We leave Tirana in the pouring rain, on our way to Montenegro. Somehow, we miss the connection to the motorway, and for an hour, or so, we drive the old road to Shkoder, in the north of Albania. And suddenly the Albania of the past is back again. Here no new developments, no fancy buildings, … Read more
We cannot go to the Western Balkans, and not go to Tirana. Evidently, judging from friends’ comments, and from more general info, Albania is the holiday country to be, at this moment in time. Lovely people, fabulous nature, great beaches, cheap food and cheap alcohol. Even though the country is not part of ex-Yugoslavia, the … Read more
One of the most beautiful areas of Albania is Tropoja, in the north-east. However, it was also the wildest area, an area where you want to be with a local.
The east of Albania offers beautiful, and deep, Lake Ohrid at the Macedonian border, the lovely Lin village and the town of Korca
The ruins of another Roman town, with the remains of several early churches, could be found high up the hills near the town of Ballshi, along the Vjose River.
City of a Thousand Steps may well be an understatement for Gjirokaster: in between the Ottoman houses against the slope are many stairs
Not only City of a Thousand Windows, but an almost equal amount of satellite dishes marked the old town of Berat in the 1990s
Albania is a small country. It is also sparsely populated, with few urban centres, and most people living in the countryside. And a countryside it was!
From the tourist perspective, Curfu was actually an incredible contrast to Albania, so nearby. From Sarande at night, a pretty dark place even without a power cut, one saw the bright lights of Corfu a short distance away. Arriving in Kerkira
All the way to the south of Albania, near the Greek border, is Butrint, an Illyrian, then Greek and then Roman town with origins in the 7th Century BC. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, is was long on the organisation’s endangered sites list, because in the Albania of the 1990s not much was protected.