Butrint National Park sits 18 km south of Saranda at the dead end of the SH81, reached in about 25 minutes through Ksamil on a flat, paved coastal road. The two pressure points for self-drivers are parking and the Vivari Channel. The two free lots by the entrance hold only about 20 to 25 cars and fill by 10:00 in summer, with queues stretching back a kilometre; arrive before 10:00 or after 16:00. When the lot is full, the local trick is the cable ferry: drive the car across the 60-metre channel for 7 euros, park on the south bank, and walk back across for free, since pedestrians cross at no charge. The main ruins are entirely on the north bank, the same side as the car park, so the ferry is never needed to see Butrint itself. Ali Pasha's Castle, on an island at the channel mouth about 3 km west, is reached only by a fisherman's boat (about 10 euros per person), not the ferry. Official 2026 tickets from butrint.al are 1,000 ALL (about 10 euros) for adults, 500 ALL for children 12 to 18, and free for under-12s; hours run 08:30 to 20:00 in summer and 09:00 to 17:30 in winter. Entry is free for everyone on the last Sunday of every month plus six heritage dates. Drivers should watch the abrupt 80 to 40 km/h speed-limit drops policed by mobile radar, set Ksamil as a waypoint so Google Maps does not misroute inland, and under Albanian Road Code Article 187 must never move the car or leave the scene after an injury accident.