Ottoman towns of Berat and Gjirokaster

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We took a bus from the North-South bus terminal in Tirana to Berat. The journey was fine, dropped off in Berat on the river front. We stayed across the river at Hotel Ajka
It had a great view from the large balcony over to the main town and the castle. The lovely Ottoman houses are clustered up narrow cobbled strrets that wind up to the castle. There are also a cluster of these houses on the other side if the river  where we stayed. Enjoyable to wander the streets and take in the views.
The castle is still lived in, it has many houses within the main walls. The evening views from the viewing platform at the castle were great. There are various walking routes around the castle grounds with some interesting churches to look in.
While we were there the ethnographic museum was closed.

As the journey to Gjirokaster is not on a main bus route we decided to take a taxi between the two places, expensive but for us worth it. In Gyrokaster we stayed up the winding cobblestone streets in a small guesthouse called Ahmetaj. Super caring and generous landlady ( with food).
Gjirokaster has a very different atmosphere to Berat, here the buildings that tourists come to see are more interspersed with modern buildings. The houses are of grey stone, incredible roofs with heavy flagstones as tiles. It was a wealthy merchant town and highlights are to visit one or more of the houses now open as museums. We visited the ethnographic museum and  Skëndulaj house, the latter well worth it with a guide employed by the family who still own the house.
The castle here is huge with a long history with additions and extensions as new invaders took over. Good information in English. No houses inside this one.

We stayed two night in each town, which was enough.

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