On my way to the south on the coast, my next destination after Durres was Vlora. There are some conflicting info about this, but according to one designation, this is the point where the Adriatic and the Ionian seas meet.
Vlora is the perfect example of how far the subjective and the objective experience can be. Objectively, not much is here. There is a beach south of the city, there is a nice promenade at the seaside, as well as a few nice restaurants. But subjectively, I had a short deadline coming up and I needed a place to hunker down and do some work, and Vlora was the perfect place for it. It was also a rare occassion when I had company as a Polish girl was doing the same. After breakfast, we cleaned the kitchen table and it was a workspace from then on. For that time felt like a godsend.
As in everywhere in Albania, the buses are the way to go. I saw railway tracks and I've heard there is a train service serving this place, but I've heard it's no a viable option. Just use the buses.
From Tirana, there are buses going to Vlore all day, just check the timetable at the station. The bus dropped me off at a place that looked like a bus station. It's still a long walk from the sea, but there are some local buses going to places.
But when I left Vlora for Himara, the bus left not from the station but a bit norther in front of a Big Market (which usually acts as bus stops). I had some misfortune then, as I had to wait more than 2 hours for the next furgon to leave, but it seemed like it was going according to a timetable.
There are a few beaches accessible from the city, but a nice one is on the southern part. It is quite far, but there is a bus, if my memory serves me right, it's the green one with the sign "Uji i Ftohte". But even that did not go all the way to the beach just to a walkable distance from that.
There is a tunnel you need to go through, then you'll reach the beach in no time. The way back is similar, but this time any bus that goes north will do.
