Albania is located in South Eastern Europe and is blessed with 362km of the Adriatrc Sea's coastline. Albania is growing heavily in travel, tourism and adventure. Judging from the photo above, is there any surprise why?
This country has an array of stunning beaches, amazing mountainous terrain and stunning bustling cities.
Up until 1991 Albania was under a communist regime, it is a shock that travel and tourism in Albania didn't rocket into success straight after the collapse of communism in the country. With Greece at the border this shocks me even more as Greece has flocked the tourists in for decades.
Albania now is an up and coming destination for tourism with Lonely Planet recommending Albania as a top travel destination. 10% of the country's GDP is from tourism but I can see this rising heavily in the coming years.
Quick Facts
Capital: Tirana
Size: 11,100 sq mi.
Currency: Albanian Lek (L)
£1 = 175L
€1 = 141L
$1 = 124L
Neighboring Countries: 4
- Montenegro; North.
- Kosovo; North East.
- Macedonia; East.
- Greece; South East.
Language: Albanian.
Getting There
Albania is an easily accessible country. Nearly all visitors can travel to Albania visa free. This includes all the countries in the EU. More information regarding Albania's visa policies can be found here: www.mfa.gov.al.
Albania has 1 international airport located in the capital Tirana and 6 domestic airports dotted around the country.
Price of Living
The exchange rate works out pretty well for tourists in Albania; the price of living is fairly cheap, when I say fairly, for Europe we're talking very cheap.
- At a pretty normal/standard (inexpensive) restaurant you will expect to pay 630L.
- For an upper class 3 course meal type restaurant you'll be looking at 2500L
- A pint of domestic beer can be found at 120L
- Imported beer is 150L
- A coffee will be around 135L
So as for your feeding, your money will go far.
Hotels and hostels obviously depend on what you want and where you want to be located in the country, if you're looking for a beachy touristy destination in the country, you will be paying significantly more money than a hostel in the city.
What to Do and See
Albania of course is littered with stunning beaches, coves, rivers, mountains and lush terrain, but there is more to see than the postcard views.
Urban
The capital Tirana is a bustling city with amazing nightlife, culture and fancy restaurants. There is the National Art and the National History museum located in the city center along with the Tirana pyramid (no, not a tomb for a Pharaoh), the pyramid is one of the cities best night clubs.
There are many excursions offered from the capital city, see the adventure section for more information on this,
Areas of Natural Beauty.
There are many places of natural beauty located in Albania, I don't think many people are aware of how stunning Albania actually is.
Butrint - Located in the deep south of the country Burtrint is An UNESCO world heritage site of an ancient Greek city with the original architecture still standing.
Mount Dajiti National Park - Located centrally in the country 50km East from the Tirana international airport. Mount Dajiti is the highest point in Albania; the national park boasts rivers, waterfalls and lush forests.
Divjaka Karavasata - Another national park, Divjaka Karavasata is located in the West of Albania, the highlight of this national park is the Karavasta Lagoon; cut from the Adriatic sea by a sand bar the lagoon is the largest in the country. An incredible location for bird watching... if you're into that.
Lure/Lura - Once again another national park (are you seeing repetition here?) Lure national park is stunning; located in the north east, situated at the foothills of the Lure mountains which of course boasts an amazing view of the mountains and a good opportunity for a decent instagram pic #lookatdatmountainrange.
Theti - In the extreme north you will find Theti National Park which is part of the Albanian alps #forgetlura.
Albanian Riviera - Some of the most amazing beaches can be found here such as Ksamil, Himara and Bunec.
There are so many more places of natural beauty that I could blab on about for days but I was trying to keep this short and sweet...
Adventure
My favorite topic. Albania being such a free country with an amazing vast landscape creates perfect opportunity for many types of land adventures.
There are opportunities for softer adventure available from Tirana by tour companies;
- Jeep Tours
- Boat Tours
- Bunkers and Beach Tours
- Walking Tours
- Rafting Tours
Outdoor Albania is a perfect tour company for an inexpensive taste of Albanian adventure, this company does activities such as climbing, hiking, sea and river rafting, alp hikes ETC, much more up my street! http://www.outdooralbania.com/
Other adventure companies operate in Albania that offer similar activities and adventures, these include;
Obviously this is all safe commodified adventure. Real adventure lies in the heart of the adventurer! Get out there and find it!
Stay Safe
Generally Albania is an extremely safe place to travel, travelers are not usually targeted, however, pick pocketing can occur.
Let me know about your trip and tips about Albania in the comments!
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