Albania or Slovakia?

[BluebelllsRosesDaffodills]

Which would you go to?

Considerations are cost, being easy to get around, scenery, things to do and nice food.

Not too bothered about weather. Not interested in all day drinking etc

Sorry, that was meant to say Slovenia!!!

Only been to Slovenia which was great, had a lovely holiday, we had a hire car for 3/4 days but also used the trains, but it was definitely NOT super cheap. Albania will kinder to your budget, but I have no experience of the infrastructure for getting around.

Slovenia as long as you don't want a beach holiday - Slovenia is more lakes & mountains. Albania I wouldn't because I know someone very unreliable & a family of gangsters from there!!!

I have spent all week looking at holidays and have seen some very nice offerings in Croatia and Bulgaria but nothing in Albania. Are you sure Albania is even a holiday destination?

Sorry was about to correct everyone to Slovakia!

Ljubljana, nice and compact and safe.

I've been to both!

Tirana is very up and coming as a holiday destination. But I'd choose Slovenia, Ljubljana is a lovely city and Lake Bled is stunning

I wouldn't even consider Albania to be a tourist destination. Definitely Slovenia.

It is possible to have a beach holiday in Slovenia - family friends used to go there every year.

DH and I had a lovely holiday in Bled.

Some years previously, we spent a few days in Ptuj, whilst caravanning through Europe.

I would love to go to Albania. It looks stunning so this has my vote

For me, it would be Slovenia.

I went to Slovenia last summer as part of a a longer European trip, it was absolutely gorgeous and I’d like to go back again. Bled was stunning with so much to do (hiking, the lake etc) would recommend

I've been to both countries. Albania is definitely a tourist destination, not sure why people are saying otherwise!
I haven’t been to the coast of Slovenia, only Ljubljana & Bled. Bled & the other lakes are stunning & Ljubljana was nice. Very easy to get around without a car on local buses.

With Albania I got the ferry over from Corfu, took about an hr if I remember. Albania has some absolutely stunning beaches, it’s the same coastline as Croatia & Greece so crystal clear water. Lots of Russians in Albania as it’s one of the few places they can travel too as it’s not in the Schengen area. I got local buses to explore the historical sights around Sarande. Very interesting history close by & easy to get to plus nice beaches & loads of places to stay/eat. I got a local bus to Tirana for a few days, again an interesting city with a complicated history. There are loads of hikes you can do in the mountains of Albania but I didn’t do any. Can do it with a tour group so it’s all organised, have had friends do a 3day one & loved it.
Don’t be put off by people saying Albania isn’t a tourist/holiday destination it 100% is, it’s just not a package holiday AI destination.

Yes but as a whole the country has a very short coastline, unlike Croatia. And Portoroz is pretty much manmade

I think that they favoured Piran, but - yes - the beaches there are manmade, although the town itself is old and pretty.

I had a lovely time in Bled and Ljubljana but went to Pula for the beaches. I'd never considered Albania (see above!) but we're considering Montenegro

I like Montenegro. I'm an oldie, so I've been on a couple of Saga holidays there, as well as one with Thomson's.

I haven't been to Albania, but we went to Slovenia last year and it rates as one of our top holiday destinations. It's very beautiful, super easy to get around, and not particularly busy. As a veggie, food was also good, which is not at all a given in lots of places in Europe. We didn't go to beaches, but lots of time in water at Lake Bohinj (stunning and much nicer than Lake Bled) and also in rivers.

That's good, we tend towards DIY for holidays at the moment so I'm looking into Kotor for this year

We have been to Albania. There were some beautiful parts (and also some ugly ones) but it's very undeveloped as a tourist destination and not the easiest holiday in that regard.

I’ve been to Albania and wouldn’t go back. Like a previous poster I travelled there by ferry from Corfu. It’s pretty in parts but very ugly in others. In Sarande, millions has been spent on building new hotels and promenades but the beach is full of fag ends, the bins are overflowing and stagnant water flows from drinking water fountains.
Yes, there are historical ruins and stunning scenery but close up you see the not so pretty stuff.
Further along the coast it gets a little better but it is very much a country of the very rich and the very poor. Sparkling new hotels, endless empty new build apartments (there is building going on everywhere) and new roads that go nowhere.
And in between you see all the rubbish and graffiti and the falling down buildings and realise that despite the insta hotels the majority of Albanians live in poverty.
It does not compare it with Slovenia.
In all honesty avoid Albania for a couple more years - it’s not quite ready.