Albania is on only a few tourists' wish lists for their next vacation - and wrongly so. The small Balkan country has fantastic coastlines and untouched beaches along the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, offering perfect conditions for a relaxing beach holiday.
Half of the Albanian territory is of mountainous terrain with altitudes of over 600 m above sea level. A small proportion of these are high-mountain regions. From Skadar Lake in the north to the south in Vlora a few kilometers wide alluvial soils partly extend along the coast, which expand to large Myzeqe level in central Albania. There are numerous lagoons and wetlands on the coast.
At about 1000 BC the Illyrians settled in the Western Balkans. Residential cities were Scodra and Rhizon. After the Illyrian wars in late 3rd century BC, the Western Balkans came under Roman influence and the Romanization of the Illyrians began. With the division of the Roman Empire 395th BC, today Albania came under Byzantine rule. In 591 the Slavs from the north penetrated into the area, followed by looting allover the Balkans.
Next to our content articles we publish blogs to certain topics. Please follow the given links to get to our topic relevant blog articles with couple of additional pictures about Albania.
From Durres, where you should definitely visit the Archaeological Museum, the Roman Amphitheater and the Byzantine walls (to be followed by separate reports), it is only about 50 km to Pequin to the inner part of Albania.
Bourazani - After our stopover in the Pindos mountains with the renewed hike to the upper vantage points in the Vikos gorge, we had first guided our camper to the stop in Bourazani.
Drilon - Once again, together with acquaintances, we drove from Camping Rino in Struga to Pogradec, this time we choose the small border crossing at Sveti Naum, as the ride along the Ohrid lake is of great beauty and we wanted to take the high mountain road up into the National Park Galicica again.
We had been to the Pindos Mountains in Greece again, initially spending two nights in Bourazani, then crossing the Sarantaporos River into Albania via the small Konitza-Leskovik border crossing described above and driving on SH 65 towards Korça.
The shores of Ohrid Lake have been inhabited since the Neolithic Age (6000 BC), which is impressively documented on the Macedonian side with the perceived pile dwelling settlement at the lake just about 15 kilometers from Pogradec.
Once again we set off from Camping Rino in Struga in the direction of Pogradec on the Albanian side of Ohrid Lake, this time to visit the so-called King's tombs Selcë e Poshtëme (the correct Albanian spelling) carved into the rock below the Acropolis.
Comparable to Apollonia, the Albanian city of Berat can look back on a historical development as a protohistoric abode for many centuries, so traces of ancient cultures have been found since about 2600 BC.
Dhërmi – as a stopover on the drive towards Vlora, the beautiful beach in front of Dhërmi came in very handy, as the heat of the day made the journey quite unpleasant.
On the way to the south of Albania, we reached Tirana and the port city of Durres and next to it Vlora, another important coastal city with the seat of various authorities of the Qark or better using the term district same named which includes the surrounding area and the Albanian Riviera as well as the regions of Saranda and Delvina.
Butrint, just a few kilometres outside of Ksamil, is now one of Albania's most popular tourist destinations and one of the country's most famous sights.
Butrint: Our time in the ancient town not only provided new insights into the history of the ancient Greeks and Romans, as the Venetians and Ottomans also left their mark here, as did other medieval cultures.
Ksamil - The days of hiking in and around the Vikos Gorge and the experiences at the Bourazani Wildlife Park were coming to an end, and so it was time to find a suitable route for the journey to Albania,
Saranda is located on a small, not particularly protected and south open bay on the Ionian Sea, which is surrounded by 200 to 400 meters high hills.
If you want to stay in Saranda for a few days, we recommend Lëkurësi Castle (Albanian: Kalaja e Lëkurësit), which is located a little above the city.
Our current location, Saranda, is also the perfect starting point for trips in the surrounding area, including to the most famous sight in Albania, the mountain lake Syri I Kalter, generally better known as "The Blue Eye of Albania".
Himara and the neighbouring villages - especially Dhërmi, Palasa, Gjileka, Dhërmi, Ilias, Gjipa, Vuno, Jala, Pilur and Kudhës - have always been popular holiday destinations for Albanians from home and abroad and in recent years also increasingly for European tourists.