Experiences
I collaborate with one of the top tour operators in country who has led excursions for the ambassadors from the U.S., Sweden and Greece through his company, Exploring with Gysi. I also lead some tours myself.
We don’t employ a one-size-fits-all approach; tours are private and customizable. You can do one day or several. If you want to see Greek and Roman ruins, let’s go. Nature lover? We’ll take you up to the mountains or down to the beaches. But why not just march you around to the usual spots? Because it’s a diverse and ever-changing country, with unforgettable experiences for all tastes. “Albania,” as one Tirana businessman told me, “will look very different in 10 years.”
But once we know what you like, we’ll take planning out of it for you, arranging all transportation, dining and drinks, admission fees, accommodations (when applicable) and a tour guide, of course. Our prices are all-inclusive and, dare I say, extremely reasonable.
Here are a few sample itineraries.
Tirana-rama (Tirana and Mount Dajti; Single Day)
Walking tour of Tirana, including the central Skanderbeg Square, the Italianate edifices housing governmental offices, the Blloku district, the Pyramid of Tirana and the Pazar i Ri (“New Bazaar”)
Visit to the House of Leaves museum
National Martyrs Cemetery
Visit to the Bunk’art 1 museum
Cable-car ride up to Mount Dajti
Explore Communist-era ruins and/or hike to the summit
Tirana, the chaotic and wonderful capital, is sometimes underrated as a destination, but it is fascinating in its own right, not to mention the place I call home. It’s the best place in Albania to understand post–World War II life under the Communist regime of dictator Enver Hoxha, who sealed the country off from the world for nearly half a century.
Walking the city, one sees the stark socialist-realist edifices flanking Skanderbeg Square (above) and statues in the same artistic tradition like “Mother Albania,” presiding 50 feet above the Martyrs Cemetery (below). The House of Leaves and Bunk’art 1 museums explain the darker side: paranoid surveillance, labor camps and executions. A cable car ride caps the day on Mount Dajti, which offers a panorama of Tirana’s sprawl. There’s plenty more exploring to be done—not to mention shopping and nightlife—as well.
Into the Accursed Mountains (Shkodër, Theth, Valbona; 4 Days)
Day 1
Leave from Tirana for Shkodër, stopping at a farm-to-table restaurant for lunch in Lezhë
Afternoon in Shkodër with visit to Rozafa Castle, or walking tour of Shkodër
Day 2
Drive from Shkodër to Theth over the Qafa e Thorës pass
Hike to the Blue Eye in Theth National Park (7 hours, low-medium difficulty)
Day 3
Hike the famous Valbona Pass from Theth to Valbona (7.5 hours, medium difficulty)
Day 4
Return to Tirana via the ferry down Lake Koman, one of Europe’s greatest scenic boat trips
(This itinerary can be extended for those who wish to spend more time up in the mountains, which also extend into Montenegro and Kosovo.)
The Albanian Alps are also called the Accursed Mountains (!), though presumably not for the harrowing dirt-road switchbacks one must navigate to get to the heart of them. They rise to nearly 9,000 feet and provide some of the best natural spots where one can feel completely alone and very far from civilization indeed. This tour leaves from Shkodër, a cosmopolitan little city with a magnificent castle, and continues up and up, through year-round snow, to Theth National Park.
There are many hikes one can follow from here, of varying degrees of difficulty, passing waterfalls, caves, streams, alpine farmsteads and a bounty of flora and fauna. But I’ve highlighted two favorites: an out-and-back to the iridescent, bracingly cold Blue Eye pool, and the crossing of the Valbona Pass, fast becoming famous for its breathtaking elevated vistas.
Another Day in Paradise (Vlorë, Sarandë, Butrint, Ksamil, Gjrokaster, Byllis; 4 Days)
Day 1
Leave from Tirana; visits to the ruins of Apollonia and monastery of Ardenica
Continue to Vlorë; afternoon at a beach on the Albanian Riviera, or walking tour of Vlorë
Day 2
Drive from Vlorë along the Albanian Riviera to Sarandë, with beach stops, of course
Visit Blue Eye of Sarandë
Sunset in Sarandë at the Forty Saints Monastery ruins
Day 3
Butrint and the Triangular Fortress
Afternoon on Ksamil beaches
Day 4
Gjrokaster: walking tour, bazaar, castle and Shenduli House museum
Byllis ruins and Vjosa River vista
Return to Tirana
(This itinerary can be extended or condensed.)
In the south of Albania, near the border with Greece, you can have a culture trip, a leisure trip or, I figured, why not both? First, off to Vlorë (third pic), stopping at the ruins of Apollonia, where the boy who’d become Augustus Caesar studied. Vlorë is a trendy city that marks the starting point of the stretch of beaches branded the “Albanian Riviera,” with good reason.
Then, from Sarandë to Butrint, the best-preserved of Albania’s ancient sites. By Hellenistic times, it had become a healing sanctuary, with a complex, including a theater (above), devoted to Asclepius, god of medicine. Unwind nearby in the coves of Ksamil (top). The return trip wends its way to Gjrokaster, an important Ottoman city and UNESCO World Heritage site, and Byllis, my favorite ruins for their remoteness and views of the Vjosa River out to the Adriatic.
