I recently visited my 21st country, Albania. A balkan country in southeast Europe at the coast of the Adriatic & Ionian sea, which are parts of the Mediterranean Sea.
I focused mainly in southern Albania. Though northern Albania is also worth visiting. There are really good places to hike & trek in the north. Albania has diverse geography with alpine mountains in the north, hills in the central region and amazing beaches in the south. Albania shares the border with Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia & Greece.
WHY?
VISA Requirement for Indian:
Day 1: Landed to Tirana & Overnight Stay
We landed at Tirana Airport at 9.30PM. It’s a small airport and took less than 30 min to come out post immigration.
It was to my surprise one guy was holding a banner with my name. When I checked, he was the rental agency executive from where I booked the car. He drove me to his office (5 min away) and I did all the formalities for my rental car.
We had booked a 4x4 Audi Q5 Diesel. It was recommended in some blogs to get 4x4. But in my observation you can manage with a normal car. Roads are good in Albania.
After I took the car, I came back to Airport to receive one of my friends who was joining me on this trip. I got a Vodafone SIM card at Airport while waiting for him. Once he arrived, we had dinner at KFC (no more options post 11 PM) & drove to a nearby hotel for a night stay.
Day 2: Pogradec, Korce & Rehove
Ideally, this was the first day of our trip. We checked-out and went to the gas station to refuel our car. Mostly in Albania, you will get a car empty to empty unlike other european countries full to full fuel at return.
We started to drive to our first location, Lake Ohrid, the deepest and oldest lake in Europe. It is an UNESCO world heritage site at the border of North Macedonia & Albania
.
We took a break at Elbasan for breakfast and had local Albanian breakfast followed by Coffee. We headed to Lake Ohrid city, Pogradec. We spent some time there at Lake and went for Lunch at ‘Taverna KOKO’ (Taverna means restaurant in Albanian). The place is famous for freshwater fish but has many vegetarian options as well.
After lunch, we started our journey to the city of Korce. It is an old Albanian city & rich with history. We took a walking guided tour there and spent some time there. It was windy weather and we all were tired, so we decided to go to the airbnb.
We moved to a mountain village, Rehove where we booked our Airbnb Bujtina Cakuli. It was an outstanding property in a remote village with a mountain view which is the border between Greece. The hosts were so welcoming. They already started a bonfire inside the hall area. We find most places in Albania still use wood to make the house warm. She offered Raki (local albanian drink) which she prepared from her own farm’s plum. We observed offering Raki is the way to welcome culture in Albania. She asked our preference and prepared dinner for us. It was local Albanian food. The food was so fresh and tasty. We all loved dinner after a long day.
Next morning, they offered us breakfast as well. Most of the fruits & vegetables used are from their own farm. I like their farm to table concept.
Lake Ohrid & Korce
Day 3: Benje bath & Nivica
After the homemade breakfast with fresh hot plum juice we started our day. The breakfast has various fruit pickles & Olives. Albania is among leading producers of Olives and the culture of fruit pickling is there in the entire region.
Before we started driving to our next destination we took a short tour to the village. Our host at Airbnb showed us the whole village. She took us to one of her friend’s houses, and aunty was so welcoming. She offered us food but we already had our breakfast. I felt in general Albanians are so welcoming. The village has 100-150 people but 60-70 are only staying regularly. Most of them are old aged. The village serves as a base camp for trekkers who planned to trek Grammos Mountain.
After the village tour, we checked-out and went to Benje. Benje has natural geo-thermal baths. The weather turned out not so friendly but we still decided to take a bath. We spent 30 mins in the thermal pool. The water temperature was around 20-25 degrees and the outside temperature was 10 degrees. After the bath it was super cold. We utilized the nearby bonfire by some other group and started to the next destination.
The drive from Benje to Nivica was scenic. It was raining and the hill road emerged to be more beautiful. We took a break in between for tea. We all had mountain tea (local albanian tea between black tea & green tea). We reached to Nivice and stayed at Bujtina Mbi Kanion. The b&b was at the edge of the canyon. The reason to stay here is to visit the canyon and see the waterfall.The place was so remote and the only option to have dinner was from the same guesthouse we were staying at. They serve local Albanian food. It was pretty good.
Bujtina Cakuli
Day 4: Sarande & Ksamil
We had breakfast at the same guesthouse. Took a small hike to the other side of the canyon and enjoyed multiple viewpoints. Then we started for the most famous tourist destination of Albania- Sarande.
We decided to stay at Ksamil, which is 20 min away from Sarande. We drove to Sarande and then to Ksamil. Before reaching our hotel we visited Mirror beach on the way. I gave an OMG reaction as there were four shades of blue water clearly visible.
We checked-in at the hotel near the beach. This stay was not as expected. We read good reviews for the hotel but it was not up to the mark. Nevertheless, we got fresh-up and went to ‘Guvat Bar Restorant’ for lunch. The restaurant has an amazing view and at the cliff to the view of the Adriatic Sea. This place was costly with Albanian standards. I guess they are charging for good food as well as the ambience. This was the costliest meal we had in Albania.
After lunch we spend some time at the nearby beach. The weather was sunny and helped us to enjoy the beach. Later, we came back to the hotel and relaxed. None of us was so hungry for dinner, so we decided to have lite dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Mirror Beach
Guvat Bar & Restorant
Day 5: Butrint, Gjirokaster & Dhermi
We started early and went to UNESCO heritage ‘Butrint Archaeological Park’. It was an old venetian city ruins. We spent a couple of hours there and headed to Gjirokaster. On the way we stopped by Sarande for late breakfast at an Italian restaurant ‘Moma Pasta Fresca’. The place was worth visiting. Apart from Greece, Albania has Italian influence in some parts. Many Albanians had moved to Italy in the past. Earlier they used to learn Italian as one of their subjects but now it has been replaced by German considering the job market is more in German speaking countries.
After a stunning breakfast, we reached Gjirokaster. We had booked a guided walking tour at Gjirokaster. Gjirokaster town is an UNESCO heritage site. It is a very lovely city. We spent 2.5 hours walking around the city, castle and old houses. Our guide explained about the journey of the city in the past. We also took a tour of ‘Skenduli House’ which was built 300 yrs ago, the owner explained in detail about the house. It was a piece of engineering 300 years ago.
Now we all were hungry and stopped by at ‘Mapo Restaurant’. This was the best Albanian food we had in the entire trip.
We all were tired and decided to reach our hotel. Unlike yesterday, this time the place was surprisingly good. We stayed at La Brisa Boutique Hotel. I will recommend staying at this beachfront property even for your entire trip. The hotel is new in the area and will draw your attention by its design and decoration. It's a meaningful Boutique hotel. It has a private beach area, beach restaurant and beach podium as well to relax. The hotel has a gym, pool & spa on the 4th floor. The spa rate is reasonable. The best part was the pool in the open air at the edge of the wall facing the sea. The pool was a perfect example of Infinity Pool. We spent some time at the beach area and more on the balcony as the view was breathtaking and the weather was windy.
Gjirokaster
Day 6: Vlore & Berat
We had breakfast at the hotel and started after checking out to Berat. Berat known as “City of thousand windows” is again an UNESCO heritage site. On the way to Berat we stopped by at Kalaja restaurant for coffee. The restaurant is at the mountain cliff with sea view. I fell in love with the location. It’s a part of Hotel Liro which is also recommended to stay in the Vlore area for its sea facing balcony and view.
We reached Berat in the afternoon and by looking at it, we realized it deserves to be a heritage site. We already shortlisted ‘Homemade Food Lili’ but the restaurant was closed on Sunday. Alternatively, we had our lunch at ‘Friendly House’.
After lunch we rushed to a walking tour to learn a bit about the culture & history of the city. We climbed to the castle of Berat. It was worth a walk post heavy lunch. After our tour we checked into an old Heritage home Villa Athina built in 1741 and now converted to a homestay. This house is inside the castle. It was a really good experience staying at Heritage home.
We decided to have Pizza for dinner and went to ‘Proper Pizza’ , a popular chain in Albania. It was worth trying once. The base of the pizza was different with sesame on the side.
Cafe at Vlore
Berat
Day 7: Kruje & Return
Today was our last day in Albania. We started to drive from Berat to Tirana Airport. We had a quick breakfast on the way and headed toward ‘Kruje Bazar’. It was an old center for trade between the 17th to 19th century during Skanderbeg (a warrior during the Ottoman empire) era.
We did some souvenir shopping and my friend bought a woolen shoe (famous in Albania but you can wear it inside the house only).
After spending 1-2 hours at Kurje bazar we started towards Airport and had our lunch at ‘Garden Organic Restaurant’ at Kurje town. The location of the restaurant was very good and has a concept of farm to table. They bring all vegetables/fruits from their own farm.
It was getting late for us to reach the airport, I was driving at maximum allowed speed. One car ahead of me was so slow and I overtook him. Unfortunately, it wasn't allowed and the police were waiting for us. They stopped us and asked for all the documents of the car and driving license. She told me I overtaken the car which wasn’t allowed. I said sorry and she gave me a warning and let us go. Police are friendly in Albania, which we were aware of. Local Albanians drive aggressively. There are no super strict rules but it is better to follow rules. I made only one mistake knowingly.
Finally, we reached the car agency and returned the car. The guy offered us a ride till Airport though it was 5 min walking and dropped us to the departure terminal. I had my flight first and my friend had to wait for 2 hours for their flight. I did check-in and boarded the return flight.
Kurje Bazar Garden Organic Restaurant
Recommendation:
I highly recommend visiting Albania. The country has wonderful beaches. It has beautiful small UNESCO heritage towns. It’s much cheaper compared to other European countries. The country is safe and people are helpful. They believe the guest is a part of the family (Unlike we Indians believe the guest is a form of God).
Must visit places are Sarande, Ksamil, Gjirokaster, Berat & Lake Ohrid.
Fly to Tirana and plan your itinerary. If you are holding a schengen visa you can visit Corfu (Greek Island) from Sarande. It takes 30 min only. To note that the time difference is 1 hour between Albania and Greece. Alternatively, you can fly to Corfu and later come to Sarande after spending a couple of days in Corfu. Corfu is more famous and has all luxury properties.
A bit of history about Albania. Most notable personality of Albania was Mother Teresa. Albania was under the ottoman empire for almost 500 years. But once the Ottomans left the country, it got trapped into communist era. The dictator ‘Enver Hoxha’ ruled the country for almost 50 years. The situation of Albania was like today’s North Korea. The country got democratic party in 1991 and started to remap. During communist era practicing religion was banned so today also a lot more people do not practice religion.
A fact the non resident Albanina’s are more than resident Albanian. On paper the population is 2.8 M but reality is not more than 1.8M. Many Albanian moved out of the country for work and due to the impact of communist era.
In the last few years, the country has been boosting its tourism. They generated a good economy from tourism in the last few years and mainly in 2022. The country is making itself ready to be a part of the European Union. Major EU countries are supporting Albania in infrastructure.
You can get a cheaper flight Wizz Air from Dubai & Abu Dhabi. Flying to the UAE is cheaper from India. You can even add Albania in your Europe trip if you are already visiting some European country. Albania is much cheaper. It can be a good destination for relaxing, water activities and luxury. I will definitely visit Albania again but this time as a more leisure trip.
I believe the best itinerary you can make for a place is on the second visit. 🙂
If you want to enjoy the great Mediterranean beaches by spending less, you must visit Albania.
If you want good hospitality in Europe, you must visit Albania.
If you want to visit the Balkans, you must visit Albania.
If you need any help planning your Albania trip, feel free to write to me on twitter @mrityoh.
I focused mainly in southern Albania. Though northern Albania is also worth visiting. There are really good places to hike & trek in the north. Albania has diverse geography with alpine mountains in the north, hills in the central region and amazing beaches in the south. Albania shares the border with Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia & Greece.
WHY?
- It is much cheaper compared to the rest of Europe.
- You can explore beaches and get the vibes of Greece.
- Good food.
- Good hospitality.
- Read below for better understanding.
- Summer is a good time between Mid May to Mid Sep.
- Best & less crowded in Mid April - Mid May and Mid Sep to Mid Oct.
- Fly to Tirana (Capital City)
- Fly to Corfu (Greece Island) and ferry to Saranda (Beach city in Albania)
- Albanian Lek (ALL) [1 Euro = ~115 ALL]
- Euro is widely accepted.
- Country is cash driven. Better to have some cash.
- Use CREDINS BANK to withdraw cash with no fee.
- We paid 50% by card and 50% in cash.
VISA Requirement for Indian:
- You can apply e-visa (takes 2 weeks)
- But you can go visa free if you have a visa from UK, Schengen or USA.
Day 1: Landed to Tirana & Overnight Stay
We landed at Tirana Airport at 9.30PM. It’s a small airport and took less than 30 min to come out post immigration.
It was to my surprise one guy was holding a banner with my name. When I checked, he was the rental agency executive from where I booked the car. He drove me to his office (5 min away) and I did all the formalities for my rental car.
We had booked a 4x4 Audi Q5 Diesel. It was recommended in some blogs to get 4x4. But in my observation you can manage with a normal car. Roads are good in Albania.
After I took the car, I came back to Airport to receive one of my friends who was joining me on this trip. I got a Vodafone SIM card at Airport while waiting for him. Once he arrived, we had dinner at KFC (no more options post 11 PM) & drove to a nearby hotel for a night stay.
Day 2: Pogradec, Korce & Rehove
Ideally, this was the first day of our trip. We checked-out and went to the gas station to refuel our car. Mostly in Albania, you will get a car empty to empty unlike other european countries full to full fuel at return.
We started to drive to our first location, Lake Ohrid, the deepest and oldest lake in Europe. It is an UNESCO world heritage site at the border of North Macedonia & Albania
.
We took a break at Elbasan for breakfast and had local Albanian breakfast followed by Coffee. We headed to Lake Ohrid city, Pogradec. We spent some time there at Lake and went for Lunch at ‘Taverna KOKO’ (Taverna means restaurant in Albanian). The place is famous for freshwater fish but has many vegetarian options as well.
After lunch, we started our journey to the city of Korce. It is an old Albanian city & rich with history. We took a walking guided tour there and spent some time there. It was windy weather and we all were tired, so we decided to go to the airbnb.
We moved to a mountain village, Rehove where we booked our Airbnb Bujtina Cakuli. It was an outstanding property in a remote village with a mountain view which is the border between Greece. The hosts were so welcoming. They already started a bonfire inside the hall area. We find most places in Albania still use wood to make the house warm. She offered Raki (local albanian drink) which she prepared from her own farm’s plum. We observed offering Raki is the way to welcome culture in Albania. She asked our preference and prepared dinner for us. It was local Albanian food. The food was so fresh and tasty. We all loved dinner after a long day.
Next morning, they offered us breakfast as well. Most of the fruits & vegetables used are from their own farm. I like their farm to table concept.
Lake Ohrid & Korce
Day 3: Benje bath & Nivica
After the homemade breakfast with fresh hot plum juice we started our day. The breakfast has various fruit pickles & Olives. Albania is among leading producers of Olives and the culture of fruit pickling is there in the entire region.
Before we started driving to our next destination we took a short tour to the village. Our host at Airbnb showed us the whole village. She took us to one of her friend’s houses, and aunty was so welcoming. She offered us food but we already had our breakfast. I felt in general Albanians are so welcoming. The village has 100-150 people but 60-70 are only staying regularly. Most of them are old aged. The village serves as a base camp for trekkers who planned to trek Grammos Mountain.
After the village tour, we checked-out and went to Benje. Benje has natural geo-thermal baths. The weather turned out not so friendly but we still decided to take a bath. We spent 30 mins in the thermal pool. The water temperature was around 20-25 degrees and the outside temperature was 10 degrees. After the bath it was super cold. We utilized the nearby bonfire by some other group and started to the next destination.
The drive from Benje to Nivica was scenic. It was raining and the hill road emerged to be more beautiful. We took a break in between for tea. We all had mountain tea (local albanian tea between black tea & green tea). We reached to Nivice and stayed at Bujtina Mbi Kanion. The b&b was at the edge of the canyon. The reason to stay here is to visit the canyon and see the waterfall.The place was so remote and the only option to have dinner was from the same guesthouse we were staying at. They serve local Albanian food. It was pretty good.
Bujtina Cakuli
Day 4: Sarande & Ksamil
We had breakfast at the same guesthouse. Took a small hike to the other side of the canyon and enjoyed multiple viewpoints. Then we started for the most famous tourist destination of Albania- Sarande.
We decided to stay at Ksamil, which is 20 min away from Sarande. We drove to Sarande and then to Ksamil. Before reaching our hotel we visited Mirror beach on the way. I gave an OMG reaction as there were four shades of blue water clearly visible.
We checked-in at the hotel near the beach. This stay was not as expected. We read good reviews for the hotel but it was not up to the mark. Nevertheless, we got fresh-up and went to ‘Guvat Bar Restorant’ for lunch. The restaurant has an amazing view and at the cliff to the view of the Adriatic Sea. This place was costly with Albanian standards. I guess they are charging for good food as well as the ambience. This was the costliest meal we had in Albania.
After lunch we spend some time at the nearby beach. The weather was sunny and helped us to enjoy the beach. Later, we came back to the hotel and relaxed. None of us was so hungry for dinner, so we decided to have lite dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Mirror Beach
Guvat Bar & Restorant
Day 5: Butrint, Gjirokaster & Dhermi
We started early and went to UNESCO heritage ‘Butrint Archaeological Park’. It was an old venetian city ruins. We spent a couple of hours there and headed to Gjirokaster. On the way we stopped by Sarande for late breakfast at an Italian restaurant ‘Moma Pasta Fresca’. The place was worth visiting. Apart from Greece, Albania has Italian influence in some parts. Many Albanians had moved to Italy in the past. Earlier they used to learn Italian as one of their subjects but now it has been replaced by German considering the job market is more in German speaking countries.
After a stunning breakfast, we reached Gjirokaster. We had booked a guided walking tour at Gjirokaster. Gjirokaster town is an UNESCO heritage site. It is a very lovely city. We spent 2.5 hours walking around the city, castle and old houses. Our guide explained about the journey of the city in the past. We also took a tour of ‘Skenduli House’ which was built 300 yrs ago, the owner explained in detail about the house. It was a piece of engineering 300 years ago.
Now we all were hungry and stopped by at ‘Mapo Restaurant’. This was the best Albanian food we had in the entire trip.
We all were tired and decided to reach our hotel. Unlike yesterday, this time the place was surprisingly good. We stayed at La Brisa Boutique Hotel. I will recommend staying at this beachfront property even for your entire trip. The hotel is new in the area and will draw your attention by its design and decoration. It's a meaningful Boutique hotel. It has a private beach area, beach restaurant and beach podium as well to relax. The hotel has a gym, pool & spa on the 4th floor. The spa rate is reasonable. The best part was the pool in the open air at the edge of the wall facing the sea. The pool was a perfect example of Infinity Pool. We spent some time at the beach area and more on the balcony as the view was breathtaking and the weather was windy.
Gjirokaster
Day 6: Vlore & Berat
We had breakfast at the hotel and started after checking out to Berat. Berat known as “City of thousand windows” is again an UNESCO heritage site. On the way to Berat we stopped by at Kalaja restaurant for coffee. The restaurant is at the mountain cliff with sea view. I fell in love with the location. It’s a part of Hotel Liro which is also recommended to stay in the Vlore area for its sea facing balcony and view.
We reached Berat in the afternoon and by looking at it, we realized it deserves to be a heritage site. We already shortlisted ‘Homemade Food Lili’ but the restaurant was closed on Sunday. Alternatively, we had our lunch at ‘Friendly House’.
After lunch we rushed to a walking tour to learn a bit about the culture & history of the city. We climbed to the castle of Berat. It was worth a walk post heavy lunch. After our tour we checked into an old Heritage home Villa Athina built in 1741 and now converted to a homestay. This house is inside the castle. It was a really good experience staying at Heritage home.
We decided to have Pizza for dinner and went to ‘Proper Pizza’ , a popular chain in Albania. It was worth trying once. The base of the pizza was different with sesame on the side.
Cafe at Vlore
Berat
Day 7: Kruje & Return
Today was our last day in Albania. We started to drive from Berat to Tirana Airport. We had a quick breakfast on the way and headed toward ‘Kruje Bazar’. It was an old center for trade between the 17th to 19th century during Skanderbeg (a warrior during the Ottoman empire) era.
We did some souvenir shopping and my friend bought a woolen shoe (famous in Albania but you can wear it inside the house only).
After spending 1-2 hours at Kurje bazar we started towards Airport and had our lunch at ‘Garden Organic Restaurant’ at Kurje town. The location of the restaurant was very good and has a concept of farm to table. They bring all vegetables/fruits from their own farm.
It was getting late for us to reach the airport, I was driving at maximum allowed speed. One car ahead of me was so slow and I overtook him. Unfortunately, it wasn't allowed and the police were waiting for us. They stopped us and asked for all the documents of the car and driving license. She told me I overtaken the car which wasn’t allowed. I said sorry and she gave me a warning and let us go. Police are friendly in Albania, which we were aware of. Local Albanians drive aggressively. There are no super strict rules but it is better to follow rules. I made only one mistake knowingly.
Finally, we reached the car agency and returned the car. The guy offered us a ride till Airport though it was 5 min walking and dropped us to the departure terminal. I had my flight first and my friend had to wait for 2 hours for their flight. I did check-in and boarded the return flight.
Kurje Bazar Garden Organic Restaurant
Recommendation:
I highly recommend visiting Albania. The country has wonderful beaches. It has beautiful small UNESCO heritage towns. It’s much cheaper compared to other European countries. The country is safe and people are helpful. They believe the guest is a part of the family (Unlike we Indians believe the guest is a form of God).
Must visit places are Sarande, Ksamil, Gjirokaster, Berat & Lake Ohrid.
Fly to Tirana and plan your itinerary. If you are holding a schengen visa you can visit Corfu (Greek Island) from Sarande. It takes 30 min only. To note that the time difference is 1 hour between Albania and Greece. Alternatively, you can fly to Corfu and later come to Sarande after spending a couple of days in Corfu. Corfu is more famous and has all luxury properties.
A bit of history about Albania. Most notable personality of Albania was Mother Teresa. Albania was under the ottoman empire for almost 500 years. But once the Ottomans left the country, it got trapped into communist era. The dictator ‘Enver Hoxha’ ruled the country for almost 50 years. The situation of Albania was like today’s North Korea. The country got democratic party in 1991 and started to remap. During communist era practicing religion was banned so today also a lot more people do not practice religion.
A fact the non resident Albanina’s are more than resident Albanian. On paper the population is 2.8 M but reality is not more than 1.8M. Many Albanian moved out of the country for work and due to the impact of communist era.
In the last few years, the country has been boosting its tourism. They generated a good economy from tourism in the last few years and mainly in 2022. The country is making itself ready to be a part of the European Union. Major EU countries are supporting Albania in infrastructure.
You can get a cheaper flight Wizz Air from Dubai & Abu Dhabi. Flying to the UAE is cheaper from India. You can even add Albania in your Europe trip if you are already visiting some European country. Albania is much cheaper. It can be a good destination for relaxing, water activities and luxury. I will definitely visit Albania again but this time as a more leisure trip.
I believe the best itinerary you can make for a place is on the second visit. 🙂
If you want to enjoy the great Mediterranean beaches by spending less, you must visit Albania.
If you want good hospitality in Europe, you must visit Albania.
If you want to visit the Balkans, you must visit Albania.
If you need any help planning your Albania trip, feel free to write to me on twitter @mrityoh.
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