Me and the Mrs are planning to take a short holiday trip to Albania in August as a last minute thing.

Has anyone ever been to Albania and recommend some good places to stay and activities to do during the day?

I've been. I went to North Macedonia and Albania. Plan was to go to Kosovo too but I got a bit sick. I was only in Albania for a couple of days, and I'm at work at the moment, but I'll try dig out some of the things I saw. One thing I can definitely remember is that I was there during an earthquake!

Wear a suit 2 sizes too small, a flat cap and throw yourself on the floor shouting "Mr Grimsdale, Mr Grimsdale" and they will love you

https://youtu.be/LPbCeJCoM6g

I’m sure I’ve just seen a Rick Stein Venice to Istanbul (series 2 episode 3) has a bit from Albania. Unsurprisingly a lot of Lamb dishes in the Mountains, I don’t think they waste much! and some nice fish dishes on the coast!! I think they were surprised how good it was.

My lad was there for a week as part of his degree earlier this year. He loved it - he's been trying to convince us to go on holiday ever since.

Get out of the city and explore a bit.

I believe it's not nearly as repressive as Rumania

I went there walking with the holiday group Explore a few years back, absolutely superb.
Some of the scenery is reminiscent of Austria or Swirtzerland, really spectacular.
A bit of an understatement but Albania's history is pretty fascinating too.

Pickles wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 28, 2022 11:00 am

I've been. I went to North Macedonia and Albania. Plan was to go to Kosovo too but I got a bit sick. I was only in Albania for a couple of days, and I'm at work at the moment, but I'll try dig out some of the things I saw. One thing I can definitely remember is that I was there during an earthquake!

Some reassuring comments there, Pickles.

Love to see Ireland playing there in an international

My Son's partner is Albanian. The cheapest way to get there is to fly to Corfu and get a ferry. He has done this lots of times.

Silkyskills1 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 28, 2022 2:00 pm

Some reassuring comments there, Pickles.

Hahaha! I can see how that sounded! Illness wasn't linked to Albania. (A dodgy smoothy in Macedonia.) And the earthquake, albeit fairly large I believe, didn't impact the capital, where I was, too much. I remember ordering a pint, the barman handing it over and it began shaking. Everyone left the bar they were in and congregated on the main road for a few moments until it passed. Locals seemed kinda nonplussed.

One of my favourite holidays was in Albania and Macedonia with 3 other guys. Tbh I can't remember specific places we went, we literally hired a car and drove down the whole coast stopping off at random places along the way and people would put us up in their homes. Was great fun and beautiful coastline as well as friendly people. Not a great deal of help but have a great time!

Not so sure about friendly people. For a country of not much over three million in population they form quite a high percentage of the UK prison population.

We were there, but a few - bloody hell, it's been ten! - years ago. My best tip is to learn a few words of Albanian - I got mine off the internet - before arriving; as virtually no tourists know even the basics, so the locals love it when you at least try.

Judehamish wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:03 pm

Not so sure about friendly people. For a country of not much over three million in population they form quite a high percentage of the UK prison population.

Not sure if it still applies, but when we were there in 2012 we found Albania very safe/secure. This anomaly was explained to us twice by locals: "There's no point stealing off us as we've got nothing worth stealing, so the bad guys all go to Germany (and UK?) and when they're home for a holiday they're very law abiding because while Albania has an extradition treaty with the EU, the government doesn't extradite you if you've not got a criminal record here at home."

The people, urban or rural, were amazing when we we there. Really friendly. You'll have a great time.

Had a day trip from Corfu only, enjoyed it though.

Butrint is a historical site, ancient Roman, but very well preserved. The ferry at Butrint was used as a location on one of the James bond films, but I can't remember which one.

The Blue Eye is a natural spring, it comes straight from the ground 1000s of litres a minute, it instantly becomes a river, and is bloody freezing, and even when the temp is in the high 40s it takes some getting in.

Sarander was the port we landed at, and was very touristy, but most of Albania isn't. I think something like 75% of the population live in the Capitol.
I love new countryside, and views I've never seen before, so the whole journey was a pleasure.

Enjoy it.