The forty-five-minute cliffside walking trail to Albania’s Gjipe beach starts from beside the thick stone walls of the Saint Theodore Monastery. The religious start is appropriate: as soon as you set eyes on this small, white-pebble beach, set below cliffs at the mouth of a wooded gorge, you’ll think you’re in Mediterranean beach heaven. The atmosphere at Gjipe remains low-key and development mercifully limited. There’s a seasonal beach café and, a short way up into the gorge, a basic camping area. Come in June or September and you might have it all to yourself.
