Sarandë Cruise Port: Quay 2, Tenders and Butrint

Sarandë’s cruise ships tie up at Quay 2 on the waterfront, and the big ones drop anchor in the bay and run tenders instead. The promenade starts at the port gate, with the centre ten minutes along it on foot. Butrint is 20 to 30 minutes south by road, and that’s where most people on board end up.

Sarandë cruise port: Quay 2, tenders and the Welcome Center

Sarandë has one passenger port on the waterfront, and cruise ships share it with the Corfu ferries. Quay 2 is the cruise berth: 180 metres long, 9 metres of water alongside, taking tourist vessels of roughly 100 to 210 metres.

Quay 1 next door handles the regular Sarandë to Corfu ferries. Fast ferries sometimes use the cruise quay instead during the summer season.

Anything longer than the berth anchors out in the bay, where the water runs 20 to 30 metres deep, and you come ashore by tender to the same waterfront. Sapphire Princess, at 290 metres, anchors and tenders rather than berthing. Whether your ship ties up or tenders is on the daily programme, so check it the night before rather than guessing from the size of the ship.

On the land side, the Saranda Welcome Center handles the practical stuff: taxi stands, parking for cars and coaches, bicycle parking, EV charging, a ticket office, a visitor information point, a bar and a restaurant.

Sarandë cruise port map

Tenders bring you ashore at Tender landing. From there, Synagogue and basilica ruins is about a 9-minute walk and Lëkurësi Castle about 35 minutes. Tap a pin for directions.

• Tender landingWhere ships dock
• Synagogue and basilica ruinsAncient ruins · About 9 min walk from Tender landing
• Lëkurësi CastleCastle viewpoint · About 35 min walk from Tender landing
• Butrint National ParkArchaeological site · About 13 km from Tender landing
• KsamilBeach town · About 11 km from Tender landing
• Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër)Natural spring · About 17 km from Tender landing
• GjirokastërHistoric town · About 26 km from Tender landing
• Sarandë Beach PromenadeWaterfront promenade
• Mirror Beach (Pasqyra)Beach
• Ksamil IslandsSmall islands
• Gjirokastër CastleHilltop castle
• Gjirokastër Old BazaarOld bazaar
• Corfu TownTown
• Butrint Venetian Tower (Vivari Channel)Historic tower

Getting into town from the Sarandë cruise quay

The promenade starts just outside the port gate and the centre is about ten minutes along it on foot, so you don’t need a shuttle. The waterfront is level. The streets immediately behind it climb steeply into the hillside, which decides how far you fancy walking once the day warms up.

ATMs are immediately to the right as you come out of the terminal. Cards are common at larger businesses, but cash is useful for small purchases, the bus and taxis. The salmon coloured building at the port is the ferry terminal, which matters if you’re thinking about a Corfu crossing.

Butrint from Sarandë cruise port

Butrint National Park is the headline sight on this coast: a UNESCO site 18 to 20 kilometres south of the port, with Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Venetian layers stacked through woodland beside Lake Butrint and the Vivari Channel. The theatre, the baptistery, the basilica and the Lion Gate are the set pieces.

Opening hours move with the season. From 1 April to 31 October, entry runs 08:30 to 18:00 and the park closes at 20:00. From 1 November to 31 March, entry is 09:00 to 15:00 and the gates shut at 17:30.

Buying ahead through Butrint’s visitor information page saves you the queue in peak season. An online ticket is valid for 30 days from purchase and is non refundable, and they accept it printed on A4 or as a PDF on your phone. A ticket bought at the gate is good for that day only.

Give it at least two hours on site to see more than the theatre, then add the drive each way and your tender time on top. It’s a protected archaeological landscape, so stay on the marked paths and keep off the masonry. The baptistery mosaic may be covered for conservation when you visit.

There’s only a café at the entrance, so eat in town instead. The public bus to Butrint and Ksamil leaves from a stop near the Lungomare, roughly hourly and about 30 minutes each way, but the return service thins out late in the day, which is the gamble if you’re relying on it.

Ksamil: the beach day, 15 kilometres south

Ksamil is about 15 kilometres south, 15 to 20 minutes by road, with shallow turquoise water, small islands just offshore and a row of beach clubs. Sunbeds and umbrellas usually cost extra, and the beach is packed at the height of summer.

The risk on a port day isn’t the run out, it’s the run back. Traffic through Ksamil in July and August can eat the buffer you built for all aboard. Go early, agree a pickup time with your driver and keep an eye on the clock.

The Blue Eye: an hour inland, and a half day on its own

The Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër) is a karst spring 18 to 22 kilometres inland, roughly an hour by road, and you’ll walk from where the vehicle parks. There’s no direct bus, so it’s a taxi, a tour or nothing. It’s a scenic stop rather than a swim, and access and swimming rules change with the season, so check before you commit.

The Blue Eye lies in a different direction from Butrint, and squeezing the spring, the ruins and Ksamil into one call means spending most of the day in a vehicle. Done properly, the spring is a half day on its own.

Gjirokastër: the long inland day

Gjirokastër is a UNESCO stone town with a hilltop castle, and it’s a longer run inland than Butrint. It works far better as a guided trip than an independent dash, because the guided version handles the road and the clock for you.

Sarandë town on foot: mosaics, Forty Saints and Lëkurësi

Two hours covers the promenade and the central remains; half a day adds Lëkurësi or the Forty Saints. The 5th century synagogue and basilica remains, with their mosaic floors, sit in the Qender district about 10 to 15 minutes on foot from the terminal, with the archaeology museum nearby.

The Monastery of the Forty Saints sits on the hill above town. Lëkurësi Castle is a viewpoint with a restaurant terrace rather than a ruin, roughly 45 minutes uphill on foot or a short taxi ride, and best at sunset if your all aboard allows it.

Sarandë to Corfu by ferry, and why not on a cruise call

Two Greek operators, Ionian Seaways and Finikas Lines, run the crossing all year with fast craft and conventional car ferries. It’s about seven nautical miles: 25 to 35 minutes by fast ferry, 55 to 70 minutes by car ferry. Summer brings roughly hourly departures each way, winter about one crossing a day each way.

It’s an international border crossing. Albanian exit control is at Sarandë and Greek entry at Corfu New Port, so you need your passport, with EU ID cards accepted. Greece is one hour ahead of Albania, and timetables print departure port local time, which catches people out.

Don’t use a Sarandë cruise call for an independent round trip to Corfu. Border processing and check in cut offs on both sides leave no room for a delay, and the ferry won’t wait for you. Sailings leave from the salmon coloured ferry building on Quay 1, with check in 30 minutes before in low season and an hour before the midday summer crossings.

If a Corfu call is also on your itinerary, the Corfu cruise ship port guide covers where the ships berth on that side of the strait. Further east the Turkish coast runs to a different pattern, and Fethiye cruise ship port and the other Mediterranean cruise ports in Turkey are where to look if your sailing turns that way.

Where to eat near Sarandë cruise port

The eating is on the promenade, about ten minutes’ walk from where you land, with bakeries and cheaper local places one block back from the front. It’s inexpensive by Corfu or Croatia standards.

• Byrek is flaky pastry with cheese, spinach, meat or pumpkin, sold by the slice from bakeries on the streets behind the promenade.
• Tavë kosi is lamb and rice baked under yoghurt and egg, and it turns up on most traditional menus.
• Fërgesë is peppers, tomato and cottage cheese, usually served hot in a clay dish.
• Mussels come from the Butrint lagoon just south of town, so they’re as local as the menu gets.

To drink, there’s grape raki, homemade and served with meze, Korça beer and Kallmet red wine. Eat in town rather than at Butrint, since the site only has a café by the entrance.

What to wear in Sarandë: outfit ideas for a port day

Butrint is ancient stone, roots, slopes and steps, so wear shoes with real soles and carry water and sun protection. Insect repellent matters from late spring onwards, because the site is a wetland. At Ksamil and on the promenade, beachwear is fine on the front, but the streets immediately behind climb steeply and get hot.

Lëkurësi’s uphill road is steeper than it looks if you walk it, and Gjirokastër’s cobbled lanes are slippery in rain. Flat shoes with grip handle the hillside streets better than anything with a heel.

For more inspiration, see these casual cruise outfit ideas for women and cruise outfit ideas for men.

Best photo spots in Sarandë

The best photographs on a Sarandë port day are on the promenade, up at Lëkurësi and down at Ksamil, with Butrint’s theatre and baptistery as the historical frame.

• The promenade is palm lined and runs along the bayfront, with the view across to Corfu.
• Lëkurësi Castle terrace gives the panorama of the town, the bay and Corfu, and it’s best at sunset.
• Ksamil has the small offshore islands and turquoise shallows that photograph best on this coast.
• Butrint is quietest from about 15:00, once the coach groups have moved on, which is when the theatre and baptistery frames clear.
• The mosaic remains in Qender are 10 to 15 minutes from the terminal and easy to fit in on the way back.

Passport checks, taxi fares and the 60 to 90 minute buffer

Carry your passport ashore, because tender passengers clear Albanian passport control when they come ashore. Leave 60 to 90 minutes to get back to the ship. Taxis gather near the port on cruise and ferry days, and it pays to agree the fare, the waiting time and the currency before you set off.

Emergency numbers are 127 for an ambulance, 128 for the fire service and 112 for the police. The local police station is on Rruga Abas Shehu, about a five minute walk from the pier.

Currency is the Albanian lek. Euros are widely accepted in tourist areas, but change usually comes back in lek. The terminal’s Port_Guest Wi-Fi exists but goes wobbly once more than about 50 people are on it.

Sarandë cruise port FAQs

Where is Sarandë?

Sarandë sits in southern Albania on the Ionian coast, on a curving bay that faces Corfu across the strait.

Butrint or Ksamil: which fits a short port day?

Butrint needs at least two hours on site plus 20 to 30 minutes each way, so it suits a call of five hours or more. Ksamil is 15 to 20 minutes each way and works with a swim on a shorter stop.

Can you see the Blue Eye and Butrint in one call?

The Blue Eye is about an hour inland in a different direction from Butrint, so the pair doesn’t fit one call without spending most of it in a vehicle. Pick one.

Which beach is closest to the cruise port?

Sarandë’s own beaches are pebbly and line the bay on either side of the promenade, within walking distance of the quay. For turquoise shallows and small offshore islands, you need Ksamil.

How far is Corfu New Port from Corfu Town?

The Sarandë ferry lands at Corfu New Port, which is about a kilometre from Corfu Town centre, close enough to walk with a light bag.