Poliçan is an unglamorous town in the hills south-east of Berat, and it is the sort of place that rewards a bike rider more than a sightseer. It grew in the communist period around an industrial plant, a factory complex built for the production of ammunition and other metalwork, and the apartment blocks and wide streets still show that planned past. Today the plant is mostly a shadow of what it was, and the town of roughly ten thousand people lives on small business, remittances and the traffic of people heading for the Osum valley.
The setting is the real attraction. Poliçan lies on the edge of the Osum river basin, where the land begins to rise toward the mountains of Çorovodë and Skrapar. Rounded hills covered in oak, scrub and terraced fields roll away in every direction, and in spring the slopes are a vivid green, with poppies in the fields. In the distance you can pick out the long lines of higher ranges, and the road toward Çorovodë follows the Osum upstream, through increasingly dramatic terrain, toward the famous Osum Canyon.
The Osum canyon loop is one of the more rewarding days in southern Albania. From Poliçan the road runs through hills and small villages, with long bends, climbing sections and sudden views down to the river, and although the surface has been improved in places, it can still be broken and patchy. Expect trucks, farm vehicles and loose animals, and take care on blind corners. Heat and dust in summer are considerable, and the best weather is in spring and autumn, when the air is clear and the river runs full.
Poliçan has fuel stations, small supermarkets and a handful of cafés, so it is a practical place to stop before going deeper into the hills. Berat, about sixteen kilometres north, is the larger town, famous for its white Ottoman houses stacked on the hillside and known as the city of a thousand windows, and it makes a good place to stay if you want more choice. In Poliçan itself, order coffee, drink water, check your tyres, and enjoy having the road almost to yourself.