Backpackers Beware!

Just thought I%26#39;d let fellow backpackers know of my experience in Albania recently

My boyfriend and I are travelling around Europe, and have been away for nearly 2 years. We heard Albania had beautiful beaches and lovely people, and despite it being a developing country had lots to offer tourists. We read about it in our Lonely Planet Europe guide and also on this forum, and not one review hinted at the difficulties of travelling Albania independently.

We found it to be extremely frustrating, difficult, and expensive for what you got and how we were treated.

There is no tourist office anywhere so you cannot get maps, not even hotels give out maps. Very small percentage of people speak English so communicating is very difficult. Getting around is complicated- the furgons (minivans) are efficient in that they leave when they are full and go frequently, however they all leave from different spots depending on where they are going, and they only drop you on the outskirts of town so you then have to make your own way into town/to your hotel etc. There is also no set price so we often got ripped off, and because of the language barrier at times this could not be helped. Because of the leanguage barrier you cannot ask times, prices, where they leave etc, everything is guessing...

Although the beaches were beautiful, they was a huge amount of litter, rubbish everywhere and not many bars, restaurants etc to create a nice atmosphere

The people are supposed to be very friendly but we didn%26#39;t find this! They often just didnt want to help, and they saw us as a tourist and would just want to rip us off. They%26#39;d blatantly lie if it meant they%26#39;d get money from us.

The food is mostly Italian. A lot of places have signs that say restaurant but they only serve drinks. We lived on pizza mostly as thats all we could find most of the time! The food is cheap though.

Prices for accommodation was expensive for what you got, about 40-50euros/night in a hotel that wasnt at all fancy.

With the right mindset and a fair bit of research I%26#39;m sure you could enjoy Albania, but as people that have done a fair amount of travelling we found it difficult and unlike anything else we%26#39;d encountered.

Learning about the history, culture, etc and seeing how the people live was very interesting but it was difficult to find out this information (we learnt mostly just from looking out the window on the furgons, and the one english-speaking lady we met on a furgon) but there are no museums, tours etc....

Albania still has a long way to go to create a tourist industry... If most people go there for the beaches, I think you can see more beautiful, cleaner beaches, a lot easier in other countries (eg. Montenegro) for better value for money and without the hassle

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Thanks for the heads up Fulstar, good to know before we depart.

What gems did you find? Anything good? Beaches, restaurants etc...

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Make sure you go down to the coast. We heard that Jala was a nice beach, and it was, but very difficult to get to. We got a furgon there, who said he could take us there, but actually dropped us 5km from Jala, and the walk was 5km dwnhill down a red dusty track, with nothing else there but the beach... Walking back to get the furgon back was one of the hardest walks I%26#39;ve ever done, 1 and a halfhour up, in the heat, with the pack on your back...

I%26#39;d suggest going to bigger places. I wish we had have gone to bigger, more well-known and developed places further south like dhermi or Saranda which we heard were great, and although alot longer on the furgon I think they wouldve been worth it.

Try to learn a little bit of the language, it will save you getting ripped off so much. Ask the price before you get on the furgon and if possible check that your fellow passengers are paying the same amount as you.

As long as you%26#39;re aware of the differences it really is an amazing country... backwards but interesting... just difficult if you get there unawares :)

I wish we had have had a little but of insight before we arrived and perhaps we would have had a different stay. Any further questions please just ask :) We travelled through Tirana, Vlora, Jala and Schkoder

Also, not sure where you%26#39;re travelling from, but getting to any Albanian town is difficult unless you%26#39;re getting a ferry from Italy... Just ask whoever you can re: furgons, and get taxi%26#39;s to the furgons, if you say %26quot;furgon%26quot; and the place you want to get to, they%26#39;ll drop you at the spot that those furgons leave from..

Good luck, and enjoy :)