Përmet
Gjirokastër County, Albania · 40°14′09″N 20°21′06″E
A slow town on the Vjosa, Europe's last big wild river, with a limestone outcrop in the middle of town and Ottoman bath springs 15 minutes away.
Përmet is known in Albania for its roses, gliko fruit preserves and raki, and almost nowhere else. The town sits on the left bank of the Vjosa at the foot of the Dhëmbel range, with the Guri i Qytetit, a lone rock the size of an apartment block, rising from the riverside promenade.
The Vjosa was declared Europe's first wild river national park in 2023, and Përmet is the natural base for it. The Bënjë thermal pools, beneath a single-arch Ottoman bridge on the Lengarica canyon, are the best-known excursion and still free.
Why it stays quiet
Southern Albania's traffic goes to the coast and to Gjirokastër. Përmet is on the road to nowhere in particular and the town has fewer than 10,000 people; even in August it is calm.
Where it is
Before you go
Rafting on the Vjosa runs April to June. Bënjë gets busy at weekends; go on a weekday morning. Cash economy.
Updated 2026-09-06 · Suggest a correction
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