Anyone been to Albania & how did you get around without car?

[sintrawest]

I’d love to go for a last minute break in October to do some exploring & hiking, but don’t drive so would need to get around by public transport.

Anyone done this? I know trains are pretty much a no-go but there are various types of fairly unreliable buses!

whereabouts would you go? Any other tips?

Just me and DP, no DC. Thanks!

Bump!

Anyone?

Can you buy a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide travel book for Albania? They are usually up to date and full of travel tips.

There don’t seem to be any good guide books (lonely planet etc) just for Albania actually, just the wider region. But yes have read through those, I was hoping for some personal experiences.

Thank you for taking the time to reply

Is it worth ringing the Albanian Consulate/Embassy?

I went quite a while back but it was very much an organised tour then. However watched a travel show where it showed how much it had opened up but cannot really help about camping/public transport etc.

Fascinating country. Roads very er... basic. An Irish lady in our tour said it reminded her of Southern Ireland for scenery.

I went a year after Hoxha's death (last dictator). There were "goons" in our hotel, just sitting around, listening to our conversations, bored soldiers hanging around parks, making sure locals did not speak to us etc etc. Oh and although they boasted of selling electricity abroad, they had very little themselves.. Walking along pavements at night, you had to look out for open manholes everywhere, and I fell down some stairs because the place was so dark (in the hotel!).

Gosh that sounds so negative! However things have changed, apparently now. I notice on tours you can visit people in their houses (probably carefully selected!). I did enjoy the holiday.

As someone said, ask the Embassy over here.. At the time I went, there was not a British embassy in Tirana but this might have changed. Anyone wanting help had to I think go to the French Embassy.

Regent Holidays did the first tours over there but I went with Jules Verne. You can possibly fly through straight to Tirana but we had to go through what was then Yugoslavia by coach then.

There was a guy called Philip (something) who went there before I did but his book would be forbidden there and was not all quite truthfull. Several mistakes in there.. They checked all our books and magazines and a perfectly normal nice middle class woman had her magazines confiscated because of a line drawing of a woman examining her breasts for signs of cancer, plus the sex swing advert for perfume. The woman asked if he could just rip out the offensive bits and he said there were too many!!!!

Phillip Ward! That is his name!

Lesley Chamberlain in her cookery book (cannot remember title but she mentioned a dish that the sister would deliver to her brother who was like an outlaw in the mountains/hills/whatever). Quite entertaining!