Ksamil
Ksamil has the only sand on this coast, and three uninhabited islets close enough to swim to. Butrint's 2,500 years of ruins sit four kilometres south, and the water is shallow enough for children.
Ksamil in a nutshell
Ksamil: what to expect
We read 93,000+ planned stops in Albania on Stippl to see how Ksamil really gets planned.
Ksamil is a beach village rather than a town, and it has the sand the rest of this coast does not. Three or four uninhabited islets sit a couple of hundred metres off the main beach and you can swim, kayak or paddle to them, with the outer ones quiet. Pulëbardha and Monastery are the calm beaches. Butrint is four kilometres south on a local bus, and the Blue Eye is twenty kilometres inland on the Gjirokastër road.
Ksamil and Sarandë are alternatives, and both files measure it the same way. Each turns up on the other's trips less often than trip length alone would predict, so travellers pick one base eleven kilometres from the other. Ksamil trips are also the longest Albanian trips we measure, and half of them never leave the country. It is the one Albanian destination that peaks in August rather than July.
Two nights, and go north for the evening. Restaurants, bars, buses and a promenade are all eleven kilometres away in Sarandë, and every guide sends readers in that direction after dark. The water here is shallow and calm, which is the case for bringing children. Avoid peak August unless crowds are fine with you, because the village went from a handful of guesthouses to more than two hundred places to stay inside fifteen years.
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Download the appWho Ksamil is for
Anyone here for the sand
Ksamil is the answer to that specific question on this coast, and the only real one.
Families
The water is shallow and calm, and the inlet side is quiet and cheap.
Swimmers and paddlers
The islets sit a short swim or paddle off the beach, and most people give Ksamil 2 nights to reach them all.
Anyone visiting Butrint
The ruins are ten minutes down the road, and staying here puts you at the gate before the tour buses.
Maybe not for you: anyone wanting a town, since restaurants, bars, buses and a promenade are 11 km north in Sarandë; anyone here in peak August unless crowds are acceptable; and anyone planning a long stay, because two nights is typical and few stay past four.
The best time to visit Ksamil
Closed
November to March
Wet, quiet and mostly shut. The islands are still there and the water is still that colour, but almost nothing on the beach is open.
Opening
April and May
Warm, quiet and the sea comfortable from mid May. The beaches are being rebuilt for the summer and the first beach clubs open at the end of the month.
Summer
June to August
The busiest beach in Albania, with August the fullest month of all. Every metre of sand is a paid bed, the water is warm and the road through the village is one lane of traffic.
September
September
Warm sea, the beach clubs still open and the crowd halved within two weeks. The month to come.
- August is the month most travellers plan Ksamil for on Stippl, about 62 days ahead. In August the village runs out of rooms, so the two-month lead is what it takes rather than caution.
- Ksamil's beaches are private in summer, and the free sand is small. Every stretch of the main coves is a beach club with beds by the day; arrive by nine in July and August or take the boat to the islands and swim from there.
- Butrint is the reason to stay a second day, and it is best before ten. The site has real shade under the trees but the walk between the theatre and the acropolis is exposed; go at opening and be back on the beach by noon.
- Ksamil's water is cold early. May looks like August in the photographs, but the sea is a shock until the middle of the month; June is when it turns.
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Things to do in Ksamil
Photo by Adventure Albania via UnsplashSwimming to the islets
Swim or paddle out to the three or four uninhabited islands two to four hundred metres off the main beach; the outer ones are quieter and the water is cleaner. Free, and a paddleboard rents for about €10 an hour.
Butrint
Take the local bus four kilometres south, about €1, to the UNESCO site with 2,500 years of continuous habitation, walkable in two hours, about €10. The closest major archaeological site to any beach in Albania; go at opening.
Choosing a beach
Pick between them: the main beach for the colour and the docks, Pulëbardha and Monastery for quiet, Bora Bora and Lori for the middle ground. Every metre in summer is a paid bed, about €15 a day, and the free sand is small.
The Blue Eye
Drive twenty kilometres inland on the road to Gjirokastër to the karst spring of extraordinary blue, about €0.50 and a two-kilometre walk from the car park. Swimming is prohibited, and go before ten.
Kayaking the coast
Rent a kayak on the main beach or at Lori, about €10 an hour, and paddle the coast south towards the lagoon mouth, quieter than the beach and the way to reach the small coves. Mornings before the wind.
Sarandë for the evening
Take the fifteen-minute bus into Sarandë for the promenade, the restaurants and the Lekurësi castle at sunset, about €1. Ksamil's own evening is short; the town has the rest of it.
The neighbourhoods of Ksamil
The beachfront
Wooden docks, busiest sand
The main beach and the village behind it: the wooden docks, the busiest sand, most of the restaurants and beach bars and the swim out to the islets. For first visits and anyone who wants the docks at the door.
The famous beach on foot, and no free sand in August.
The lagoon side
Quieter, cheaper, apartments
The eastern side facing the Butrint lagoon rather than the sea: quieter, cheaper, more apartments than hotels, and a short walk over to the beaches. For families and longer stays.
The same sand for less, and a walk across the village to reach it.
The southern coves
Smaller bays, calmer, spread out
The strip south toward Butrint where the coast breaks into smaller coves, calmer and more spread out, with resorts and villas above the water. For couples who want a quiet stay and have a car or a scooter.
Calm coves and the quiet, and a ride for every meal.
The Sarandë road
Villas, viewpoints, between towns
The road north toward Sarandë along the cliffs: villas and small hotels with the view over the islands, the Monastery beach below and both towns within fifteen minutes. For the view and for people with wheels.
The view and the space, and a car for everything.
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Where to stay in Ksamil
Stay on the central beachfront for a first visit: the docks, the busiest sand and the restaurants are all here, and the swim out to the islets starts from the beach. Most people give Ksamil 2 nights on Stippl. The village is small and the season short, so book July and August well ahead, and day-trip Sarande from here rather than the reverse.
The beachfront
Family-run small hotels and apartments behind the sand, €40 to €100 in summer, half that in the shoulder months.
The lagoon side
Apartments rather than hotels, €30 to €60, a short walk over to the beaches.
The southern coves
Villas and small resorts above the water, €60 to €150, calmer and more spread out.
The Sarandë road
Clifftop villas and small hotels with the island view, €50 to €120, with a car to reach either town.
What to eat in Ksamil
Mussels farmed in the Butrint lagoon immediately inland
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Ksamil customs and what not to do
Resort village, resort rules
Beachwear on the sand and covered in the village, the shops and the church; the mosque in the village is in use and wants shoulders and knees.
The xhiro is on the beachfront
The evening walk happens here too, along the front rather than a boulevard; the restaurants fill from eight and the families stay until eleven.
The islands are swum to
The four islets are a few minutes off the beach and swimming to them is the thing; pedalos and boats share the water, so a bright cap, and keep to the line.
Butrint is a sacred site too
The archaeological park has a working baptistery and a basilica, and the guides ask for quiet and no climbing on the walls; the mosaics are covered for their protection.
Do
- Go to the beach before nine or after five in August
- Take the bus to Butrint for the day; it is twenty minutes
- Pay the lounger rate or use the free ends of the beach
- Carry cash; the beach bars and the boats are cash only
Don't
- Drive into Ksamil in August; park outside and walk
- Expect a free spot on the main beach in July or August
- Swim to the islands without checking the boat lane
- Plan on quiet; this is the busiest beach in the country
What a Ksamil trip costs
Budget
€40–55
Dorm bed or basic guesthouse, buses and furgons, market food plus a €5–10 restaurant meal, free hikes and beaches.
Mid-range
€90–130
Private room or small hotel, a share of a hire car, restaurant meals, paid sunbeds, entry fees and a boat trip.
High-end
€200+
Boutique hotel or Riviera resort, private transfers or an automatic hire car, beach clubs, guided treks.
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Fun facts about Ksamil
Ksamil went from about three guesthouses in 2010 to over 200 hotels and restaurants. It is the fastest documented change of any Albanian destination, and the densest tourist concentration on the coast.
Ksamil has the only sand on this stretch of coast. Sarandë, Himarë and most of the Riviera are pebble, and that single fact drives most of the choices travellers make here.
Ksamil trips are the longest Albanian trips planned on Stippl. They carry more Albanian stops than any other, because the village sits at the far southern end of the whole country.
Nobody agrees how many islets there are. Three or four, depending on which rocks count, a few hundred metres off the main beach and reachable by swimming, kayak or paddleboard.
Ksamil and Sarandë are a choice, not a pair. Ksamil has the sand and almost none of the infrastructure; Sarandë, 12 km north, has the restaurants and the evening.
Butrint is 4 km from the beach. The ruins of the Greek, Roman and Venetian city sit on a lagoon just south of the village, in a national park with its own ferry.
Local tips for Ksamil
One bus line does everything
The Sarandë to Ksamil to Butrint service runs every thirty to sixty minutes for about €1 a leg. In Ksamil it stops on request only; flag it down and name your stop.
The islets are a real swim
Two to four hundred metres of open water with boat traffic; easy for a swimmer and not a paddle. Kayaks and paddleboards line the main beach at about €10 an hour.
Quiet beaches mean walking
Pulëbardha is a twenty-minute walk down an unpaved path from the main road, and Monastery Beach the same. The main beach is beds by the day; the free sand is small.
How long to stay
Most people give Ksamil 2 nights on Stippl: a beach day, the islets and Butrint on the bus. Nearly everyone arrives through Sarandë.
August is the hazard
The beaches and the coast road are crowded to the point of gridlock. Come in June or September, or be on the sand by nine.
Demolitions are ongoing
The authorities have been removing unpermitted buildings along the coast, and a beach club that existed last year may not this year. Book a room with reviews from this season.
Ksamil questions, answered
At the southern end, with Butrint and the Blue Eye hanging off it. Ksamil carries 6.19% of everything planned in Albania on Stippl, and it is one of only two places in the country whose busiest month is August rather than July. Build it into Stippl for September if you can.
Two nights, three if Butrint and the Blue Eye go in alongside the beach days. Ksamil gets 2 nights in the trips people plan on Stippl. The village itself is small, so the extra night is about the trips out of it rather than about Ksamil.
Plenty do: 11.8% of Ksamil stops planned on Stippl are same-day, and the bus down takes about twenty minutes. It works if you want the water and not the village. It does not work in August, when the beach fills by mid-morning and the buses back are standing room.
Ksamil has the sand and the little islands you can swim out to; Sarande has the restaurants, the nightlife, the Corfu ferry and the bus station. Travellers pick one as a base rather than sleeping in both. Ksamil for the water, Sarande for everything you would do around it.
Yes, and it is the thing to do here. The nearest islet sits a couple of hundred metres out, close enough for a confident swimmer, and kayaks and paddleboards rent by the hour on the main beach if you would rather not. Watch the channel for boat traffic in high summer.
The Sarande to Butrint bus runs through Ksamil and stops on request, and the ruins sit only a few kilometres further south. Go early or late: Butrint is a wooded lagoon site and the middle of the day is both hot and crowded. Allow around two hours on site.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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