Albania Travel Guide

If you feel like having some snaks and don´t want to go to a formal restaurant, for some cheap fast food close to Sheshi Skënderbeg (square). the Sev7en is a good place. I had some quite good Pizza slices.

From Tirana, Bulevardu Zogu 1, near Skenderbeg Square, there are overnight buses to Thessaloniki and other Greek towns. The buses will stop once in a while, for food or toilett, but not too often, beware.

One of the best things to do in the evening is to join in the passeggiata or xhiro, where people stroll sociably along the promenade. Great for people watching, especially as everyone dresses up nicely.

Syri i Kaltër or the Blue Eye is a unique spring near Sarande, half way between Sarande and Gjirokaster actually. It's the source of the river Bistrica, whch springs out from the deep 50 meter hole with its crystal clear water. Blue Eye has a discharge of 18.4 m3/s. The beauty is stunning!

The Partisan Statue commemorates the men who liberated Albania from the occupation during WWII on the 29th of November 1944. From its architectural style, the statue is probably a relict from the communist era.Directions:The Partisan Statue stands in the north eastern corner of the park which surrounds the Ebu Bekr Mosque (Al-Zamil Mosque). You...

TimetableFirst 06:00Last 16:00Every 00:45 minutes. Eg. 06:45, 07:45... until 16:00.Fare300 Lek3 EURTrip DurationAbout 2 hoursBus StationRruga Karl GegaApril 2015

Buses leave every half an hour from Durrës to Tirana.TimetableFrom 06:00 to 19:30Fare130 ALLTrip Duration30-40 minutesBus StationTrain Station

The bus station is right by the railway station. There are buses to a lot of places, as well minibuses as fullsize buses. You pay to the conductor on the bus, and the price is very low. A trip to Shkoder costs 400 Leke (less than 3 Euro) as of May 2014. It takes 2,5 - 3 hours on quite good roads. Better roads than in Sweden anyway despite our high...

When we saw this collection in May 2016, it was still in a church converted to a museum by the Communists. The collection of artworks rescued from destruction by Enver Hoxha's programme of eliminating religion from Albania is second to none. Highlights of the icons include a number by Onufri and his family. Also, don't miss the depiction of St...

When we saw this collection in May 2016, it was still in a church converted to a museum by the Communists. The collection of artworks rescued from destruction by Enver Hoxha's programme of eliminating religion from Albania is second to none. Highlights of the icons include a number by Onufri and his family. Also, don't miss the depiction of St...

Albania's historical hero, Skanderbeg is eulogised in the Skanderbeg museum, inside the walls of the Krujë castle. Its collection includes lots of 15th century military artifacts related to the Albanian-Ottoman wars, during which the castle was besieged four times by the Ottoman army. There is also a virtual shrine to Skanderbeg with modern...

From Tirana to Kruje and back you can get by bus. Near Tirana's train station there is a dusty square with many buses - so this is NOT the depatrure place for buses to Kruje. Near this square there is a bazar entitled Market Shkoder. You need to go through the whole market until you see another dusty square with buses and cars parked. At this...

When visiting the Skanderbeg Castle it is important to visit the associated museum, located within the walls of the castle. For a nominal entrance fee, visitors can wonder the halls of this interesting building and step back in time through the museums numerous artifacts from the Skanderbeg era (1405-1466). Tourists interested in a thorough...

Although we had eaten a huge meal at our hotel, my companion wasin the mood for anything, so she ordered a huge pizza, I thoughtwell many good, would soak up some of that raki, I was no mood in carrying 65 kilos 1.5 kilometres along a dimly lit stretch of beachfrontlate at night...A passed out blonde might draw undue attention!Well the pizza...

Next destination was to find one of the discossupposed to be open after mid night on that lovely Saturday night.A black van cruised by, it was the local police patrolling the area.I gave them a wave....we walked and walked past various Hotels andcafes along the seafront. One had a policeman outside watching a weddingparty in a large resteraunt, I...

Berat's period of documentation began with the writing of the Purple Codex in the 6th century. It is one of the oldest remaining books of evangelical literature in the world, written with silver letters on red parchment. The Codex contains two gospels on 190 pages. Until the middle of the last century the gospels were used once a year, on the day...

This war memorial stands at the parking area just below the entrance to the fortress. I am only able to recognise the word "partizane" and of course the years, so I suppose it is a memorial to the partisan fighters who died in WWII.

The dictator Enver Hoxha was very concerned lest Albania be invaded by foreign troops. He ordered hundreds of thousands of defensive concrete bunkers to be built all over his small country. Many of these still remain, in various states of preservation. He also ordered the building of extensive underground shelters. The one built under the castle...

The dictator Enver Hoxha was very concerned lest Albania be invaded by foreign troops. He ordered hundreds of thousands of defensive concrete bunkers to be built all over his small country. Many of these still remain, in various states of preservation. He also ordered the building of extensive underground shelters. The one built under the castle...

At this café a great local painter, who works here as a waiter, has a exhibition of his paintings. This café has a good ambience and service. It was my favourite place to drink both local beer and ouzo.

You can also go at the Disko if you ask, on Summer and there's a nice beach going on during june july, it's beautiful swiming and bathing in the sun with lots of local girls. The thing is all the immigrants come back during these months so all the hype and the turism is durin august the best time to be in Permet. Love, Gjergji Cumani, It's good to...

Permet has a beautiful river for Kayak lovers. The waters are clean and the nature is breath taking.

Permet has a beautiful river for Kayak lovers. The waters are clean and the nature is breath taking.

We saw this boat out fishing quite a lot while I was working at Butrint! This was one of my favourite views!

To cross the Vivari strait you will have to use the small cable ferry. It runs whenever a vehicle comes. Pedestrians travel for free, but they have to wait until a car or even a bus needs to be ferried over.

You can use the regular bus service to get from Saranda to Butrint. The journey will take about 45 min. Bus stops are located at the main town square as well as in front of the Hotel Butrinti.

"Dante" is a small pizza place in Drilon, a short walk along the lakeside from Pogradec. Definitely worth visiting, surely the best food in this part of the country! My favorite was the "prosciutto crudo" pizza, but all are amazing.

My girlfriend and I visited Borana Restorant for a drink during our daytrip to Pogradec in March 2012.This colourful cafe is located across from the lakeside promenade and its outdoor rooftop terrace offers excellent views over the beach and Lake Ohrid.A handful of bright orange, green and yellow plastic tables and chairs are scattered on the...

Amazing food and staff, a must go to if you are in the area! They serve breakfest, lunch and dinner and have a large menu. Food is brought in and cooked fresh daily. It is also right accross the street from the beach, therefore the atmospher is amazing, especially in the summer. The hotel is also wonderful and modern, so if you are going to be...

Taverna Mishel is a few kilometers away from Voskopojë, on the way back to Korcë. The tables are scattered under small roofs in a green meadow. The place is quiet and pleasant, the owners very welcoming See next tip (not enough space for the photos)

In 2010, there was a great Arman (Vlach/Aromanian name themselves Arman) gathering in Voskopojë/Moscopole and in Korcë/Corcea. There are almost 500.000 Armans in the Balkans.From Moscopole 2010 : In order to commemorate and relive the experience of the past of Moscopole (222 years since the city was entirely distroyed by Ali Pasha in 1788) on the...

I do not usually report on VT about something I have not seen but there is no map of Moskopojë (or at least I did not found any) and this report might help other travellers not to miss Kisha e Kryeengjëjve Mihal dhe GabrielHere is the transcript of the post standing on the main square of Voskopojë :Kisha e Kryeengjëjve Mihal dhe Gabriel (Church of...

As soon as there no more honey sellers along the road, it begins to climb steeply and the road runs zigzags with hairpins bends. The part of the road from Dhërmi to Llogara pass was the first one to be improved, ie widened and getting a brand new coat. In 2007, that was already done, while no roadwork had yet begun on the southern section to...

Just as we went to our car to drive to Vlorë, a herd of 20-30 cows with their calves came down from a path, upper than the pass and took the road to Vlorë. They hindered the road (photo 1) but we had to overtake them!They had two herdsmen and one tried to restrain them to the right of the road while I overtook them one by one (photo 2). That took...

Why donkeys would roam on the side of the road where there is nothing to graze while on the other side there is plenty to make their living? I have been searching for an explanation to this odd behavior and the only sensible explanation that I have found is that donkeys appreciate beauty and are keen to watch at the breathtaking landscape of the...

Close to the central square of the village of Tushemish, which has several bars and cafés, there is a statue, which is one of the village’s main attractions for visitors. It is a statue of the Albanian film character Ollga. With a handbag draped over her left forearm, and looking rather like a woman drawn by Fernando Botero or Beryl Cook, her cast...

Set in lovely parkland, which is watered by an inlet from the lake, Vila Art is a restaurant housed in what was formerly Enver Hoxha’ lakeside summer house. We sat outside on a large terrace that was shaded by overhead trellises of complexly intertwined vines. We were close to a pond in which there were many swans with their grey cygnets. Near us...

Set in lovely parkland, which is watered by an inlet from the lake, Vila Art is a restaurant housed in what was formerly Enver Hoxha’ lakeside summer house. We sat outside on a large terrace that was shaded by overhead trellises of complexly intertwined vines. We were close to a pond in which there were many swans with their grey cygnets. Near us...