I can’t believe I haven’t written this post yet! When I got home from Albania I had such mixed emotions about this place. We have a tendency to make the best of things, and we found some wonderful things to do here. But if I’m being honest, I wanted to leave as soon as we pulled into town. I have now realized that I can describe exactly what this place is and you can decide for yourself if it is for you. You’re going to see photos throughout this post and think that this looks like paradise, and it can be! But I want to make you aware of the realities of visiting here both good and less ideal.
This post will contain all you need to know about Ksamil, Albania BEFORE you go!
Driving here is very haphazard
One of the first things you need to know about Ksamil is that it seems like the whole place was kind of a build as you go project. New developments like hotels, restaurants, rental homes, etc. were popping up anywhere and everywhere. With this development happening, there seemed to be no real plan for how to actually organize the roads here. This made for intense traffic jams, roads that led to nowhere, and some strange and tight situations.
As we drove into town and continued to sit on the highway watching our ETA climb, I realized I didn’t want to drive anywhere around this town. We parked our car at our hotel and didn’t move it again until we left Ksamil.
You don’t NEED a car
The above statement about driving leads me to tell you that you don’t NEED a car to travel here. It made it easier to get to, as we didn’t have to worry about a bus or ferry. One thing you need to know about Ksamil is that once you’re here, you don’t need a car. There are a few spots to visit like the “Blue Eye” (which we skipped) that could require a vehicle or a tour, but overall a car is not needed to just relax here for a few days. We found the area to be very walkable and we did not use our car at all.
The people are very kind
This is on par with the rest of Albania. The Albanian people are truly the kindest we’ve met in all of our travels. Everywhere we went in this beautiful country people treated us in such a warm and friendly way. They were welcoming, helpful, and honestly in numerous situations went above and beyond to help us to have an excellent time. I have only the most amazing things to say about all of the Albanian people we encountered throughout our entire time in the country and Ksamil was no exception. The hotel we stayed at had the most kind and welcoming hosts ever and you’ll need to know about Ksamil and the rest of Albania that this is almost always the case.
The party scene is real
Ksamil has been marketed as an affordable alternative to Mykonos or Ibiza etc. I would say that is 100% the vibe they are GOING for. I wouldn’t say they have hit the mark completely yet. However, they do have some absolutely beautiful looking beach clubs and there was a lot of action going on when we visited. Although the prices truly could be considered affordable compared to some of those destinations in Western Europe, we still found them to be a bit too much for us personally. I don’t need to spend hundreds for a spot on the water and some drinks for the day. If you were traveling with a group of friends, or people who enjoy this type of scene, this really would be a great bang for your buck! However, this leads me to my next point.
There are VERY minimal options for enjoying the beach for free
There are VERY few public beach areas in Ksamil. If you are expecting to just show up and throw down a towel to enjoy the beach, you unfortunately will not have much opportunity to do that. Almost every inch of the water/beach scene here is developed and you have to pay to use the spaces.
We found one beach club that was a bit more on the affordable side, a bit more peaceful, and we felt pretty relaxed at. It was called “Black Pearl”. We were able to make reservations the night before to have a space we liked. We enjoyed having a bed with one of the nets over the water. The food and drinks here were good and reasonably priced compared to some of the other flashier spots.
Some popular spots did not live up to their social media presence
There were a few spots that I saw all over social media before visiting here that truly did not live up to the hype in person. They weren’t as clean in person, or just didn’t even have the stuff they were promoting, or it was far more costly than they made it appear. I was disappointed by a few spots we wanted to eat when we arrived in person. Make sure to do your research as not everything is what it seems here.
You can find some real gems
Despite how negative I feel like I am sounding in this post, we did find some lovely spots here that we really enjoyed. As with many touristy destinations, the main drag along the beach and clubs is not really where you want to find your affordable and authentic meals. We found that eating on the streets provided us better meals at a better cost.
We LOVED our hotel
We stayed in a mid range hotel that was a bit away from all of the wild party areas. It was clean and comfortable and styled nicely. We loved that the couple who ran it was so incredibly kind. We had a really nice room with a balcony and a view and the hotel had the most beautiful rooftop. It was so nice to have breakfast on the roof in the mornings and a drink in the evenings before heading out. The hotel was definitely a bright spot during our time in Ksamil.
The water really is that beautiful
Everywhere you travel in Albania, people will tell you the water in Ksamil is the most unreal. They are NOT lying. The blue of the water here is absolutely stunning! It’s almost hard to believe how incredible it is. If you get up early, you can see the most beautiful views before the crowds, boats, water sports, etc are all starting to happen.
Sunsets are lovely
The sunsets here were incredibly beautiful and you can watch them along the beaches or bars that clear out a little later in the evening. We truly enjoyed this peaceful time of day. You could also book dinners during sunset for some nice views, as with many destinations, you may pay a bit more for a meal with a view.
There are small islands you can visit
There are a few small islands off of Ksamil that you can visit on your own or with a boat or tour. We rented kayaks for a few hours to head out to visit them and it was so peaceful. I wish we’d done it sooner. You could come out to the islands and have a more relaxed beach experience. Although it also could be considered TOO relaxed as we saw some people completely naked!
There is a trash problem
Honestly, we found there to be some issues with trash in many areas of Albania that we visited. Ksamil likely is dealing with a much bigger issue as they are rapidly developing, there is so much partying here, and so much waste accumulates. However, there were rows and rows of overflowing dumpsters, trash in the water, trash on the streets, etc. It was very noticeable and honestly disappointing for a place that is billed as a beautiful resort town. To be fair, we visited here during peak summer, I have heard from other travelers that these problems were not as noticeable during the “off-season”.
It was our least favorite place in Albania
This is not to say that we didn’t like Ksamil, but we liked everywhere else we went better! If you have limited time in Albania and you want to visit the beach, I highly recommend the area around Himare instead.
If you’re looking for more information about this area, you can check out my post here —-> Guide to Himare, Albania
If you’re interested in Unesco Heritage Sites, castles, wine, and history we loved BERAT! You can check out my detailed post about Berat here —–> Berat Mini Guide
If you’re interested in the mountains we also absolutely LOVED Theth. You can check out my post about Theth here —-> Guide to Theth, Albania
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