Tours & Activities in Gjirokaster

Discover some of the magic of the city on this guided walking experience. Visit the medieval Bazaar, the legendary Argjiro Castle, and one of the best-preserved traditional houses, the Zekate House.

We will explore the unknown part of Gjirokaster, the magic of the town that every tourist skips. We start from “Cerciz Topulli Square” and head towards The “Old Bazaar”. It is the first neighborhood outside the castle and lies along beneath the its walls. The characteristic cobblestone the orthodox church and some of the oldest houses are the most beautiful elements. After passing the stream of Nanxa (where they are building a new street), we reach the neighborhood of “Cfaka”. Here we will pass by some first monument category houses, a rebuild mosque and then reach the last neighborhood “Dunavat” where we will find a tekke of the Bektashi Order. It is a beautiful combination of Nature and old houses before arriving to “Ali Pasha Bridge”, a remaining of the aqueduct build more than 200 years ago to bring water to the castle. It takes approximately 3 hrs and you should be prepared to walk on a not so comfortable terrain. So put on your sneakers and join us to this back in time trip.

Travel back in time on this walking tour of the Ottoman Old Town of Gjirokaster. Visit the Old Bazaar and Cfaka neighborhoods and marvel at the architecture of the Ali Pasha Bridge.

In this trip we will explore the unknown part of Gjirokaster, the magic of the town that every tourist skips. We start from the center of the old town the “Cerciz Topulli Square” and head towards The “Old Bazaar” which is not a Bazaar anymore. This is the first neighborhood outside the walls of the castle and lies along beneath the Castle walls. The characteristic cobblestone and some of the oldest houses are the most beautiful elements of this neighborhood. After passing the “Zerzebili” bridge, we reach another ancient neighborhood in town called “Cfaka”. Here we will pass some old houses which are first monument category and also a tekke which belongs to the Bektashi Order. It is a beautiful combination of Nature, many sheep on top of hills, and old houses to arrive in our last destination, the “Ali Pasha Bridge”.

In this tour you will have the opportunity to discover some of the magic of the city by visiting the medieval Bazaar, the highlight of the city the Argjiro Castle and also one of the best preserved houses the Zekate House. We start at Cerciz Topulli square with our local guide, continuing towards the Old Bazaar stopping at the Neck of Bazaar, where we also meet some of the artisans of the town, working with old methods, and head towards the Castle. An old castle 2.5 hectares, full of history, tragedy and legends which the local guide will explain you. You`ll be 330 meters above the sea level, enjoying breathtaking views of Gjirokastra, the typical tower houses, covered with grey stone, usually two or three floors. The last stop is the Zeakte house which was a gift by Ali Pasha Tepelena for his accountant Beqir Zeko. The aim of this tour is for you to experience the unique, magical and friendly atmosphere of Gjirokastra, not just to see the most popular tourist attractions.

We offer an exclusive experience to the visitors of our city that choose us to get their tour with and enjoy it the most and get in the mood of a medieval era.

THIS IS THE ONLY LITERATURE TOUR IN ALBANIA. It will be lead by experts in the field of literature or by well-known critics. It introduces untold and unwritten stories seen by a local prospective. This tour impresses participants with Ismail Kadare's childhood, memories and influences. He wrote those books because he lived in such an interactive and controversial environment. All the stops of this walk can attach his readers with the starting point of his early writings. We offer unique local characters and their unknown lives for the visitors, characters that inspired Kadare to describe "secrets" from his angle of the world. This is a tour not only about literature but also about history, architectures, war, co-living, facts and thoughts. The way this tour engages your mind introducing quotes from Kadare's books is deep and thrilling. You understand that Kadare's books aren't just ordinary literature.