Albania Travel Guide

The statue of Sulejman Pasha, aka Sulejman Pashe Bargjini, stands in the same square as the Unknown Partisan. He was an Ottoman general who is said to have founded Tirana in 1614.

Blue Panomara Airlines links Tirana to 9 Italian cities.A companhia aérea Blue Panomara liga Tirana a 9 cidades italianas.

One of the best things to do in the evening is to join in the passeggiata or xhiro, where people stroll sociably along the promenade. Great for people watching, especially as everyone dresses up nicely.

Syri i Kaltër or the Blue Eye is a unique spring near Sarande, half way between Sarande and Gjirokaster actually. It's the source of the river Bistrica, whch springs out from the deep 50 meter hole with its crystal clear water. Blue Eye has a discharge of 18.4 m3/s. The beauty is stunning!

The Partisan Statue commemorates the men who liberated Albania from the occupation during WWII on the 29th of November 1944. From its architectural style, the statue is probably a relict from the communist era.Directions:The Partisan Statue stands in the north eastern corner of the park which surrounds the Ebu Bekr Mosque (Al-Zamil Mosque). You...

TimetableFirst 06:00Last 16:00Every 00:45 minutes. Eg. 06:45, 07:45... until 16:00.Fare300 Lek3 EURTrip DurationAbout 2 hoursBus StationRruga Karl GegaApril 2015

Buses leave every half an hour from Durrës to Tirana.TimetableFrom 06:00 to 19:30Fare130 ALLTrip Duration30-40 minutesBus StationTrain Station

The bus station is right by the railway station. There are buses to a lot of places, as well minibuses as fullsize buses. You pay to the conductor on the bus, and the price is very low. A trip to Shkoder costs 400 Leke (less than 3 Euro) as of May 2014. It takes 2,5 - 3 hours on quite good roads. Better roads than in Sweden anyway despite our high...

We had a short stroll through Parku Vangjush Mio during a day trip to Korce in March 2012.This rather sorry looking park is located in the centre of the city, just a short walk away from the Old Bazaar.In fairness, we visited at a time when the city was just emerging from the cold weather of winter. There was still a significant covering of snow on...

There are several bus companies operating this route.Actually, the route starts from Athens and ends at Tirana. Korce is one of the stops.In Athens, near Metaxourgio Metro Station, many bus companies are running the buses. The price is Euro 30 for one way. 2 to 3 buses for each bus company each day. However, I would like to recommend you to call...

Although we had eaten a huge meal at our hotel, my companion wasin the mood for anything, so she ordered a huge pizza, I thoughtwell many good, would soak up some of that raki, I was no mood in carrying 65 kilos 1.5 kilometres along a dimly lit stretch of beachfrontlate at night...A passed out blonde might draw undue attention!Well the pizza...

Next destination was to find one of the discossupposed to be open after mid night on that lovely Saturday night.A black van cruised by, it was the local police patrolling the area.I gave them a wave....we walked and walked past various Hotels andcafes along the seafront. One had a policeman outside watching a weddingparty in a large resteraunt, I...

Berat's period of documentation began with the writing of the Purple Codex in the 6th century. It is one of the oldest remaining books of evangelical literature in the world, written with silver letters on red parchment. The Codex contains two gospels on 190 pages. Until the middle of the last century the gospels were used once a year, on the day...

This war memorial stands at the parking area just below the entrance to the fortress. I am only able to recognise the word "partizane" and of course the years, so I suppose it is a memorial to the partisan fighters who died in WWII.

Albania's historical hero, Skanderbeg is eulogised in the Skanderbeg museum, inside the walls of the Krujë castle. Its collection includes lots of 15th century military artifacts related to the Albanian-Ottoman wars, during which the castle was besieged four times by the Ottoman army. There is also a virtual shrine to Skanderbeg with modern...

From Tirana to Kruje and back you can get by bus. Near Tirana's train station there is a dusty square with many buses - so this is NOT the depatrure place for buses to Kruje. Near this square there is a bazar entitled Market Shkoder. You need to go through the whole market until you see another dusty square with buses and cars parked. At this...

When visiting the Skanderbeg Castle it is important to visit the associated museum, located within the walls of the castle. For a nominal entrance fee, visitors can wonder the halls of this interesting building and step back in time through the museums numerous artifacts from the Skanderbeg era (1405-1466). Tourists interested in a thorough...

At this café a great local painter, who works here as a waiter, has a exhibition of his paintings. This café has a good ambience and service. It was my favourite place to drink both local beer and ouzo.

The terrace of this traditional taverna is overlooking the most traditional houses of the city and is a good place to rest while drinking local beer or, why not, Greek ouzo.This taverna offers a good service and ambience. By the way, I asked for a meze and the waiter surprised me.The decor is simple, but modest.

If you want to use public transportation to travel from Gjirokastër to Ohrid, in Macedonia, there are, at least, three otpions:1. Take the bus to Tirana and then the bus to Skopje. Get off at Struga and then take a local bus to Ohrid. If you do not like adventure, this is the best option.2. Take the bus going towards Tirana and get off at...

You can also go at the Disko if you ask, on Summer and there's a nice beach going on during june july, it's beautiful swiming and bathing in the sun with lots of local girls. The thing is all the immigrants come back during these months so all the hype and the turism is durin august the best time to be in Permet. Love, Gjergji Cumani, It's good to...

Permet has a beautiful river for Kayak lovers. The waters are clean and the nature is breath taking.

Permet has a beautiful river for Kayak lovers. The waters are clean and the nature is breath taking.

We saw this boat out fishing quite a lot while I was working at Butrint! This was one of my favourite views!

To cross the Vivari strait you will have to use the small cable ferry. It runs whenever a vehicle comes. Pedestrians travel for free, but they have to wait until a car or even a bus needs to be ferried over.

You can use the regular bus service to get from Saranda to Butrint. The journey will take about 45 min. Bus stops are located at the main town square as well as in front of the Hotel Butrinti.

Lively atmosphere during the day, cool people, great cocktails, chill out, bossa nova at sunset, dance music at night - right in front of the beach of Drimades None

These three photos were taken from the road that leads to Palasë and Llogara pass, leaving Dhërmi.Photo 1 shows the central part of Dhërmi with the main part of Gjilek district.Photos 2 and 3 show the part of Gjilek district that overhangs the see. On photo3, in the background, a small part of the beach district can be seen. I have made an...

Lezha has a large Roma population. Some of these Roma will be on the street asking for money. Usually it is children. For their own good, do not give them money!! Many of these children suffer from human trafficking and giving them money only hurts them. If you want to help them, give them food. If you're eating chips, hand them a few or give them...

Lezha has a large Roma population. Some of these Roma will be on the street asking for money. Usually it is children. For their own good, do not give them money!! Many of these children suffer from human trafficking and giving them money only hurts them. If you want to help them, give them food. If you're eating chips, hand them a few or give them...

During summer it is very typical for places to close for a few hours in the afternoon for "pushim" or rest time. Don't expect everything to be open from 2pm till about 4pm. This is a less common trend in Lezha but in Shkoder it is very common and in other neighboring cities as well.

Very nice and friendly ,beautifull location , very fresh food, wee serve all tradicional Albanian foods, fresh fish ,and drinks , wee cook with wood, Welcome Steaks & Fish its fresh very testy, very cuality service,and Less expensive than average.

Should I advise you to try Restaurant of Hotel Gjuetise ? Undoubtoudly yes. I have full described in several separate tips our adventures. I can understand that going to the hotel is not for everybody but the restaurant is a very different thing. There is not much choice but what they serve is excellent. As a starter, we had a tomato salad with...

The device shown on the photos is a kalimerre. During our 1988 visit, I saw a man using a small one, hand launched ( Rrethi i Lezhes. The device is made with a square net that is dropped into the river. The device is let at the bottom of the water for a while and drawn up to catch fishes. This device, under various names, is used widely in the...

Taverna Mishel is a few kilometers away from Voskopojë, on the way back to Korcë. The tables are scattered under small roofs in a green meadow. The place is quiet and pleasant, the owners very welcoming See next tip (not enough space for the photos)

In 2010, there was a great Arman (Vlach/Aromanian name themselves Arman) gathering in Voskopojë/Moscopole and in Korcë/Corcea. There are almost 500.000 Armans in the Balkans.From Moscopole 2010 : In order to commemorate and relive the experience of the past of Moscopole (222 years since the city was entirely distroyed by Ali Pasha in 1788) on the...

I do not usually report on VT about something I have not seen but there is no map of Moskopojë (or at least I did not found any) and this report might help other travellers not to miss Kisha e Kryeengjëjve Mihal dhe GabrielHere is the transcript of the post standing on the main square of Voskopojë :Kisha e Kryeengjëjve Mihal dhe Gabriel (Church of...