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Thinking of visiting Albania for the first time, 9 days from mid May, any (recent) experiences to share?

Although I have no personal experience, this morning I saw this which looked very appealing: Ferry through the fjord, Albania

alma.freya wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 10:46 pm Although I have no personal experience, this morning I saw this which looked very appealing: Ferry through the fjord, Albania

that looks lovely!
Must admit that Albania is not on my list of places I want to visit - or hasn´t been until now........ nut it does look wonderful!!!

I just joined hTTi about 5 mins ago, and was searching around, and so this reply is my very first post.

I am sitting right this very moment in Albania, on a family vacation during the Osterferien. We are close to the end of a 2-wk holiday here, and it has been an exceptional treat, especially since we've been in N. Germany for 3 yrs, and it's flat as a pancake up there. There are beautiful snow-capped mountains (not sure if the snow will still be around next month) and beaches here. Happy to give more feedback if it would be helpful. A few thoughts:

1) We tend to not like crowds and bunches of tourists - being here in April, it's obvious that a few of the places we've visited (beach towns, tourist sites) will be very, very busy in a few months. I think July/Aug is the real heavy trafficked time, but I would guess that May will be much more busy than now. On the flip side, it may be warm enough for swimming/beaches, if that's your thing.
2) Some things are very cheap, and others are not - gasoline is about the same cost as Germany, and so is groceries (although eating out is cheaper, but not as much as we thought). Rental cars were fabulously cheap (less than 10€/day), but that may not be quite so much of a bargain in the tourist season. Parking is somehow a challenge, both in cities and in rural areas - I tremble to imagine what it is like in the summer!
3) Driving is easier than they say online if you've ever driven in the developing world. Drivers are careful, just the rules of the road are a bit more relaxed. The road conditions are definitely not up to German standards, but not terrible (again, from the perspective of having lived a long time in Asia).
4) Natural beauty is exceptional. You won't regret coming if you love natural beauty.
5) We found the food a bit "meh." You can definitely find some great hole-in-the-wall places that serve great Albanian food, but if you are looking for a wide variety, you will be out of luck. Most restaurants serve the same dishes, so you'll get a lot of grilled meat (great, just not great every day), pasta, and meatballs. If you're adventurous, try the paçe, which I think is delicious. If you're traveling with picky kids, like we are, you'll be eating a lot of pizza

Like I said, happy to provide additional feedback if it would be helpful. We've really enjoyed it & will be sad to leave!

-Ethan

Having initiated this thread, I can report that our ten day visit to Albania back in May 2024 was a joy in pretty much every respect. We started and finished in Tirana, but managed to cover a lot of the country in around a week in a hire car, including the coastline almost all the way to the Greek border and inland to some pretty spectacular mountain scenery. I was generally amazed at the unexpectedly high quality of the roads and overall we were really impressed by the quality of the cuisine - we loved one particular fish restaurant in Tirana that we ended up going there three or four times! The Enver Hoxha museums and artefacts were fascinating and May seemed to be the sweet spot as far as weather and crowds were concerned (the water was still a bit nippy).

We would definitely imagine returning. It's no longer a "secret" destination these days but still worth it in every way.

Ethan - if you're still in Tirana, or fly back from there, here's the seafood / fish place that we really enjoyed https://maps.app.goo.gl/XfjgwiSLxqaP91yV8