Staring at big blue eyes can be almost hypnotic, right? How about if they are surrounded by stunning nature? Yep, even better... even if it's not the kind of eyes you're thinking about!
This "eye" is a natural attraction visited by tons of tourists each year in the south of Albania, and it's definitely worth the visit! It's a natural spring with clear waters and the blue tonality from where it erupts from the ground gave it its name. Actually, there's another blue eye in the north of the country, but this post is about the blue eye in the south, near Sarande, one of the main southern cities.
The water flows from the ground at over 18000 liters per second!! You can even see the bubling in the water surface. It is also the source of a river called Bistrice. On top of it all, the natural entourage is beautiful as well, and you can even add a nature trail to the visit; plenty of reasons not to miss it!
The spring can be easily reached from Sarande, and although I had my own car, there are a lot of public transportation and organized tours. I tried to go early in the day, since I was visiting in peak tourist season.
There'a ample place to park, and the view was already nice from the parking lot. From here, it's a short walk to the ticket booth. Of course, if you're a lazy ass, you can already rent electric scooters from this location.
The ticket is pretty inexpensive, 50 leke, which is around 0,5€.
From the ticket booth, there are several ways to reach the blue eye: for the lazy asses, apart from the scooters, you can also hop on a little train.
For the ones that like to walk and enjoy the view, you can do it in two ways: follow the road, or take a more adventurous route!
I honestly can't imagine how would anyone skip these views, not being able to enjoy them at will just to be seated for a couple kms (unless you have mobility issues)... but I digress. After you pass the small bridge and marvel at the clear water and mountains, you have the option of continuing to walk along the road, or go on a trail:
And this came as a surprise to me, because I had read that you could go on the more adventurous route, but on the way back, I saw nothing about a trail starting here! And although it was what I wanted to do, I ended up following the road, for a valid reason: I had no idea how long the trail would last, and since I hadn't arrived as early as I would have wanted, I didn't want to risk the arrival of the tours with hordes of people. So, left the trail for later and followed along the paved road.
The view is not as great as one would get in the nature, but still you have great glimpses of what you'll find.
Shortly before you arrive at the main place, there's a really well localized restaurant, and a place to rent kayaks.
And after crosssing a tiny bridge and a few more steps... there it is!
There's a platform from where you can look at the spring from straight above, and find for yourself why is it called the blue eye. It's forbidden to swim, but of course there are always some assholes that decide to go in.
Just look at how awesome this place is:
And in case you're wondering, yes, it's deep! According to what I read, the maximum depth divers were able to go was 50 meters, and couldn't go further because of the insane water pressure!
Nearby there's a small souvenir shop, and also a hotel in the vicinities, in case you want a secluded stay!
Now, I wanted to experience the trails I read about, and the nice lady at the shop pointed me in the right direction: straight front, after the viewing platform!
You really can't miss it.There were a few people coming, and off I went in the opposite direction.
I later realized basically NO ONE uses the trail! The few people I saw coming, were people that walk a little bit, and then turn back. I found only 1 people doing the trail as I did! And the views are amazing; not only you are surrounded by trees and shade, you follow very near the water, providing glimple after glimpse of insane beauty. Want some examples?
During most of the trail you can see water peaking from the trees.
There's no mistake to be made, since there is only one trail; there's a small intersection where you can have some doubts, but the smaller road just takes you to a dead end close to water, so it's not exactly a problem. It's this one below, and if you're going back, just turn left!
Are you convinced to do the trail yet? ;)
It doesn't take that long, and for anyone that enjoys nature hikes it's a no brainer. I was sorry not to go on the other trail at the beginning, since it's likely kind of circular trail where you go on one side of the water, reach the blue eye, and come back on this side... but now if I visit a second time I'll know what to choose, and I leave the information here so in case you never visit and you go, now you know your options!
From this point you start to see some civilization; the trail is not that greatly indicated here, but it's easy to find the righ one. Again, if you're coming back, this is what you should find:
Following this path will lead you to a car park near the ticket booth, passing by some bee hives.
This trail entrance is not indicated. Fun fact, you could simply skip the ticket booth, use the bee hives as an orientation point, follow straight to the trail from here and do the opposite route that I did - but for what I've been told, people from the park will follow you and say you can't go that way! Doubt they try and stop you if you buy the ticket first and go, but since now I know there's another trail past the entrance, if you want to go full nature mode, doing this trail for last and do the trail at the entrance after the bridge seems the most logical approach.
Whichever way you choose to visit... put the Blue Eye in your travel plans if you visit!
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