From EUR1,600.00

Trip Type

Birding
Activities

Birding
Group Size

4 Min - 8 Max
Reviews

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Locations

Albania
Trip Duration

8 Day(s) 7 Night(s)

Keywords : Birdwatching in Southern Albania

Trip code :WT-CODE 7161

Spring Birding Tour offers an exceptional spring wildlife experience, combining some of the most impressive landscapes of the Balkans with rich biodiversity, pristine ecosystems, and a fascinating cultural backdrop. This carefully designed eight-day journey showcases the very best birdwatching habitats in Southern Albania, taking you from rugged mountain canyons and rolling pastoral highlands to internationally important wetlands, salinas, and coastal lagoons. Spring is the ideal time to explore Albania, with breeding birds in full activity, colourful wildflowers in bloom, and migration at its peak. For birdwatchers, photographers, or nature enthusiasts, this Albania birding tour provides a rare opportunity to explore one of Europe’s last undiscovered wildlife destinations.

Our adventure begins in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Gjirokastër, known for its stone architecture and dramatic setting above the majestic Vjosa River, Europe’s last great wild river. The first days of the tour focus on the mountainous regions surrounding Gjirokastër, particularly the Kurvelesh Highlands, a breathtaking landscape of deep canyons, remote villages, and unspoiled highland pastures. This area is one of Albania’s most important strongholds for the endangered Egyptian Vulture, a flagship species of conservation in the Balkans. With luck, we may observe soaring birds, territorial pairs, or foraging adults along the cliffs and slopes. Other highlights of the region include Rock Partridge, Black Woodpecker, and a variety of alpine passerines typical of highland Balkan habitats.

The birdwatching continues into the Drino Valley and the slopes of Çajup Mountain, where traditional farmland mosaics, rocky outcrops, and riverine habitats support species such as Rock Nuthatch, Blue Rock Thrush, Black-headed Bunting, Woodchat Shrike, Levant Sparrowhawk, Golden Eagle, and many migrant species moving north in spring. The combination of highland scenery, rich pastoral culture, and diverse wildlife makes this part of the tour a wonderfully atmospheric introduction to Albania’s interior landscapes.

Midway through the Spring Birding Tour, we shift to the coast and enter the rich wetland ecosystems that make Albania one of the most important birdwatching destinations in the entire Adriatic Flyway. Our base for the next days is Divjakë–Karavasta National Park, a world-class birding area and home to the country’s only breeding colony of the Dalmatian Pelican, one of the largest and most impressive pelicans in the world. Depending on water levels, we may take a boat excursion into the lagoon to observe pelicans, herons, terns, Slender-billed Gull, Glossy Ibis, and a wide assortment of waders at close yet responsible distances. The surrounding pine forests, meadows, and coastal dunes offer habitat for Bee-eaters, Hoopoes, Short-toed Larks, Calandra Larks, and various raptors.

From Divjakë, we travel south to the Vjosë–Nartë Protected Landscape, one of the most important wetland complexes in the Mediterranean region. The saline pans and shallow lagoons are ideal for spotting Greater Flamingo, Pied Avocet, Kentish Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt, and many other waders. This area regularly holds over 1–3% of the regional populations of several key species, making it a hotspot for both conservation and birdwatching. The surrounding scrub and farmland are excellent for Greater Spotted Cuckoo, shrikes, buntings, and spring migrants.

We conclude our Spring Birding Tour in the beautiful rural landscape north of the Shkumbini River, an agricultural mosaic bustling with European Roller, Black-headed Bunting, Lesser Kestrel, Montagu’s Harrier, Short-toed Eagle, Little Owl, butterflies, and wildflowers. It is the perfect final chapter to a tour that blends outstanding birding with traditional Albanian landscapes, delicious local cuisine, and welcoming hospitality.

Whether you are discovering Albania for the first time or returning to explore it more deeply, this spring birdwatching tour in Albania offers a rich and rewarding experience in one of Europe’s most authentic and biodiverse regions.

Spring Birding Tour

Experience the very best of Albania in spring on an unforgettable journey through majestic mountains, pristine rivers, and world-class wetlands. From the endangered Egyptian Vulture of the Kurvelesh Highlands to the iconic Dalmatian Pelicans of Divjakë-Karavasta and the flamingo-filled lagoons of Vjosë-Nartë, this tour offers exceptional birding, breathtaking landscapes, and rich cultural heritage in one of Europe’s last undiscovered wildlife destinations.

Itineraries

Day 1

Arrival → Gjirokastër (UNESCO City)

Pick up at “Tirana International Airport”, if arriving around lunch time we will go for lunch in a restaurant not far from the airport and on the way to Gjirokastër. After Lunch we will start driving to the UNESCO city of Gjirokastra. The drive will be around 3 hours. Along this day we will have the opportunity to see Vjosa River and visit some parts of it. The recently proclaimed Nature Park of Vjosa-Valley, represents the last wild river of its size in Europe. This is related to the fact that now hydropower plants are yet build in the area and the river flows free and natural along the whole Albanian territory, up to the discharge in the Adriatic Sea, where it has formed one of the most important wetland of the whole Adriatic and Mediterranean, the Vjose-Narte that we will visit later in the tour.

We will arrive in Gjirokastra early in the evening, check-in in a nice hotel at the city center. Rest for some time and go for dinner at a nice traditional restaurant in the old city center.

Day 2

Highlands of Pastoralism

Today, we will visit one of the nicest and famous mountainous areas of Southern Albania: The Kurvelesh Region. The area, in spring is just marvellous. We will see some of the nicest landscapes and particularly deep canyons of Albania.

This day will be mainly dedicated to the Egyptian Vulture, but we will explore the place and see also a range of other bird species that are found on those habitats and hopefully the Rock Partridge and Back Woodpecker as well.

Lunch will be served in a very nice traditional restaurant situated at the edge of the canyon, offering spectacular views. After lunch we will make walks around and explore the area. In the afternoon we will drive back to Gjirokaster. We will rest a bit in the hotel and go for dinner at another restaurant.

Day 3

Drino Valley, Çajup Mountain & Gjirokastër Castle

Our first place to visit today is a very nice cliff within the valley, where Rock Nuthatches and Blue Rock Thrushes are breeding in good numbers and are rather easy to be seen. Here, there is the opportunity to see other bird species as well, such as Subalpine Warbler, Black-eared Wheatear, Little Owl, Short-toed Eagle, Peregrine Falcon etc.

After this we will head up to the Cajupi Mounting through spending some time in the Drino Valley. We aim to see here Black-headed Buntings, Woodchat Shrike, Red-Backed Shrike, Levant Sparrowhak, Golden Eagle etc.

The plan this day is to come back around 15 to 16.00 at the hotel, rest for around 1 hour and spend the whole remaining time visiting the castle and the old city. We will get dinner in a nice restaurant in the old city.

Day 4

Gjirokastër → Divjakë-Karavasta National Park (via Apollonia)

Today we will check out from the hotel in Gjirokaster and drive for around 2.5 hours towards our 2^nd station that will be Divjake-Karavasta National Park. We will make a stop on the way to Apollonia archaeological park. This place is excellent for birds, offering great opportunities for some lovely species such as the Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala), Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops), European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) etc.

We will explore the site for around 2 hours and then head straight for lunch in a restaurant nearby. After lunch we will go and check-in at the hotel, situated inside the National Park and offering great opportunities for bird just next door. After a short break at the hotel. We will spend the whole afternoon in the lagoon next to the hotel to watch for birds and also make a forest trail.

We will take dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. After dinner, optional opportunity for night trail for golden jackal.

Day 5

Divjakë-Karavasta National Park

This day we will explore Divjake Karavasta National Park, which is the most important bird area in Albania and one of the most important in the whole Mediterranean Basin. This area is distinguished for the presence of the unique colony of the Dalmatian Pelican in Albania that is nesting in the same site since at least one century ago. In addition, Divjake-Karavasta holds the largest mixed colony of herons in Albania with around 4000 breeding pairs of 6 different species of herons. The area is well-known as a breeding site for many water birds and is the main wintering site for waterfowl in Albania. The herpetofauna is also rich and similar to almost the all coastal parts of Albania.

If the lagoon waters are not too low we will take a boat trip in the lagoon in the morning and see the nesting birds and chicks of the Dalmatian Pelican in the nesting Island. Observations will be carried out in a good distance in order to avoid any disturbance of the birds.

We will have the opportunity to see here: Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus), Pigmy Cormorant (Microcarbo pygmaeus), Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides), Cattle Egret (Egreta garzetta), Little Tern (Sternula albifrons), Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), Slender-billed Gull (Croicocephalus genei), Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michaellis) and many other species.

After the boat trip we will take lunch at the fishermen place, tasting their delicious fishermen soup and other fish products.

The entire afternoon will be dedicated to the southern part of Divjake-Karavasta, where will have the opportunity to see very nice species such as: European Bee-Eater, Collared Pratincole, Black-winged Stilt, Calandra Lark, Short-toed Lark etc.

Day 6

Vjosë-Nartë Protected Landscape

Today we will drive south to Vjosë-Nartë Protected Areas, which is one of the most important wetland complexes, not only nationally but also internationally. Over 200 species of wild birds have been recorded in this area. Together with Divjaka-Karavasta, they form a continuous ecosystem, making for one of the most important wetlands complexes in the whole Adriatic Flyway, where hundreds of thousands of birds regularly stop each year during their migration from nesting sites to wintering areas in autumn and vice versa in the spring.

This area is the most important in Albania for nesting of some wader (Charadriiformes) species with breeding populations exceeding 1% of the total population of a biogeographical area. Such is the case, for the Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avoceta) with around 1% of the common population of Southeast Europe, the Black Sea and Turkey. At the same time, in this area is regularly encountered over 1 - 3% of the Mediterranean and Black Sea population for other species such as the case of the Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus), the case of Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) and Collared Pratincole (Glaerola pratincola).

The first part of the day we will spend in the Salinas where we will be able to see apart from the birds mentioned above other wader species such as Stone Curlew, Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Redshank etc.

After visiting Salinas, we will get lunch in a local restaurant and move to other parts of the Vjose-Narte Protected Landscape where we will attempt to see apart from other birds also the Greater Spotted Cuckoo.

Day 7

North of the Shkumbini River

This day we drive north for nearly 1 hour and reach a very nice rural and agricultural landscape in the north of Shkumbini River.

We will make soft walks and explore the place. This area offers spectacular landscapes and high diversity of wildlife. In terms of birds, we have the opportunity to see here: European Roller, Black-headed Bunting, Hoopoe, Woodchat Shrike, Red-backed Shrike, Lesser Kestrel, Montagu’s Harrier, Marsh Harrier, Short-toed Eagle, Little Owl and many other species. Here there are excellent opportunities to see quite many species of butterflies and flowers.

Lunch will be taken as a picnic, in order to maximize the time to be in the field and explore for birds and other wildlife. We will spend the whole day here and reach the hotel in early afternoon (around 16:00), in order to leave enough time to people to pack.

Dinner will be served at the hotel’s restaurant.