Start in Tirana, with two nights for Skanderbeg Square, the Bunk'Art museums and a Blloku dinner. Then go south through Berat and Gjirokastër, the two Ottoman old towns on the UNESCO list, to the Ionian coast at Sarandë and Ksamil, with the ruins of Butrint a morning away. Durrës and Vlorë are for flat Adriatic sand. In the north, Shkodër leads up to Theth and the Valbonë pass, the best walking in the country and a summer trip only. Go in May, June or September.
2 Albania city guides
Fun fact
From 1967 to 1990 Albania was declared the world's first officially atheist state, and around 173,000 concrete bunkers were built across the country under Enver Hoxha. Two of them, in the capital, are now the Bunk'Art museums.
Stereotypes, sorted out
The realityPetty theft is uncommon and most visitors report no trouble at all. The real hazards are ordinary ones: enthusiastic overtaking on two-lane roads, and mountain trails that are less waymarked than the photographs suggest.
The realityThe dictatorship ended in 1990 and the bunkers have been repurposed as museums, bars and storage. Tirana spent the last two decades painting its blocks, pedestrianising its centre and building upwards.
The realityIt is two coasts and a mountain range. The Adriatic north of Vlorë is flat and sandy, the Ionian south of it is cliffs and coves, and the Accursed Mountains behind Shkodër are alpine enough to need a summer window.
The realityEnglish is common in Tirana and along the tourist coast, and Italian is widely understood almost everywhere. Albanian itself is its own branch of Indo-European, so learning a few words earns real goodwill.
The realityThe ferry to Sarandë takes about half an hour, and plenty of people do exactly that. It buys you one town. The Ottoman old towns, the Riviera and the Alps are a week and a half between them.
Cultural notes that actually help
- Coffee is the social unit here. An invitation to one is not small talk, and whoever invites pays.
- Hospitality is a point of pride. Refusing an offered coffee or raki outright reads as a snub, so accept and sip.
- A head shake for yes and a nod for no still turns up, mostly with older people outside the cities. If a gesture confuses you, ask again in words.
- Shoes come off at the door of a home, and slippers are usually offered.
- Mosques and churches ask for covered shoulders and knees, including at the Et'hem Bey mosque on Tirana's main square.
- Tips are cash on the table. Added to a card payment they rarely reach the person who served you.
- Cash still runs furgons, markets and mountain guesthouses, and the machines charge a flat fee on foreign cards, so draw larger amounts less often.
Famous Albanian faces
Mother Teresa
Ismail Kadare
Dua Lipa
Inva Mula
Anri Sala
Ismail Qemali
Fan Noli
Onufri
Pietro Marubi
Kolë Idromeno
Eliza Dushku
Lorik Cana
Luiza Gega
Edi Rama
Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg
Ferid Murad
Aleksandër Moisiu
Zog I
Enver Hoxha
Naim Frashëri
Rita Ora
Bebe Rexha
John Belushi
Must-try Albanian food
Tavë kosi
The national dish. Lamb baked under yoghurt and egg, served in its clay dish.
Fërgesë
Tirana's own plate. Peppers, tomato and gjizë curd baked in clay, eaten with bread.
Flija
The northern signature. Thin batter layers cooked one at a time under a lid, with cream.
Lakror
Korçë's thin pie, baked under a saç lid on embers, filled with greens, leek or tomato.
Tavë Elbasani
Elbasan's version of the yoghurt bake, slow-cooked until the top sets into a tangy crust.
Trileçe
Sponge soaked in three milks under caramel. Imported, and now on every dessert menu.
Baklava
Filo, walnuts and syrup cut into diamonds. An Ottoman inheritance on every holiday table.
Byrek
Layered pastry with spinach, curd or meat, bought from a window. The cheapest good meal.
Qofte
Meatballs of lamb or beef with onion, garlic and mint, grilled over coals or fried flat.
Speca me gjizë
Peppers stuffed with salty curd cheese and baked until the skins blister.
Grilled sea bream and sea bass
The Ionian default, and rightly so: olive oil, lemon, salt and nothing else.
Butrint mussels
Farmed in the lagoon beside the ruins and served a short drive from where they are lifted.
Koran
The trout of Lake Ohrid, eaten on the Pogradec shore and worth the detour east.
Petulla
Fried dough rounds with feta, honey or jam. Breakfast, best straight from the pan.
Raki
Grape or plum brandy, often homemade. Poured to welcome you, not to end the night.
Dhallë
Salted yoghurt thinned with water and served cold, with anything from a clay pan.
Boza
Thick, faintly sour fermented cereal drink sold from small shops. An acquired taste.
