Hi all,
I%26#39;d like to venture to Eastern Europe sometime, and I was wondering whether anyone could tell whether Albania is the country to visit. I%26#39;ve heard great things about Prague and the Czech Republic, and that is closer to home (my family lives in Belgium). However, Albania has a certain appeal to me, and I%26#39;d be interested in staying somewhere along the Adriatic Coast. Any words of advice or recommendations would be appreciated.
Brendan
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I visited Albania this summer. I stayed at Brodway Hotel, in Tirana and from there I travelled every day to Durres , Kruja, Berat, Lezha, Elbasan, to visit historic places , museums and beaches. I enjoyed the stay so very much. People are very nice, always smiling and with a will to help. It is very interesting, full of history, great beaches also. The hotel is a great one. New, very clean, very quiet, very good service and food (they have a restaurant and pizzeria there). The prices are very low. I would strongly recomend this country and this hotel to every one. Also is very safe to travel there. It%26#39;s a lot of fun, many wonderful restaurants and petit cafe every where with a wonderful and nice service.
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Hello,
I am Albanian so I know the country very well. I left there when I was 19 and was old enough to have taken trips here and there. I am glad that you are thinking of visiting Albania. The people are very friendly and warm and the nature is untouched. Be prepared to bring cash with you. Credit cards are only accepted in few places in Tirana - no checks, ATMs etc. You may carry traveler%26#39;s checks and cash them at a bank in Tirana.
If you%26#39;re looking to spend some time at the beach, don%26#39;t bother anywhere else but the southern coast. Anywhere from Vlora to Saranda the coast is a marvel. I shall list a few places not to miss starting from the most northern point to the south.
In Vlora
South of the city. there is a hotel named %26quot;The Paradise Beach Hotel%26quot; It is located on the %26quot;Uji i Ftote%26quot; beach. The rooms are nice and have balconies facing the water. There is a nice restaruant as well. My american friends who stayed there loved the food. Last time I heard (Sept. 2004) they charge $40 a night (equivalence of 2 or 3 stars). This beach is one of the most spoken of in the country. The water is so clear you can see the rocks in the bottom. The surrounding nature is pristine. Another advantage to this place is that it is closest to Tirana - only 3 and a half hours south of the capital city. The rest of the beaches that follow below are quite a drive because of the mountainous and snaky road to get there.
In Llogara (llogara.com)
This place is on top of the mountain about 3000 feet high overviewing the Ionian sea. It gets very chilly and windy (imaginable) so bring a sweater or light jacket during the summer. It snows most of the winter. Read the info on the site for activities.
Dhermi (where Dhe sounds as in the article %26quot;the%26quot;)
When you continue driving south from the top of the mountain for another hour or so, you%26#39;ll be amaised with the scenery of the sea. The road is newly renovated but a bit narrow. Pleae drive carefully or take a cab. I am not much informed of this place since I was too little when I last visited. Plus things have changed a lot in the past 10 years. But I am sure there are plenty of places to stay there.
Himara
This town is my favorite, maybe because I used to go there a lot during my summer vacations. It has at least five frequented beaches, but many more explorable ones. There%26#39;s a hotel called %26quot;Hotel Jon%26quot; (which in Albanian is pronounced Yon) named after the the southern albanian sea. English speakers know this sea as Ion or Ionian. This hotel was built recently (equivalence of 2.5 stars) and I have not been there. But I do have a brochure with pictures and some basic information. It is also very near the water and the rooms don%26#39;t look bad at all. If you%26#39;re looking for a more private and quiet beach look for the Potam beach.
Borsh and Qeparo.
I have never been there but always heard great things about these places. They are about half hour south of Himara.
Saranda
A relatively larger town with a small port that offers ferry rides to Greece. Here you%26#39;ll find few more nicer hotels. I have only been here once passing through when I was coming from Greece and going to Tirana. They say it is worth your while. The only thing is that it is about 6 hours away from Tirana.
If you%26#39;re looking for some night life stay in Tirana and Durres.
Durres is half hour drive west of Tirana and is an antique city by the coast. The beaches, located 15 minutes drive south of the city, are nice but the water of the Adriatic can%26#39;t be compared to the southern Ionian. There are tons of hotels here but if you%26#39;re looking to stay at a nice 5 star hotel go to Adriatik Hotel (adriatikhotel.com). There are few beaches on the city%26#39;s coast as well. Those are filled with restaurants and bars. People take walks every evening. It is packed with people. The town has many historical sites to visit tracing back to 2000 years ago. Once there ask around and people will guide you.
In Tirana
There%26#39;s plenty to do if you like dining out, going to clubs and bars, walking by the artificial lake and park, or hiking a 3000 feet high mountain. I don%26#39;t neccessarily look at Tirana as a tourist town since I grew up there. Chances are you%26#39;ll stay there since the only international airport is 20 minutes from the city. Plus the city doesn%26#39;t need any advertising, it speaks for itself. I would call it the Manhattan of Albania in terms of its cultural life. Don%26#39;t get me wrong, the tallest building there is only about 20 stories.
Kruja
is very near Tirana and is one of the antique towns too. It is the home town of our national hero and Balcan warrior Gjergj Kastrioti (Skenderbeu). This warrior lived in the 1400s, united the albanian tribes, and fended the Turkish empire envasion for 25 years to his death. He was the one to declare Albania independent for the first time. The country had a different name then - Arberia.
I shall try to scan a few images that I posess and post them on one of my web sites:
adelphi.edu/~tony or adelphi.edu/~kosturil
There are of course hundreds of other places to visit. Unfortunately I can%26#39;t mention them all. I hope this was somewhat helpfull to all of you who intend to visit my country.
Bon Voyage or as we say in Albanian RRUGE TE MBARE
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Hey!How cool of you to be considering Albania! I%26#39;am from denmark but i lived in Tirana from 96-98 and still have many friends there.You should definetly go! Great people and enormous natural beauty! Just dont expect it to be Greece..far from. It%26#39;s a bit chaotic but you will be blind to all this once you see your first albanian sunset!!Prices are reasonable and the you%26#39;ll fall in love with the people.Good luck and have fun!
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Hello,I%26#39;m from Albania as well(Florida resident now) and even though the last time I went there was about 6 years ago (to visit my grandma who lives there), I have to be honest: I was shocked. I don%26#39;t know how Albania looks like now, but I%26#39;d like to always remeber it like the wonderful country that I once grew up in: (isolated from the rest of the world yes, but beautiful nature, clean streets and an excellent education system. When you go somewhere as a turist you don%26#39;t really have a lot of time to socialize with people and make new friendships (unless you decide to stay there for more than a month). Yes, Albanian people have always been known for their outstanding hospitality but I recommend that you first take a look at the tourist attractions. I will not go and repeat what the person before me did so extensively and precisely but I do have one final tip:Albania has a fine cousine and you might get tempted to try many things. There%26#39;s is no FDA in Albania and there are no dangerous diseases either, but you have to be careful especially with the meat products. I think the safest thing to do is eat in the restaurants of big hotels with many international guests.Have a wonderful trip!
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Hello everyone, I%26#39;ve been reading your posts very carefully, so I decided to write few words to you. I���m from Skopje, Macedonia, but I���m ethnic Albanian. For those who know the Albanian history I do not have to explain how come I���m an Albanian living in Macedonia (please bear in mind that I was not born in Albanian, and I do not have relatives in Albania). I would like to disagree with those saying that ���they were shocked with their last visit to Albania��� and would like to also recommend them another visit there. The first time I went to Tirana was last year; I���m planning to go there this Friday too. I have to say that I was very much impressed by Tirana, the city is much different then it was before, and the Mayor of Tirana has developed a map where you are able to see how the city will look like by the end of year 2020. (I still haven���t seen that, but I���m planning to this weekend). Even though some people think that Albania doesn���t look like Greece, I have to say that maybe there is some truth in that, but I have visited Greece too, and allow me to say that Albanians are far more friendly and polite than Greeks are, and while Albania is prospering everyday, Greece is stuck in one place. I���ll let you know about my impressions when I return. Albanian from Skopje
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What are the winters like in Tirane? Do they get much snow? Do you nearby mountains become snow covered in winter? How much?
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This is great to hear-I%26#39;m an american with Albanian heritage and visited Albania the last few year of the communist era. It was much different back then than most of you mention but the one thing that rang true even back them were the people were friendly and welcoming and the terrain incredible. Especially the southern beaches. Also, had some incredible mussles in the Saranda area. Your inputs make me think I have to go back soon.
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ualbania im glad cause a neigbour albania is changed to good.i know that very well...much of this changement comes from the money the albanians do in greece...greece is great and of corse albania as an neighbour couldnt be much different in nature beauty..but it is silly to compare 2 countries cause greece is traditional and high destination until 20 years ago..the tourist industry the nature and culture the food and the service touch the highest standarts ..if a guy ask where to go i think and you know is silly to visit albania than greece....you know that...of corse is much more inexpensive than greece but isnt tourist destination...; )thats my opinion..thanks
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Hello winrex
I%26#39;m planning to visit Himara ans have part of my holidays there. In your post you say that you have a brochure og Hotel Jon there with pictures and some basic information about.
I would be very grateful if you could furnish me with the telephone number of that hotel.
Thanks in advance.
Ed
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