Secret Europe: The dreamy coastal gem tourists haven't discovered - yet

The world is waking up to the charms of this new hotspot on the Ionian Sea.

It's party time on the Albanian Riviera. Colourful beach clubs stretch along the sand as far as the eye can see, a dazzle of umbrella-shaded sun loungers, slouchy bean bags and thatch-roofed bars. As the sun dips into the ocean, hundreds of twinkling fires are lit in braziers along the beach. The flames seem to dance in time with the pulse-raising beats of DJs as the night cranks into gear.

Welcome to Dhermi, the crucible of a country on the cusp of change.

It was a tantalising line on social media - "the Bali of Europe" - that did it. My Australian family's quest for a southern European beach holiday in a place magically off the mass tourism radar had seemed doomed. And then the coastal gem of Dhermi went viral thanks to the image-savvy young folk telegraphing its beauty to the world.

In this instance, the travel unicorn is not a myth. Sipping a crisp Peja beer, watching the kids splash in the hyper-realistically blue waves of the Ionian Sea, feels light years removed from Albania's recent past as the hermit of Europe under the harsh regime of Stalin-styled dictator Enver Hoxha.

Nestled between Greece and Croatia, the mountainous country on the Balkan peninsula has been shyly opening up since the 1990s. In terms of tourism, it's still in the courtship stage. Visitors are yet to go steady with its lively capital Tirana, hillside villages, alpine parks, and glorious swathe of Adriatic and Ionian coastline. Throw in other Riviera region wonders like the bubbling turquoise waters of the Blue Eye spring and the UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site of Butrint and I'm calling it a win for the early adopters.

Cheap flights arrive in the capital Tirana each day from Athens and other nearby capitals, but we hop across over the water from Corfu. Just 35 minutes on the hydrofoil deposits us in Saranda, the unofficial capital of the south-western coastline's Albanian Riviera, where high-rises line the waterfront esplanade and things immediately seem to hail from a different era, including the plumes of cigarette smoke wafting from cafes (anti-smoking campaigns seem like a quaint notion here) and a freewheeling approach to road rules.

The coastal road from Saranda to Dhermi is only 70 kilometres long but is likely to take more than two hours, depending on your appetite for hair-pin bends and the number of tractors puttering between villages. Winding above pristine yet amazingly deserted beaches, it passes timeless whitewashed towns and dozens of the mushroom-domed concrete bunkers the famously paranoid Hoxha built to protect against invasion.

The township of Dhermi was settled more than 500 years ago by Ottomans who, like Hoxha, strategically prioritised the high ground over the sea. Stacked along the thigh-burning clifftop gradients, the old town is a classic Balkan vision of terracotta-roofed white houses and dozens of churches (one for every 20 residents, they say), including the pretty Church of Saint Spyridon with its sky blue cupola.

It makes for a gorgeous, sky-blocking backdrop to the beach, where the "new" Dhermi of sleek modern hotels, restaurants and bars has sprung up along a three-kilometre promenade.

Practically lapped by the waves, the La Brisa Boutique Hotel hits its crowd-pleasing KPIs with sleek modern suites - ours has a balcony overlooking the ocean - and a rooftop pool that rivals the sea in dazzle factor. Down on the beach, we flit between bars, each dreamier than the last, with canopied day beds, swings and hammocks. It's like 1970s Bali and 1980s Ibiza fell in love and made the perfect beach destination.

Seafood dominates the restaurants found along the promenade: crackingly fresh tuna carpaccio and chargrilled sea bass; some great Japanese sushi even makes an appearance. Prices are notably more wallet-friendly than Greece, although it's a rookie error to assume everything is going to be thrillingly cheap (a decimal place mix-up when ordering lobster at La Brisa's upmarket beach bar is a lesson painfully learned).

The array of choice keeps our family of four happy, but it would be a shame to miss the legendarily hearty, protein-centric Balkan fare. It makes the perfect excuse to explore the old town before dinner at the atmospheric taverna Sofia, where spicy sujuk sausages, fried potatoes and tarator (a thick tahini-based sauce that goes with everything) rule the menu and cash (the Albanian lek) remains king.

There are more viral travel moments waiting in the Dhermi neighbourhood. Sandwiched between steep cliffs at the mouth of a deep and brooding canyon eight kilometres away, Gjipe beach is having its moment in the social media sun. There's a catch, however: the 45-minute walk in on a treacherously rocky path. Like the Albanian roads, it's slow going, compounded by the kids' litany of complaints (too hot, too steep, too far from Pepsi Max). It's hard not to look enviously at the clever folk puttering around the headland by boat. But finally planting foot on sand makes the pain worth it. It's the wild west answer to Dhermi beach, with a few tumbledown bars and groups of youngsters camping out in an Albanian version of Alex Garland's The Beach. Oh, to be in my 20s again (sorry, kids).

Getting there: Albania's capital, Tirana, is serviced by multiple flights daily from major European cities, while Saranda is easily reached by hydrofoil from Corfu. An international airport is set to open in Vlora (50 kilometres from Dhermi) next March.

Staying there: The waterfront Hotel La Brisa has direct beach access and a daily breakfast buffet. Rooms start from $115 in the low season and $325 in the high season. labrisa.al

Getting around: Dhermi is 3.5 hours' drive south from Tirana, and about two hours north-west from Saranda. Public buses are plentiful but a hire car is a good idea.

Explore more: albania.al

The writer travelled at her own expense.