Shore Excursion to Sarande

Highlights:

• Shore Excursion to Sarande with the English Speaking local guide, car and driver

• Visit Butrint an UNESCO site and National Park

• Visit well preserved Ottoman town and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Gjirokastra

• Enjoy the 5th century ruins of the Jewish community Oncheasmos

Overview:

Visit Butrint an UNESCO site and National Park. Visit well preserved Ottoman town and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Gjirokastra and enjoy the 5th century ruins of the Jewish community Oncheasmos.

Description:

Meet your private car, driver and English speaking local guide at the cruise ship terminal in Sarande for a great shore excursion to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites close by – Butrint with its amazing ancient excavations, and Gjirokastra, a charming and well-preserved Ottoman town.

The whole area around Butrint is a National Park, protecting a huge national and cultural heritage of Ottoman and Venetian castles with Roman villas as well as unspoiled nature.

Lord Rothschild and Lord Sainsbury raised £500,000 to finance archaeological excavations at Butrint, such as the Greco-Roman theatre which is still standing but whose floor is filled withwater in which turtles and fish live. Or the baptistery of a 6^th century church which boasts a Roman floor mosaic of peacocks, vines, birds and wine urns as it probably originally a Roman’s private pool, the acropolis, the Greek Well of the Nymphs, the Temple of Aesculapius the city walls– but a huge proportion of the excavations have yet to be even started.

To the north of Sarande (around 90 min drive) there is a well preserved Ottoman town and  UNESCO World Heritage Site, Gjirokastra, which is worth including on a full day shore excursion from Sarande. It lay at the crossroads of several important trade routes across Europe and the Mediterranean, and was protected by the formidable Gjirokastra Castle which is nowadays a Military Museum. The town is built on a hillside and is nicknamed ‘the town of a thousand steps’ but is immensely quaint and charming, with distinctive old stone houses clustered along narrow cobbled streets.

After a fascinating glimpse into Albania’s ancient and medieval past, return to your cruise ship in Sarande.

Price includes:

• English speaking local guide
• Private vehicle with driver
• Entrance fees as listed
• Hotel or cruise ship terminal pick-up and drop-off

Not included:

• Entrance fees, meals not mentioned above
• Personal expenses
• Travel insurance
• Gratuities to driver/guide

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