We visited out of season which probably made our trip better than some of the reviews here! Had a relaxing time and can recommend Sushi at ‘Lost’ in the daytime overlooking the sea, and dining at Manxurane in the evening - best restaurant by far. You need a car here to get anywhere, but it’s worth a visit if you’re visiting Albania.

Visited Sarandë from Tirana . Travelled by bus which was better than expected and was bang on time . Sarande looks great , horse shoe bay but man made beach . Nothing behind the facade though , not very nice with pavements dug up everywhere . Supermarkets were also pretty poor . We had a great apartment with balcony but getting any quality food to cook was impossible . The restaurants too although cheap were pretty ordinary . There is one with prices higher than UK on the front which never looked very full , don’t know what their food was like . Prices extortionate by Albanian standards though . A lot of new hotels on west side of bay but beware , you only get the sun in the morning so if taking one of these you may get a view but no sun in the afternoon . All in all , we would say it’s a one off unlike Tirana which is certainly worth another visit . Also , think hard about how much time to spend here , we spent four days which was one too much in our eyes . Remember credit cards are frowned upon but accepted sometimes if you stick to your guns . If you are in Corfu , it’s certainly worth a day trip .

Its ok,nice coast but mainly pebble beach. Its NOT cheap and prices comparable to western europe. As its in development, nothing functions effeciently and roads are broken; not much going on behind the beach. Honestly stick to turkey, spain Greece as price wise its the same, and these contries offer a lot more.

If you are looking for a packaged vacation in a well developed area - look for some other place. Albania is a unique place in Europe and it's not as developed as the neighboring countries. So do your research first. It may be an eye opening trip or a waste of money - depending on what you're looking for.

I am disappointed in Sarandë as a whole. If was crowded, busy, dirty and very expensive. I regret booking time here but I am thankful if was just 4 days out of the 12 total. There are much better places to go in Albania (which generally speaking O love).

Underdeveloped, overpriced, poor roads and dilapidated pavements, poor architecture, abandoned construction sites everywhere. Shady economy nearly everywhere, hardly any proper historic sites . For family holidays go elsewhere, Greece, Spain Portugal offer far better services and attractions for the same monies. Should have done more research before booking the flights

Mixed feeling and experience. The sea: amazing though very salty. The area, the city, the infrastructure: terrible. The city has developed at such a speed that they have forgotten or simply ignored the fact that a beach town also needs decent roads, streets, sidewalks, parking, you name it. Very steep roads and streets, highly overpriced, terrible non-stop music; trash everywhere. We came here because of what we read in decent outlets (praising the views, etc.), but what they failed to mention is that it is poorly built, maintained and organized. We very much doubt that the city's mayor care much about it: the only thing that matters is money and there is plenty of it flowing. I saw how some British young tourists paid ridiculous amount of money in euros and were paid back in Lek (Albanian currency) without even checking them. Even the beach facilities were very poor: no shower and very dirty beds. Overall one of the worst experiences.

We did a day trip from Corfu to Sarande (easy to do, one hour by ferry) but I would not recommend it. The place is really touristy and tacky. Loads of pirate boats (which you may like) and rubbish in the harbour and not a whole lot to do in the town. We found a restaurant someone had recommended which was awful and ended going to Ksamil (again based on reviews). We couldn't find the bus or anyone helpful to guide us so ended up jumping in a taxi (50 euros roundtrip) to see another tacky place with beds packed in at every space on the beach. If you do make the trip you can use euros everywhere, just have cash.