Gjirokastër is built of stone, and it means that literally. The old houses climbing the slopes below the castle are made of grey limestone, roofed with heavy slabs of the same stone, and tall and narrow like small fortresses, with the lower floors used for storage and cisterns and the living quarters above. The town grew under Ottoman rule, and its architecture, preserved as a museum town in the communist era, earned it a place on the UNESCO list in 2005, with Berat added in 2008. The castle, one of the largest in the Balkans, holds a collection of artillery, a captured American aircraft from the Cold War, and a prison with a grim history.
Two famous names came from here. Enver Hoxha, the dictator who ruled Albania from the end of the Second World War until his death in 1985, was born in the town, and so was Ismail Kadare, the country's greatest writer, whose novel Chronicle in Stone tells of a childhood in Gjirokastër during the war. Under Hoxha, Albania became one of the most isolated countries on earth, and the hills around the town are still dotted with concrete bunkers. A Cold War tunnel built beneath the town can now be visited.
The Drino valley, below the town, is a broad green plain flanked by mountains, and the main road through it, part of the route from the Greek border at Kakavia toward Tepelenë and Vlorë, is fairly fast and in decent condition. The road over the hills toward Sarandë and the coast is better for riders, with curves, climbs and views back over the valley. Inside the old town, the streets are steep and paved with slippery cobbles, often polished smooth, and some are barely wide enough for a car. Take care, especially when wet, and consider parking below the bazaar and walking up.
Gjirokastër has fuel stations along the main road in the new town, and plenty of cafés, guesthouses and restaurants in the old quarter. The local speciality is qifqi, rice balls with herbs and egg, fried in a special pan; you will also find grilled lamb and the excellent local cheese. Walk up through the old bazaar to the castle in the late afternoon, then come back down as the lights come on in the stone houses. It is one of the most atmospheric towns in the Balkans.