Berat
White houses stacked window over window above the Osum, a citadel still lived in on the hill, and Mount Tomorr filling the eastern sky.
- Arrival
- Tirana International · TIA
- To the town
- About 80 km south of TIA in a straight line
- Private jets
- Tirana, handlers on site day and night
- Best time
- April to September
The city
One window above the other.
Berat climbs both banks of the Osum. Mangalem rises from the river to the castle hill, Gorica faces it from the far side, and on the summit the Kalaja encloses a quarter of its own, where the walls once held some twenty churches and a single mosque for the garrison. The town joined Gjirokastër on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008.
From April the afternoons pass nineteen degrees, and the dry season runs to the end of September, with July and August at 31 °C. Rain returns in October and peaks in November.
- The Kalaja The citadel on the hill, its walls enclosing houses, lanes and the churches built mostly in the thirteenth century.
- Onufri Museum The Cathedral of St Nicholas, given over to the work of Onufri, the icon painter of the sixteenth century.
- Gorica Bridge The crossing between the two halves of the old town, first built of wood in 1780 and remade in stone in the 1920s.
Arriving
From the capital’s airport, south to the Osum.
Berat has no airport of its own. Tirana International, eighty kilometres to the north in a straight line, is the gateway: a single 3,000-metre runway, open around the clock, with customs on site.
- Milan 1 h 45
- Munich 1 h 45
- London 2 h 55
- Muscat 5 h 30
- Los Angeles 14 h 05 long-range jet
When to go
April to September.
Berat lies in a sheltered inland valley, hot in high summer and wet in winter. April to September is the dry half of the year, from nineteen degrees in spring to 31 °C in July and August. November and December bring the heaviest rain, at around 170 mm a month.
- 11° J 135
- 12° F 122
- 15° M 96
- 19° A 83
- 23° M 68
- 28° J 40
- 31° J 25
- 31° A 34
- 27° S 62
- 22° O 116
- 16° N 173
- 12° D 166
Where to stay
By the river, below the castle.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
Elsewhere in Albania
More reasons to come.
- Tirana A capital of painted façades, and a Cold War bunker turned museum.
- Gjirokastër The city of stone, its slate-roofed houses below the citadel.
- Sarandë The southern port, across the strait from Corfu.
- Ksamil Small islands and clear coves at the tip of the Riviera.
- Butrint Greek, Roman and Venetian ruins beside a lagoon, listed by UNESCO.
Flying to Berat?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.