Family-run bed and breakfast in central Berat, steps from Saint Demetrius Cathedral, with air-conditioned family rooms, a Mediterranean restaurant, a terrace and free on-site parking.
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Piccolo Grande Amore is a small bed and breakfast on Rruga Rilindja, roughly a hundred metres from Saint Demetrius Cathedral and inside the historic core of Berat, the UNESCO-listed “city of a thousand windows”. Guests rate it 9.0 across 302 reviews, and the location scores an outstanding 9.6; couples in particular give it 9.6 as well.
The three room types are all air-conditioned, soundproofed and non-smoking, with a private bathroom holding a bath and a shower, a seating area, a wardrobe and a flat-screen TV. Two of them sleep four, which makes this a practical base for families travelling together rather than a couples-only address.
The restaurant serves Mediterranean cooking with halal, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options, and breakfast runs from Italian to halal and gluten-free, with pancakes, cheeses and fruit. There is also a bar, a snack bar, a shared lounge, a minimarket and a terrace with outdoor furniture. The front desk is staffed around the clock, a concierge and a tour desk can arrange trips, and parking on site is free.
Piccolo Grande Amore has three room types, and all of them share the same core: air conditioning, soundproof walls, a private bathroom with a bath and a shower, and heating for the cooler months. Two categories sleep four and one sleeps three, so the whole range is built around families and small groups rather than solo travellers. The Quadruple Room is the largest at 25 m² and adds a seating area, a wardrobe and a flat-screen TV; the Triple Room, at 18 m², is the compact option for three. Cots are not offered free of charge, so check capacity before booking.
For a small bed and breakfast, Piccolo Grande Amore keeps a lot going. The restaurant cooks Mediterranean food with halal, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options, and there is a bar, a snack bar, a drinks vending machine and a minimarket on site. The terrace has outdoor furniture, and inside there is a shared lounge with a TV and live sport on the screen. The front desk is open 24 hours and handles express check-in and check-out, concierge service, a tour desk, car hire and an on-site cash machine. Every room is air-conditioned, heated, soundproofed and non-smoking. Free WiFi covers the property, though at 8.3 it is the lowest-rated feature.
Piccolo Grande Amore sits on Rruga Rilindja, about a hundred metres from Saint Demetrius Cathedral, inside the historic core rather than the newer districts spreading north. Buses from Tirana leave the capital's terminal roughly every thirty to forty minutes from early morning until late afternoon; the ride covers around 90 km in a little over two hours and costs in the region of 500 lek, and there are regular connections from Vlora, Saranda and Gjirokastër too. Berat's bus station is about three kilometres north of the old town, so plan on a short taxi ride rather than walking with luggage. The nearest airport is Vlora International, roughly 67 km by road, while Tirana's Mother Teresa airport is around 118 km away and remains the usual arrival point. Drivers have it easier here than in most Albanian old towns, because parking on site is free.
Berat has been UNESCO-listed since 2008 and almost everything worth seeing is walkable. Start with the castle, Kala: still a lived-in quarter of stone lanes, small Byzantine churches and family guesthouses, reached by a fifteen to thirty minute climb on cobbles, free to enter, with the best views over the Osum valley. Inside the walls, the Onufri National Iconographic Museum occupies the Cathedral of the Dormition of St Mary and holds the sixteenth-century icons that made the painter's name; tickets are about 400 lek. Below the castle lies Mangalem, the postcard quarter of tiered white Ottoman houses whose stacked windows earned Berat the name city of a thousand windows. Cross the Ottoman-era Gorica bridge to the quieter twin quarter and its frescoed churches. Further out, the Osum Canyon is roughly 50 km southeast, about an hour and a half by road and at its best in spring when meltwater allows rafting. Come between April and June or in September and October; July and August are hot and crowded, and the castle is worth avoiding at weekends.
