Historic Centre of Berat
A hillside town of white Ottoman-era houses stacked above the Osum river, with the walled castle quarter on top. It is often called the city of a thousand windows and is best explored on foot.
Berat
A hilltop castle where people still live overlooks the white Ottoman houses of this UNESCO town, nicknamed 'city of a thousand windows'.
Attractive locations
Onufri Iconographic Museum
A museum inside the castle quarter, in a former cathedral, showing Orthodox icons and church art, including work linked to the sixteenth-century painter Onufri.
Gorica Bridge
A stone footbridge with several arches crossing the Osum river and linking the old Mangalem and Gorica quarters. It gives good views of the houses climbing the opposite bank.
King Mosque
One of the older mosques in Albania, standing in the Mangalem quarter at the foot of the castle hill. Visitors should dress modestly and respect prayer times.
Berat National Ethnographic Museum
A museum in a traditional Ottoman-style house below the castle, showing household objects, tools and textiles that reveal daily life in old Berat.
Berat Castle (Kalaja)
The hilltop fortress above the town, where a few families still live among whitewashed houses and small Byzantine churches. Its walls look over the Osum River and both old quarters.
Osum River and Canyons
The river that divides Berat's old quarters, and further upstream cuts canyons near Çorovodë where spring rafting and kayaking trips run. The riverside is also good for a stroll.
Airports
Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa TIA
It is about 81 km in a straight line from Berat.
Scams and safe taxis
Taxi and scam advice for this country is on the Albania page
Weather by month
Each month shows its average temperature in °C and its mm of rain per month.
- Jan3.6 °C104 mm
- Feb4.7 °C92 mm
- Mar7.9 °C82 mm
- Apr11.7 °C61 mm
- May16.5 °C58 mm
- Jun21.6 °C37 mm
- Jul25.2 °C21 mm
- Aug25.2 °C25 mm
- Sep19.7 °C79 mm
- Oct14.6 °C98 mm
- Nov9.7 °C125 mm
- Dec5.0 °C131 mm
Driest months: Jun, Jul, Aug. Wettest months: Jan, Nov, Dec.
Costs
Prices here are about 46% of US prices (World Bank, 2025). This compares a country's overall prices, not the cost of a trip.
Who can help
Emergency
112. Police 129. Ambulance 127. Fire 128.
local government
State Police (Policia e Shtetit)
Helps with: Albania's national police. Its website lists 129 and 112 as the numbers to call, and an email address. The pages found show no separate tourist police unit.
Who qualifies: Anyone in Albania who needs the police, including visitors.
Phone: 129
Email: [email protected]
local government
National Tourism Agency (AKT)
Helps with: Albania's national tourism agency, based in Tirana. Contact it by email or at its office for tourism information. Its contact page shows no usable phone number.
Who qualifies: Anyone visiting Albania or planning a trip there.
Email: [email protected]
Address: Gjergj Fishta Boulevard, Shallvaret Palace A12, 1010 Tirana
ngo
Albanian Red Cross (Kryqi i Kuq Shqiptar)
Helps with: Albania's national Red Cross society. Its programmes include disaster response, first aid training, psychosocial support, blood donation and help for vulnerable people. Contact its Tirana headquarters.
Who qualifies: People in Albania who need its disaster, first aid, social or health support.
Phone: +355 4 22 22 037
Email: [email protected]
Address: Rruga Pjeter Budi, Building 19, Entrance 10, Tirana
un agency
International Organization for Migration (IOM) Albania
Helps with: The UN migration agency. Its Albania office works on migration management, crisis response and migration policy, and has worked in the country since 1992.
Who qualifies: Migrants and authorities working on migration in Albania. It is not a help service for ordinary tourists.
Email: [email protected]
Address: Rr. Brigada VIII, P. LID, Kati III, Ap. 303, Tirana
embassy
Foreign embassies in Albania (official diplomatic list)
Helps with: For a lost passport or serious trouble, contact your own country's embassy. The Albanian foreign ministry's State Protocol diplomatic list (January 2026) lists the missions in Tirana with contact details.
Who qualifies: Citizens of each country, through their own embassy or consulate.
local government
National Civil Protection Agency (AKMC)
Helps with: Albania's civil defence agency, which leads disaster risk reduction and emergency response. Its page gives 112 as the emergency number, plus an office address and email in Tirana.
Who qualifies: Anyone in Albania affected by an emergency or disaster.
Phone: 112
Email: [email protected]
Address: Ministria e Mbrojtjes, Rruga e Dibres, Garnizoni Skenderbej, Building 36, Tirana