Why Visit Albania?

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“I had to leave the Schengen Area.” This was what most of the foreign travelers I met during my extended stay in this Balkan country told me.

Located just a couple of hours from many major European cities and increasingly connected by ultra-low-cost flights, Albania has become a popular destination for travelers looking for an affordable place to stay outside the Schengen Area. Many arrive in the legendary land of Skanderbeg without really knowing what they are about to discover.

I have to admit that Albania is a country that can appeal to almost any type of traveler. It offers a range of experiences that many of its Balkan neighbors simply cannot match.

Are you a fan of paradise beaches? The Albanian Riviera stretches from the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian coast, offering spectacular beaches without having to deal with some of the crowds found in Greece.

Do you prefer mountains and adventure travel? Albania has pristine trails and villages with unique identities scattered throughout the mountain ranges that cross the country.

And if that wasn’t enough, historic towns and cities provide plenty for history lovers. From ancient Greek ruins to Ottoman bridges, Albania’s complex history becomes especially fascinating when you find a communist bunker standing next to a Byzantine church.

Best Time to Visit Albania

Unfortunately, Albania has fairly extreme seasons.

Winter temperatures are generally manageable, but rainfall can be heavy, flooding is not uncommon, and mountain passes can be blocked by snow, making many valleys inaccessible.

Summer, meanwhile, is when the Albanian coast becomes crowded with Europeans looking for affordable beaches. Tirana, the capital, can easily reach 40°C, combined with high humidity.

For me, the best time of year is spring. April and May are ideal months to explore different regions of Albania in pleasant conditions.

Winter has already loosened its grip, mountain passes begin to open, and you can reach remote villages and the coast without the crowds of the summer season.

Recommended Albania Itinerary

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7-Day Albania Itinerary — The Essentials

Albania is an incredibly diverse country but, at the same time, it is relatively small. Getting from one region to another doesn’t require spending entire days on the road, so you can cover many of the highlights in just one week.

For this itinerary, we’ll use Tirana, the capital, as our starting point and make a loop through mountain towns before reaching the Adriatic coast.

From one of Europe’s most unusual capitals to a playground for architects experimenting with designs before taking them to market, Tirana is an atypical city. Simple but complex at the same time, it lacks a conventional urban layout, and even the European Union has had to step in to help organize and name streets that can sometimes lead you into unexpected dead ends.

Is Tirana worth visiting? Absolutely.

The city may not have as much history as some of Albania’s other destinations, but its central location and excellent road connections make it an ideal base for exploring the country.

Getting to Tirana is relatively easy. Several low-cost airlines connect the city directly with destinations across Europe, making it possible to reach the Albanian capital in just a couple of hours.

For this itinerary, we’ll create a southern loop connecting Tirana, Berat and Vlora, with journeys of no more than a couple of hours between the main destinations.

Between Berat and Vlora, we’ll stop at Apolonia, near the city of Fier. This is one of Albania’s most important archaeological sites, combining ancient ruins with remains from the country’s communist period.

All of these destinations can be reached by public transportation. The only place that requires a little more planning is Apollonia.

I recommend reading my Albanian transportation guide to learn how the country’s famous furgons work that are one of the main forms of public transportation in Albania.

7-Day Itinerary

10-Day Itinerary – extended experience

If we can add a few extra days to our Albanian adventure, we’ll spend more time in Berat, one of my favorite cities in Albania and a place that deserves to be enjoyed at a slower pace. We’ll also take a step further from Fier to the Ardenica Monastery, where Skanderbeg, the national hero, celebrated his marriage. Finally, we’ll add Pellumbas, a village nestled between two mountain ranges south of Tirana.

This will allow us to explore Berat at a more relaxed pace, as the city is larger than it appears on the map (and it also involves some hiking at higher elevations). Ardenica will take no more than half a day, so we can head to Vlora that same afternoon. In Pellumbas, on the other hand, we’ll explore Neolithic caves and refresh ourselves in the Erzen River.

In this case, we’ll visit Pellumbas after returning to Tirana, as there is no public transport connecting it to other destinations. There is only one bus connecting Tirana and Pellumbas, twice a day.

However, if you have your own vehicle, I recommend visiting it along the Tirana–Berat route.

To reach Ardenica Monastery, you’ll need to negotiate with a driver to take you there and wait for you while you explore, as there is no direct public transport. You’ll find a line of taxis along the main avenue, ready to negotiate a fare (approximately €15–20).

10-Day Itinerary

15-Day Albania Itinerary — Exploring the North

With half a month at our disposal, northern Albania becomes an opportunity to explore further. In this case, after returning from Pellumbas to Tirana, we’ll add two more stops to our adventure: Kruje and Shkoder.

Kruje is a small city located on the slopes of the mountains, just one hour from Tirana. Its importance lies in the fact that it became the strategic stronghold where Skanderbeg resisted the Ottoman attack, making it an important symbol of Albanian national identity.

Shkoder, on the other hand, takes us deep into the north of the country. Right on the border with Montenegro, the city is the gateway to mountain trails and villages with unique identities found nowhere else in the world.

The good thing is that if you have a return flight from Tirana, there are direct furgons from Shkoder to the airport, saving us the trouble of going back to the capital.

15-Day Itinerary

Conclusion: From the Tribal Mountains to the Albanian Riviera

Whatever amount of time you have available for Albania, I’m sure the country won’t disappoint you.

I spent three months living and traveling around Albania, and I can tell you that exploring this country and discovering its history and culture can turn into a truly memorable experience.

And if you’re planning to continue traveling after Albania, the country opens up a huge number of possibilities by land and sea.

By land, you can continue towards Montenegro, Kosovo or North Macedonia, heading deeper into the Balkans.

If you’d rather continue your journey by sea, several ports along the Albanian Riviera offer connections towards Italy and Greece.

Faleminderit!

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