Porto Palermo is a bay on the Albanian Riviera that looks like a film set, with a small castle on a rocky peninsula that pokes into clear blue water. The castle, a compact triangular fortress, was built in the early nineteenth century by Ali Pasha of Tepelena, the Ottoman governor who ruled much of southern Albania and northern Greece with his own mix of ambition and cruelty. The walls are thick, and the stone is the colour of honey, and from the causeway the fortress seems to float in the sea. Inside, the courtyard is bare but atmospheric.
The bay has a darker twentieth-century past. During the communist era, the harbour was a closed military zone, and a secret submarine base was built in tunnels in the hillside, first for the Soviet Union and later for China. The remains of the base are still visible on the shore, and a trace of that secretive time lingers in the empty buildings. Today, the peninsula is quiet, and the beach just beyond the castle is a place for a swim or a coffee.
The ride along the coast is the reason to come. The SH8 road runs south from Vlorë over the Llogara Pass, which is a steep climb through pine forest, then drops down the coast toward Himarë, with big views of the Ionian Sea and the Greek island of Corfu on a clear day. It is a spectacular road, with bends, drops and views at every turn, and the surface is usually good, though patchy in places. Traffic can be heavy in summer, with buses, minivans and some drivers who overtake in unlikely places, so keep your distance and ride defensively. Livestock sometimes wander onto the road, and rockfall is not unknown.
The villages along the coast have a strongly Greek feel, as this is a region where many ethnic Greeks live, and the food is a mixture of Albanian and Greek, with grilled fish, olives, goat's cheese and good local wine. Himarë, six kilometres to the north, has the nearest proper services, with fuel, restaurants and a long beach. Sarandë, further south, is larger, with a port and a wide choice of restaurants.
Summer is hot and busy, with the coast crowded in July and August. May, June and September are better, with warm seas and less traffic.