I visited this WHS in Spring 2022. This ancient port city is one of the most visited cultural sites of the country, being very close to the modern ferry port city of Sarande. Thanks to the Italian Archaeological Mission, who worked here for nearly 10 years in the 1920s-30s, Butrint offers today a remarkable journey through the ages of history, dating back to the 8th century B.C. The old city retains a unique testimony of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman cultures and civilizations.

The historical site of Butrint lies in the Butrint National Park which also includes "natural monuments" such as Ksamil's Islands, Butrint's Forest, Vivari's Channel, Bufi Lake and Mulleri Salted Springs (and some excellent birdwatching spots too). While approaching Butrint from Sarande, you'll be able to spot some of the Venetian/Ottoman fortifications from above and after parking near the entrance (or also by car if you want), you can catch a fun little barge to explore one of the triangular fortifications across the channel to the Vrina plains.

After paying the entrance ticket, the first thing you'll see is a 15th-16th Venetian tower and from there you can visit most of the different sites in a clockwise or anticlockwise loop. The vast majority tend to visit in a clockwise fashion, so we decided to visit in an anticlockwise fashion and had the sites mostly for ourselves for most of the time of our visit. Also, this way we started mainly with scattered ruins in a pretty natural environment, proceeded along the fortifications and walls and ended with the Hellenistic-Roman cluster just a few metres away from the entrance. So, after the Venetian tower, we explored a 5th century Roman civic house transformed into the Triconch palace with a triangular dining room and nice views of the surrounding waters. A large part of Butrint is submerged or partly flooded for most of the year, so wooden boardwalks have been placed to still be able to visit the site all year round.

Next, we visited the gymnasium, perhaps a pagan shrine which was later transformed into a church, and the splendid early 6th century baptistery with lots of columns and an incredible mosaic floor. Unfortunately, for most of the year, the mosaic floor is covered with gravel (a normal practice in Albania which we also experienced in Lin, Lake Ohrid). The only way to get a glimpse of some of mosaic is to visit with a guide or wait for some tourists to come along with a guide who most of the time grab a shovel, hidden away neatly nearby, remove some of the gravel till they reach the canvas beneath, and uncover a small part of the mosaic for a quick peek.

After that, we proceeded to a 2nd century fountain dedicated to the Nymphs and the remains of the Great Basilica of the early Christian period built in the 6th century, almost up to roof height. On the western piers by the church's apse one can notice marks made by the masons who erected it, a series of crosses cut into the grouting mortar to ward off the evil eye. After visiting the Great Basilica, we started venturing slightly uphill along the city walls till we reached the Lake Gate, a fine corbelled 4th century Hellenistic gateway, and further on the famous Lion's Gate reconstructed in the Medieval period (although at first glance, the carved embossed lion looks more like a wild boar!). There's also the weathered sacred well of Junia Rufina down some steps, where there is a painting of two peacocks and a cup on the back wall. The right hand side faded peacock is barely visible near the niche. After those two gateways, we reached the acropolis, set on top of a hill with traces of early use dating back to the 8th century. Here there is also a 14th-16th century Venetian castle reconstructed in the 1930s and a small museum of the ancient city of Butrint (although the best artefacts can be seen in the National Archaeological Museum in Tirana).

Last but certainly not least, we headed down to the agora/forum, the civic and commercial epicentre of the city, where there is a wall made up of large blocks of stone with inscriptions, 2nd century Roman baths or thermae, the 3rd century theatre which was later arranged according to the Roman style and equipped with a Roman scene, and a chapel (4th century B.C.) dedicated to Asclepius. Here the flooded areas are home to plenty of small fish, turtles and frogs. This core area is pretty intact and gives a very good idea of the public centre of Butrint compared to the sacred area.

All in all, this WHS is probably the best ancient historical site in Albania, perhaps together with the Apollonia tentative WHS. If you have a car, I would definitely recommend having lunch or dinner at the nearby Mussel House. There was no UNESCO WHS plaque when I visited Butrint, except a huge information board of Butrint and Butrint National Park, both (wrongly) marked as a UNESCO WHS site.