Has anyone been to Albania?

[HurdyGurdy19]

My husband's friend has just been to his son's wedding in Albania, and the photographs he's shared of the city they were in look lovely. We're looking to book a holiday, and would consider Albania, based on his photos, although that's not going to be a true picture of the country as they were staying with the bride's family.

We'd be travelling outside of school holidays.

I don't know if Albania is a tourist friendly destination or if it's somewhere that you wouldn't want to step out of the holiday complex.

Can anyone share their own experiences of Albania please?

I have. I stayed in Tirana and had no problems navigating the city and eating at different restaurants, visiting museums, out for drinks etc. People were friendly, spoke English and Italian, good value and fabulous weather. There are clearly some issues under the surface: signs of corruption and money laundering but am sure the majority of tourists are not really aware of this. I also visited Berat, Shkodra and Kruja.

Loved it. Went from Corfu over and travelled around. Cheap, beautiful beaches. We adored it

Safe and beautiful

Simon Calder did a segment from there on This Morning recently. Maybe early this week. You could probably find it on ITVX.

Can anyone suggest any attractive coastal areas please ?

Thank you 😊

Looks like a good destination. Will start browsing and making a shortlist 😀

DS and Dil went last September and, for same reasons as other posters, loved it.

Dhermi. Albanian friends directed me here and it did not disappoint. Very charming. Himare is more cosmopolitan but Dhermi was perfect for us.

A friend of mine went recently with a snorkelling club. He said the scenery was beautiful and the sea was so clear. They did self catering but ate out all the time (and drank loads of booze) and it was good value. Not quite as cheap as he expected, but still better than other more mainstream destinations. He advised not to drive as the roads are bad and the drivers are mad and he said that some things weren't up to general European standards. But he's booked to go back next year.

I loved Albania. One of my favourite trips, travelling around by bus.

Public transport systems can be more informal than you're probably used to, but your accommodation should be able to help you (eg if you want to travel a route by furgon they'll probably be able to make a call to get you on one and help you get to the right place for it).

https://theroamingrenegades.com/guide-transport-albania/

Saranda, Butrint, Gjirokastra and Berat are all places I enjoyed.

Yeh I don't think I would want to drive myself. I had one minibus driver who overtook another vehicle by driving off the road and bouncing along a field at full pelt.

I'm going on Thursday - really excited but everyone I've told is a bit 'eyebrow raisy'

We are staying in Tirana but planning to go to the beach and a winery nearby plus cable car up the nearby mountain

No direct flights from my local airport 😔

We spent a week driving around in a camper van, it's very beautiful, a lot like Greece, with lovely food. The roads are bad and there's a bit of a litter problem even on some of the most isolated beaches. There are also some quite ugly, built up resorts- although the landscapes are still lovely.

There are some very flashy resorts springing up, we happened upon a Marbs-style beach club, so I think it could be the next hot holiday spot.

On my must visit list

Are there any to Corfu though? The ferry ride from Corfu to Albania is easy.

@jackstini how was your trip? Would you recommend and if so, where did you go? Thanks

@2024cando1 - it was brilliant!

We stayed just outside Tirana in the Arka Art hotel - fabulous rooftop pool and bar, cost €10 to taxi into the city centre

We did a walking tour of the city - very varied architecture and loved hearing the history. Took a cable car up the mountain & lunch at the top, did BunkArt, visited the amphitheater and beach at Durres and had some great meals out

The beaches in the south look incredible but as we were only there 3 nights a 3-4 hour trip would have been too much

Would go back though!

Thanks for the update, sounds good!