A Corfu to Albania day trip crosses the narrow strait from Corfu Town to the port of Saranda, adds the Blue Eye spring, and brings you back to the island by evening. Browse more tours in Greece if you want other island days.
This page covers what the day includes, the ferry crossing, border papers and the time change, the timetable, the Blue Eye spring, Saranda and Lekursi Castle, Butrint, and money, food and phone tips.
What does a Corfu to Albania day trip with the Blue Eye and Saranda include?
A Corfu to Albania day trip with the Blue Eye and Saranda lasts 9 hours. It covers a ferry ride across the Ionian Sea and a coach drive to the Blue Eye spring. Free time in Saranda follows. A local host welcomes you when you reach the town.
On this Corfu to Albania day trip, a ferry crosses the Ionian Sea, and the listing calls the ride comfortable. A coach then takes the group to the spring, where you have time on your own. A local train carries you from the parking area to the Blue Eye entrance. A professional English-speaking host leads the full-day tour.
Saranda gets its own free time. The listing offers four choices. Explore the promenade, relax by the sea, shop in local stores, or have lunch at a seaside restaurant. You set the pace yourself. Starting times show when you check availability for your date.
Groups on this Corfu to Albania day trip have up to 50 people. The listing offers English, French and German. German runs on Thursday and Sunday, and French runs on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
Pick-up is available for the Corfu to Albania day trip, with points and times arranged for each area of Corfu. Transfers take about 20 to 120 minutes, depending on your location. Your pick-up details arrive by email, so check your inbox and spam folder. You can reserve now and pay later, with free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance.
How does the ferry crossing from Corfu port to Saranda work?
A Corfu to Albania day trip crosses from Corfu’s New Port to Saranda by ferry. The hydrofoil takes about 30 to 35 minutes, and the car ferry takes a bit over 1 hour. Strong wind can swap the hydrofoil for the car ferry.
For a Corfu to Albania day trip, ferries dock in the New Port, further on than the Old Port. One traveller walked from the Old Town to the New Port in about 27 minutes. A taxi takes about 10 minutes. The Line 15 bus stops outside the port and links it with the Old Town and the airport.
On the Blue Eye tour, enter the New Port by the main entrance and turn left. Walk about 400 metres to the check-in building, where an Ionian Cruises employee stands with a big blue flag. That spot is the meeting point for your Corfu to Albania day trip.
Border control happens at the port, so the listing asks you to arrive 45 minutes to 1 hour early. One reviewer says the rep prints your tickets and hands out the boarding pass. Online tickets alone are not valid. One traveller found a small shop for water and snacks in the waiting room.
Strong wind stops the hydrofoil, and one traveller was moved to the car ferry, which took twice as long. Very bad weather can cancel crossings. Check the forecast before your Corfu to Albania day trip, and leave room in the evening for a slower return.
What do you need at the border, from passport or ID card to the one-hour time change?
A Corfu to Albania day trip needs a valid passport or national ID card, because the border crossing requires one. Albania also keeps time one hour behind Corfu, so set your phone before you land.
EU citizens need a valid ID card or a valid passport on the day of travel, says Ionian Cruises. Travellers from outside Europe who need a Schengen visa must carry a valid passport and a residence permit or visa. For the trip from Greece to Albania and back, the operator asks them for a multi-visa.
Albania is not in the Schengen Area, so you cannot cross freely. Your passport is checked before boarding in Corfu, again on arrival in Albania, and the same on your return. In total, a Corfu to Albania day trip has four checks: leaving Corfu, entering Albania, leaving Albania and re-entering Corfu.
Ionian Cruises needs the passport details of every traveller at booking, at least one day before the trip. Check the visa rule for your nationality before a Corfu to Albania day trip. Travellers from a wide range of countries enter Albania visa-free for up to 90 days, but rules change.
Children under 18 must travel with both parents or an authorised adult. If only one parent travels, the other parent must give written permission.
The time change catches travellers out on a Corfu to Albania day trip. One traveller left Corfu at 9 am and crossed in 30 minutes. The boat docked in Saranda at about 8:30 am. The same traveller left Saranda at 16:00 Albanian time and reached Corfu at 17:30.
How does a Corfu to Albania day trip run, from the morning boat to the evening return?
A Corfu to Albania day trip on the Saranda and Butrint tour starts with the 08:45 boat from Corfu port. The return boat leaves Saranda at 15:00 and docks in Corfu at 17:20.
Hotel pickups for the Corfu to Albania day trip take 20 to 120 minutes, depending on your location. Without a pickup, be at the port at least 60 minutes before departure. Boarding runs from 07:40 to 08:20, when the terminal gate closes.
The operator warns of a passport-control delay of 30 to 60 minutes at Corfu port on summer itineraries. At Corfu New Port, turn left from the main entrance and walk about 400 metres to the check-in building.
Here is how the Corfu to Albania day trip runs after the boat leaves, in the operator’s local times.
- 09:00: the boat reaches Saranda, and the coach leaves the port at 09:15.
- 10:00: arrival at Butrint, where the tour lasts 90 to 110 minutes.
- 12:10: arrival at the restaurant in Saranda for lunch.
- 13:20: free time to stroll around the city.
- 14:40: passport control and boarding at Saranda port.
The Blue Eye version of the Corfu to Albania day trip has its own order. After the ferry, a coach takes you to the spring for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. You then return to Saranda for free time. Its listing gives 9 hours in total, against 10 hours for the Butrint tour.
Blue Tours runs a full-day Corfu to Albania day trip. It leaves Corfu port at about 09:00 and returns at about 19:00. If you fly out of Corfu that day, leave plenty of room for delays.
What is the Blue Eye spring, and why is its water so clear?
The Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër) is a karst water spring in southern Albania. Its clear blue water can be seen from a depth of more than fifty metres. It is the first stop on the Corfu to Albania day trip with Saranda.
The spring lies near the village of Muzinë, in Finiq municipality. It feeds the Bistricë river, which runs 25 kilometres to the Ionian Sea. The river’s name, Bistrica, comes from a Slavic word meaning clear water. On a Corfu to Albania day trip, you stand where that river begins.
Why is the water so clear? It rises from an underground source at the foothills of the Mali i Gjerë limestone massif. Divers have gone down fifty metres, but the depth of the karst hole is still unclear. On a Corfu to Albania day trip, you see the spring pour out 18,400 litres of water every second.
On this Corfu to Albania day trip, a coach takes you to the spring, about 25 minutes from Saranda. A local train then runs from the parking area to the entrance. The tour listing allows about 1 hour and 15 minutes for walking and photos. The area is a protected natural monument with oak and sycamore trees.
What do you see in Saranda and at Lekursi Castle?
Saranda is a town on a horseshoe bay of the Ionian Sea, with a seaside promenade, shops and restaurants. The Corfu to Albania day trip with the Blue Eye gives you free time here after the spring.
The listing for this Corfu to Albania day trip offers four ways to spend that free time. You can walk the promenade, relax by the sea, shop in local stores, or have lunch at a seaside restaurant. Wikipedia says Saranda gets over 300 sunny days a year. Its name comes from a Byzantine monastery of the Forty Saints.
Two older sights sit in town. One is the ruins of a 5th-century synagogue. The other is a small archaeology museum, where a Roman mosaic floor stays where it was found. The tour listing names neither as a stop. Use them as ideas for free time on a Corfu to Albania day trip.
Lekursi Castle is a ruined Ottoman fortress on a hill about one kilometre southeast of Saranda. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent built it to defend against the Venetians. It is almost square, with two round towers at opposite corners, and it held 220 soldiers.
From the hill you see Saranda Bay, the inland mountains, the Butrint lagoon and the island of Corfu. An outdoor restaurant stands inside the castle. The tour does not list the castle, so it suits a self-planned Corfu to Albania day trip by ferry.
One travel blogger took a taxi up from the waterfront. The blogger says you can enjoy the view without buying at the restaurant, and that daytime is quieter. The blogger also describes 180 degree views of the Albanian coast.
Why is Butrint National Park a UNESCO site worth the detour?
Butrint is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Greek, Roman and Byzantine ruins, about 14 kilometres south of Saranda. On a Corfu to Albania day trip, the Saranda and Butrint tour is the one that visits it.
Butrint ties back to the island you left on your Corfu to Albania day trip. Wikipedia says the Chaonians who lived at Butrint had close contacts with Corcyra, the Corinthian colony that is now Corfu. The Roman writer Virgil named the seer Helenus, a son of King Priam of Troy, as its legendary founder.
The Ionian Cruises listing says the Butrint visit is available only if you select it when booking. On that Corfu to Albania day trip, the tour names these sights:
- The Venetian tower near the entrance
- The ancient theatre and the Temple of Asclepius
- The ancient gymnasium and the Roman Baths
- The Roman Baptistery with its mosaic floor
- The Lion Gate and the Cyclopean walls
- The Venetian Castle on the hill, with an archaeological museum and views over the lake and plains
Wikivoyage suggests about 2 hours at the site, or closer to 3 for archaeology fans. A reviewer calls the ruins shady and largely flat, with a 5 to 7 minute uphill walk at the end. The operator’s list says to bring a hat, sunglasses, comfortable shoes and a small bottle of water.
If you do a Corfu to Albania day trip on your own, watch the road. Wikivoyage warns it is congested between Ksamil and Saranda in high season, especially around sunset. Leave Butrint early for your ferry.
Which currency, food and phone tips help on a Corfu to Albania day trip?
Bring cash. Tour listings say Albania uses the lek, not the euro, and cards are not accepted everywhere. These Corfu to Albania day trip tips also cover lunch and your phone.
Corfu uses the euro, so a Corfu to Albania day trip takes you into a second currency. One ferry-route writer says ATMs are available and a day visitor can get by with euros. Carry a little of each. A blogger who toured Butrint alone says the entrance takes cash only. On the tour, the entry ticket is included.
Food on a Corfu to Albania day trip depends on your tour. The Saranda and Butrint tour includes a buffet lunch at a Saranda restaurant. Ionian Cruises lists tomato salad, cucumber, feta, olives, tzatziki, mussels, pork, beef meatballs, baked potatoes and seasonal fruit. Drinks are extra.
If you skip the Butrint option, lunch is not included. On the Blue Eye tour, you pick a seaside restaurant yourself during free time in Saranda. Wikivoyage says fresh fish is abundant there, and the places by the sea and the fishing ports serve the freshest. A blogger praises grill platters, tirokafteri dip, byrek and Greek salads.
Phones help on a Corfu to Albania day trip too. Save the operator’s service number before you leave. Ionian Cruises lists one for the morning coach transfer. A traveller says a quick call cleared up an unclear meeting point.
Wikivoyage adds that bars and restaurants have Wi-Fi if you ask, and a local SIM card needs your passport. Ask your own provider about roaming in Albania.
What else do travellers ask about a Corfu to Albania day trip?
Can you swim on a Corfu to Albania day trip?
Yes, in the free time in Saranda. One Ionian Cruises listing covers the option without the Butrint visit. Its free time in Saranda is for the seaside promenade, a café, a swim or shopping. One traveller on the Blue Eye tour swam during two hours of free time in the town.
Ksamil has white sand beaches, and you can swim out to its islands or rent a pedalo or a canoe. It lies a 20-minute taxi ride from Saranda. Neither tour listing names it as a stop. Check the route before you plan beach time on a Corfu to Albania day trip.
Can children join a Corfu to Albania day trip?
Yes, with an adult. Ionian Cruises takes children under 18 only with both parents or an authorised adult. A child who travels with one parent needs written permission from the other parent.
If the adult is not a parent, a parent or legal guardian signs the permission instead. The forms are at the central ticket office in the port. Blue Tours also asks that children travel with an adult.
What happens to the trip in bad weather?
Bad weather can cancel a Corfu to Albania day trip. Blue Tours says its Albania cruise depends on favourable weather. If poor weather cancels it, you can pick another date or tour, or take a full refund.
One ferry traveller advises checking the forecast before booking a Corfu to Albania day trip. This matters above all in late autumn, winter and early spring. If you have a flight from Corfu on the same day, leave extra room for delays.
How big is the group, and which languages are offered?
The Blue Eye version of the Corfu to Albania day trip takes a standard group of up to 50 people. Its Ionian Cruises listing names English, French and German.
The Ionian Cruises listing for Saranda and Butrint runs English daily. German runs on Thursday and Sunday, and French on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Corfu Tourist Services adds Italian on Thursday and Sunday and Russian on Friday for its own Saranda and Butrint trip.
How do you reach the port for a Corfu to Albania day trip?
The boats to Albania leave from the New Port, not the Old Port. A taxi from the Old Town takes about 10 minutes, and one traveller walked the route in about 27 minutes.
The Line 15 bus stops outside the port and links it with the Old Town and the airport. Ionian Cruises lists parking in the B2 port area, in front of the port authority building.