About 100-150 lek (Wikivoyage, approximate)
Taxi or tour to Blue Eye spring	Not verified	Not verified

City bus (via Ksamil) to Butrint National Park

Time Not verified; summer traffic on the SH81 road can be heavy (Wikivoyage)Cost Reported 100-200 lek (Wikivoyage, 2024; approximate)

Catch the bus at the stop behind the harbor/public beach roundabout, or across from Hotel Butrinti.
Ride to the last stop, Butrint.
Return buses also run about every half hour.

Wikivoyage (Sept 2024): every half hour from 06:30 to 19:30.

Taxi to Butrint

Time Similar to the bus in summer traffic (Wikivoyage)Cost Not verified; agree the price before you get in

Taxis wait near the port.

Ask for a round trip with waiting time.

Same bus to Ksamil

Time Not verifiedCost About 100-150 lek (Wikivoyage, approximate)

Get off at Ksamil.

Beaches and small islands.

Taxi or tour to Blue Eye spring

Time Not verifiedCost Not verified

Book a taxi or tour.

Inland; pair with Butrint only on a long call.

Worth the trip

What to see

Butrint National Park

Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Venetian ruins in woods by a lagoon: theater, baptistery, basilica, Lion Gate.

How: Bus or taxi.
Time: 2-3 hours on site (Wikivoyage)
Tickets: Open 8:00-19:30 (butrint.al). Ticket price not verified for 2026 (Wikivoyage lists 1,000 lek, older figure).

Ksamil beaches

White-sand coves and small islands.

How: Bus stop on the way to Butrint.
Time: 1-2 hours
Tickets: Sunbed fees vary.

Sarandë promenade

Seafront walk with cafes.

How: At the port.
Time: 45 minutes
Tickets: Free.

Lëkurësi Castle

Hilltop castle with views over the bay and Corfu.

How: Taxi.
Time: 1 hour
Tickets: Not verified.

A day ashore

Your day, hour by hour

Planned for a typical call. Check your ship's all-aboard time and be back an hour early. The ship will not wait.

8:30 Ashore; walk to the Butrint bus stop.
9:00 Bus to Butrint.
9:45-12:30 Butrint (bring water and sun protection).
12:45 Bus back; stop at Ksamil for lunch and a swim.
14:30 Bus to Sarandë.
15:15 Promenade; be at the tender or ship 60-90 minutes before all-aboard.

Wise counsel

What goes wrong, and how to avoid it

Beware

Heavy traffic on the Sarandë-Butrint road in summer.
Possible tender; wind can stop tenders.
Hot and sunny; Butrint has uneven ground.
Albania is not in the EU: lek currency and different phone roaming rules.

Do this

Keep small lek coins or notes for the bus.
Ask for a receipt/ticket at Butrint (Wikivoyage).
The bus is often as fast as a taxi in summer traffic.

Practical matters

Fees, money and access

Rules & fees

Albania is outside the Schengen area; cruise passengers going ashore normally go through ship-arranged formalities (not verified).
No cruise visitor caps found.

Accessibility

Sarandë seafront is flat. Butrint has paths over uneven ancient stone, some slopes and steps; much of it is shaded by trees (Wikivoyage).

Money

Albanian lek (ALL). Euros are often accepted in tourist places, but change may come in lek and rates vary (not verified). Carry small cash for buses and the Butrint ticket; cards are less widely accepted than in Italy or Croatia. Check your phone plan: Albania is outside EU roaming.

Onward