Saranda's draw is the scenery around it rather than anything in town. The 45-minute drive south takes you to Butrint, one of the most complete ancient cities left in the Balkans — Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian layers wrapped in lagoon and forest. The Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër), 25 km inland, is a natural spring where water rises from an apparently bottomless hole in shades of deep turquoise. The Lekursi Castle on the hill above town gives the best view over the bay at sunset, and there's a restaurant inside if you want to stay for dinner.