Discovering Albania For The First Time: Our Family's Unforgettable Road Trip Adventure!
Albania might not be a place that comes to mind when you start planning a European vacation, but maybe it should be.
Why? It’s green, mountainous and has some of the most charming towns and beautiful beaches we’ve ever seen. It’s also extremely affordable and not very touristy at all, making it a great place to spend some time exploring.
It’s not a Schengen country, which meant once we used our 90 Schengen days up, it was the perfect country to hop over to. We flew from Athens, Greece to Tirana, Albania, which is the capital. It was a short, easy flight, and we were amazed at how green it was after being in on a Greek island for so long that wasn’t very green at all.
Read more about why we were on a Greek island
Albania’s Dark Past
Albania has a dark past, and has been through some extremely trying times, as they were under a narcissist communist ruler for many many years, which only ended somewhat recently in 1992. Our time in Albania was very eye opening as not only learned of Albania’s history from museums and exploring, but also through talking to locals and hearing their firsthand accounts of what it was like to live through such hard times.
We feel the country is a true hidden gem with lots to offer, so maybe you will consider a trip there after learning about our time there!
How We Got Around - Transportation
We opted to rent a car from Rental Cars Tirana, and had a great experience with them. Our car was about $53/day and they met us when we landed to hand off the vehicle. We had done our research and knew that driving was going to be an adventure, but we also knew we needed to have a car if we wanted to explore all the areas we wanted to explore. Aaron is a very confident driver, so he was up for the challenge and did great.
What’s so bad about driving in Albania? Well...
Albanian drivers are just a bit on the aggressive side and not following road rules or road signs doesn’t seem to be a big deal, which can just make driving challenging.
We encountered some interesting things on the roads, such as people driving the wrong way down one way streets, people parking in random places, often double parked, making it difficult to get around them, and lots of honking when drivers got frustrated! I felt like most of these issues were in Vlore, which was our first stop! (There are taxis and buses in Albania which are alternate transportation options if you don’t want to drive.)
We were able to drive in Albania without an International Driving Permit, but some countries require them. You can get one in person or via mail good for 1 year HERE for $20 or online HERE where you can receive a printed and digital International Driving Permit booklet and card. The digital IDP is sent in 8 minutes and your physical IDP will be mailed. You have the option of getting a permit here that is good between 1-3 years.
Our First Stop: Vlorë
Where we stayed
The drive from the Tirana airport to Vlore was about two hours long. We had found a place to stay on airbnb.com for only $36/night and we were excited to meet our hosts! We chose a modest apartment above an older couple’s house that had incredible ocean views. It also had a kitchen so that we could cook a little if we wanted (we ended up eating out way more than we normally do because of how inexpensive it was!).
Our hosts greeted us and even helped bring up our luggage. They brought up a traditional raki welcome drink along with some jam and chatted with us a bit, even though their English was very limited and our Albanian was non existent!
What We Did
Beaches in Vlorë
We had a week in Vlore, and had read about all the beaches in the Vlore area, so our plan was basically to take it easy, enjoy some beach time and relax.
We were glad we had a car, so we could check out multiple beaches and get around easily. There are so many beach spots in Vlore, all with different views and vibes because of the coastline. We enjoyed spending time on several of them. We preferred the beaches in the southern part of Vlore, as the water seemed more clear there and it was away from the city crowds.
All Day Boat Rental
We decided to take a boat tour to the Karaburun Penninsula, which several people recommended. We used a company called Crystal Boat Tours and it cost $100 for our family of our to spend 6 hours out with the boat and captain, exploring an amazing cave called Haxhi Ali and then enjoying a private beach with crystal clear water. It was our favorite memory of our time in Vlore!
National Park Hike & Exploring The Area
We love visiting National Parks in The U.S., and were excited to realize there was an Albanian National park just south of us, Llogara National Park. The drive in was just stunning and we enjoyed part of the Maja Thanasit hike, but had to turn around once we realized we didn’t bring enough water and were all getting pretty hot and thirsty! The views from the part of the hike we did were spectacular though! We had mountains behind us and the Ionian sea in front of us.
We realized another highly rated town was close by after our hike, so we continued south a bit to check out Dhermi. We basically just drove through, but loved seeing this charming little picturesque village built on a slope of the Ceraunian Mountains with beautiful beaches.
The Food…So Cheap!
We were pleasantly surprised to find how cheap eating out was in Albania! Beers were typically around $2-$3 and many food items on menus were $4-$6. We typically don’t eat out very much, to save money, but we ate out often in Albania! Some typical dishes were pizza, pasta, lamb, veggie salads, and baklava or ice cream for dessert! It’s common to find restaurants with either Italian or Greek foods.
I’m using USD since most of our readers are from the US, but the Albanian currency is LEK, and 1 Lek=$.01
We enjoyed our week in Vlore, and felt like it was a very family friendly destination. There were carnival rides set up in town, tons of good dining options and great beaches, and beautiful sunsets. The biggest negative there was the trash problem. Dumpsters were always overflowing and you would see piles of trash in random places. We felt it was the dirtiest city we visited in Albania, but we still enjoyed our time there.
Our Second Stop: Saranda
What we did
After our week in Vlore, we ventured down to Saranda to meet up with some friends who were staying there! Along the way we stopped for lunch in Himarë, which is a small coastal town on the Albanian Riviera. Himarë has an apparent Greek influence, and we were excited to enjoy an authentic Greek restaurant there with beautiful water views. After spending 3 months in Greece we grew to love the cuisine. We strolled along the boardwalk for a bit to get a feel for the quaint town.
We actually stopped at Himarë castle before our lunch, and were surprised to find that it wasn’t much of a castle anymore at all. There were some ruins with great views, but not much structure to see at all.
We enjoyed the stunning coastal drive and finally arrived in Saranda. I do want to mention that all of the cities in Albania have several ways to spell them, so for instance, you can find Saranda also spelled Sarandë or Sarande, depending on where you see it written!
Where we stayed
We found a nice apartment on booking.com for only $49/night that was large and modern and in a great location. The address we were given took us somewhere completely different though, which seemed to be a common occurrence in Albania. Driving can be tricky because of this, which is just one more thing to consider when renting a car!
Once we found it and checked in, we met up with our friends at their condo, enjoyed catching up over happy hour and then walked down to the water. Saranda had more of a city feel like Vlore, although it wasn’t as big. The water area was a nice spot to walk around, and many restaurant options with water views.
3rd Stop: Gjirokaster
The next morning we checked out of our apartment and after a delicious breakfast in town, were on our way to my personal favorite place in Albania- Gjirokaster. I can’t even explain how extremely picturesque this town is. It felt simply unreal being right in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, with the most gorgeous 360 degree views I’ve ever seen.
What we did
We simply walked around and enjoyed the beauty! The town has cobble stone streets, Ottoman houses, and the hilltop fortress- Gjirokaster Castle. It’s known as the “stone city” because of the heavy use of stone in homes and cobblestone streets. It’s been preserved very well despite wars and communist rule, and is an official UNESCO world heritage site. There was a charming Bazaar with shops and restaurants that we enjoyed walking around and even buying a few pieces of unique jewelry as souvenirs.
Gjirokaster Castle was by far our favorite and most preserved castle we visited in Albania, and if you go, plan to spend plenty of time up in the castle area exploring. We had lunch with friends at the restaurant in Hotel Fantasy and I don’t know that a restaurant exists with better views! The food was good too!
I regret not booking an overnight stay in Gjirokaster, so learn from my mistake and plan to spend more time in the stunning city. It’s a true gem.
4th Stop: Berat
Where we stayed
After our day in Gjirokaster, we headed to Berat, where I had booked our most unique accommodations- in Berat Castle!
As I was searching for places to stay on booking.com and realized there was an option to stay in the castle, I booked it immediately!
All four of us stayed in one room with 3 beds, and we had a private bathroom down the hall. Our hosts didn’t speak English, but their neighbor did, and he greeted us with them and they offered us the traditional strong Raki drink along with a snack when we arrived.
I have to admit, I am not a fan of Raki at all, but to be polite I had a tiny sip and then Aaron drank the rest when (hopefully) nobody was watching! Staying in the castle only cost our family $44 and included a large homecooked breakfast, which was delicious! We were able to talk more with our hosts and ask lots of questions about how they grew up, what it was like to live through communism and how it affected them and their families.
What we did
The Berat Castle itself isn’t nearly as intact as Gjirokaster Castle, but was still a cool property to explore. The stunning Holy Trinity Church is a must-see, and I thought it was most stunning at sunset. The views of the city are just beautiful from the castle and sunsets are hard to beat from that viewpoint. There are a few cute shops and Albanian restaurants on the castle grounds, and it was a really cool experience to stay on the property.
We were short on time, and it was a hot day, so unfortunately we didn’t get to explore the city down below at all. After checking out of the castle, as we drove along the Osumi River, we saw all the charming Ottoman homes with the iconic windows, as Berat is known as the “town of a thousand windows.”
5th Stop: Tirana
Once we left Berat, we were on our way to our final destination- Tirana, the capital.
Where we stayed
I booked a week in Tirana, as I knew it was a big city and had read good things about it. I was so glad I did. We loved our week there. I found a large apartment with 2 bedrooms and full kitchen for only $224/week.
It was walking distance to just about everything, in a great location, so we were able to turn in our rental car after driving to one place we wanted to visit that was a bit farther than we wanted to walk - Grand Park.
What we did
Grand Park was the perfect place to visit at the end of the day and get some exercise. We walked the path all around the lake and took in the gorgeous views of the water, city buildings in the distance and green woods as we stretched our legs. As the sun went down, it was the perfect spot enjoy the scenery and get away from the city buildings for a different point of view. This was the only place in Tirana we used our car, and everywhere else was easily walkable.
We learned so much about the city from our free walking tour. I would encourage anyone to start with one of these tours to get a feel for the city and learn more about it’s history. It’s free but you tip the guide at the end, and this is how they make money. It lasted about 2 hours and was great exercise as well!
Skanderburg Square was where the free tour started and is the main plaza in the centre of Tirana. Et'hem Bey Mosque faces the square, and allows visitors to tour it, as long as you remove your shoes and cover your head before entering.
Toptani is large indoor shopping mall in the center of town that we found to be pretty cool! There is a food court on the top floor and we were surprised to find a Burger King up there with the best views of any fast food retreat I’ve ever seen! If you take the free walking tour you will find out who owns the mall and why- which is part of Tirana’s sad history and a result of things that happened during their years of communism.
There are 2 bunkers in Tirana that have been turned into museums. We chose to visit BunkArt 2. We paid $7 per adult and kids were free. It was a unique museum which went into detail about Albania’s communist past and descried in detail all the horrific things the people went through.
It was heartbreaking and very eye opening to realize that people we were passing on the street each day had been subjected to such practices and had survived such torture. A brief overview of what it was like during this period can be found here. We heard of another museum that was more about the secret surveillance during communism called House of Leaves.
Tirana Castle has turned into a really cool area of restaurants and shops, which Aaron and I visited for a date night one evening. There is even a movie theater there. There is not much of the actual castle left at all, but they’ve done a great job of turning it into a nice place to hang out. There is a bazaar that is covered and a really neat spot to visit to shop and find super unique items. We found fruits, veggies, tobacco and olive oils, along with old passports, binoculars, cameras and items that soldiers had from many years ago.
We happened to be in Tirana on July 4, and didn’t expect to see any celebrations happening since we were in a foreign country, but we decided to go out for ice cream that evening. I found a place from a Google search that had idea cream and was close to our apartment. We were so surprised to walk up and find a big barbecue happening with red, white and blue decorations!
We were super surprised and a little confused as we walked in. An older couple who was sitting at a table playing a game saw our looks of confusion and asked if they could help us. We turned to look at them and realized they were Caucasian like us and spoke perfect English. This was even more surprising and confusing to me so I asked, “Um, do you work here?” “We’re the owners!” They replied.
We went on to sit down and order and hear their story of how they moved to Tirana in 1994 from Boston as missionaries to help a struggling country that was newly free from their Communist leader and trying to get back on their feet. They opened a restaurant and B&B and started serving the community however they could.
There names are Laura and Chris, and their restaurant, Stephen Center, became one of our favorite places in Tirana. The menu is quite diverse and the food is really good. Meeting them and hearing their story was a highlight of our trip.
These are the main things we did in Tirana, along with many walks around the city, trying out lots of good restaurants and walking through several of the nice city parks. Tirana felt extremely safe (as did all of Albania) and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there.
What We Would Do Differently
We realized that we packed way too much stuff, and it was challenging getting around with so much luggage. Next time we go to Europe we will be creating capsule wardrobes and bringing fewer pieces of clothing. We will focus on finding staple pieces that are high quality and comfortable that we can wear over and over. Aaron and I recently each got a pair of Kuhl shorts that we loved, and these shorts are made of a comfortable, flexible material that are perfect for hikes, but also look nice and could be worn out and about in almost any place we would go. Those pieces will be going in our luggage for our 2024 European adventures! You can check out all of the clothing Kuhl offers HERE.
Summary
Overall, we have an amazing roadtrip around Albania. Although we didn’t get to explore the northern part of the country, which we heard its incredible. We’ve recently put Montenegro and Kosovo on our list of places to visit, so we hope to add a visit to Northern Albania in there whenever we visit those 2 countries!