20/07/2023
ALBANIA
1. Country & Connectivity - Eastern European Country, earlier part of the Soviet Union (USSR). Good connectivity with major countries in the world with regular flights
2. Travel cost from UAE :- Flight, Hotel, Transport, Meals, Insurance & Tour packages - Approx Aed 3,000 - Aed 5000/- for a couple for a period of 5 days (depending on season or off-season travel).
3. Visa Requirements - Major Nationalities have the facility of visa on arrival & also people with United States permanent/Visit visa, Shangen Visa and residents from United Arab Emirate (UAE) also have the facility of visa on arrival. Eligibility for all countries can be checked on this link :- e-visa
4. Type of holiday - City Escape, Historical and cultural heaven & beach escape. No of days- 3 - 7 days
5. Best season - Spring during (March-April) or the autumn (September-October), July is the hottest approx. 35 degrees (95 F) and January is the coldest approx. 7 degrees (45 F)
6. Key cities to visit - Tirana, Berat, Kruje, Sarande, Durres, Vlore and Gjirokaster
7. Places of sight seeing - Tirana (Skanderberg Square, Bunkart Museum, Etâhem Bej Mosque, National Historical Museum, Dajti Ekspres, Christ Orthodox Cathaderal and Orthodox church of Albania). Berat (Berat Castle and the explore and walk the oldest village known as the âCity of 1000 windowsâ or âcity of floating windowsâ. Sarande, Durres and Vlore are beautiful beach destinations away from Tirana.
8. Currency & Hotels - LEK which is roughly 1 USD = 95 LEK (July 2023) & 1 Euro = 100 LEK (July 2023) & along with local currency USD and Euro are widely accepted. Good 3* hotels available from USD 50/- to 5* in the range of USD 150/- per night.
9. Mobility - Cities are small and can be explored without taking formal tour packages which are charged in Euro and very expensive. Local transportation like city buses and cabs are reasonable and have a good connectivity.
10. Food - The cuisine is mainly healthy Mediterranean which includes seafood, meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts and Olive oil. Food for Non-vegetarian is not a problem but vegetarian and Muslims (halal food) is a challenge and there are few places which serve the same within the city. Do try their most popular traditional food âBYREKâ which is a hearty layered Pie filled with Spinach, Cheese, pumpkin and meat and available both in veg and non-veg options. Their Coffee and Gelato ice cream available at all the cafeâs is also to die for.
We visited Albania during mid-July 2023 when temperature was pleasant in the range of 18 to 25 degrees celsius. It was a 5 night 6 day holiday with our stay at 5* MAK Albania (Sheraton).
We had made the arrangements via HOLIDAY FACTORY LLC a major tour operator from Dubai-UAE and our flights were booked on WIZZ AIR (Low cost Hungarian airlines) from Abu-Dhabi to Tirana (capital of Albania). It was a 5.45 hours flight and was a very pleasant one with good on-board services and new narrow body 240 seater jet liner. Since it was summer the day light is long and sun sets only at 9 pm at night so we landed at 4.30 pm Tirana time and âvisa on arrivalâ at the airport was a breeze since we had a valid US visit visa and also UAE 10 years Golden visa. Hotel was 30 minutes away from the airport and upon checking at the hotel and after refreshing up we headed straight off to the beautiful Skanderburg square which was just a Kilometer (Km) away and a 15 minutes walk from the hotel. On the way we enjoyed the beautiful evening vibes of the city, bought a local SIM with 1 month validity and 10 GB data for Euro 15/- and then had a nice vegetarian Donor sandwich for dinner. Checked out the city at night with its wonderful lighting and European vibes with coffee bars lining up on either side of the streets and full of buzz with both youngsters and aged having a nice time watching foot ball, music videos etc.
Day 2 after having a wonderful continental breakfast at the hotel we started our day around 9.30 am and reached Skanderburg square (Opera house) from where we joined the FREE WALKING TOUR at 10 am. There are two tours conducted daily from the same location at 10 am and 2 pm everyday from the Opera house located on the square. These tours are quite common in Europe and are for 2 and half hours wherein the guide will take you to all the sight seeing places by walk and give you an insight into the history and the significance of that place. They are open to question and answers and it is quite interactive and informative so whenever you visit Albania do make it a point to join these tours. You may freely book in advance online or just show up at 10 am at the Opera staircase and join the tour. The tour is conducted in English, French and Spanish and the guides do this full time 365 days and clearly operate on donations and at the end of the tour you may contribute as per your convenience. The same tours are also conducted by private tour operators and they charge approx Euro 44 (incl. Lunch) per person for the same.
Our guide was Gazi Sadiku who has been conducting these tours along with 5-6 other registered tour guides for the past few years. They are also part of the free tour movement and you may book your tours freely on GURUWALK.COM. On the day of our visit almost 50 people showed up since it was a Sunday and then we were broken down into groups of 10-12 each attended by 1 tour guide and after a brief 15 minutes history of Albania we visited the following places:-
- Skanderbeg Square - surrounded by National History museum of Albania, Opera, Library
- Skanderbej Statue
- Clock Tower
- Etâhem Beg Mosque (400 years old)
- Bunkart 2 and Government building area
- Reza - The Cloud is an art installation of Glass and steel structure by the famous award winning Japanese Artist Sou Fujimoto
- Pyramid of Tirana (which is a Pyramid like structure used as TV/Radio station during the Communist time and now being renovated and being converted into a Start-up Technology space)
- Saint Paul Catholic Cathaderal
- Murat Toptani street lined up with lovely coffee house and restaurants
- The last remaining wall from the Castle of Tirana which is no more
- City park hosting the 2.60 ton Berlin wall fragment donated by the city of Berlin and Postbllok underground bunker - Checkpoint
- The resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral
It was a fantastic tour where we parted saying our byes to the guide and asking suggestions on what and where to eat as it was lunch time.
After having our lunch of chicken shawarma and butter milk at a nice Turkish Halal restaurant -Capitol Meat & Chicken at the Skanderberg square we took a 20 minute drive 5 Km away from the square to visit the biggest Bunkart 2 museum and the Dajti Espres 1 km cable car ride leading to the mountain from where you can have the best view of Tirana city below. The return fare is Euro 1 per person for the bus transport and approx Euro 15 for a return trip by cab.
On the mountain top there is an adventure park where you may indulge in a horse ride, Quad bike, Rifle shooting etc. After all the entertainment you can have a nice coffee or snacks at one of the restaurants situated on the top overlooking the city and enjoy the views with a hot cup of coffee or a nice lunch. The return cable car ride is a s beautiful as the climb and the return cable cart tickets are Euro 12 per person and you also have an option of buying the Adventure Park + Return cable car ticket at a discounted rate.
Once you are down you may just walk down to the Bunkart 2 museum, buy your tickets and spend some time in understanding the history of Albania under the communist rule. Its one of the biggest Bunkers spread over approx. 1,000 square meters made up of 5 long corridors and you may easily spend 1-2 hours there. Most of the tourist sites are open from morning 9 am to evening 6 pm. Tickets for the museum is Euro 5 per person.
After a fantastic and a busy day filled with fun we had a nice dinner at one of the local restaurants in Skanderberg square and called it a day.
On day three we planned our visit to a nearby city Berat which is approx. 100 km from Tirana and known for its historic architecture and scenery and good for a day trip from Tirana. Its is also know as the âTown of 1000 windows/ floating windowsâ, due to the many large windows of old decorated houses overlooking the town. Further it is also famous for for the 13th century Berat Castle from where you have a beautiful view of the Berat city and Osum river valley. Within its walls lies an old village where people still live and some have converted their house into an guesthouse, restaurant and souvenir shops selling various local wares. The streets are stone cobbled street and you may explore the village on foot and transport into 13th century as it still feels the same, There is also a church at the end of the castle which is closed but you may enjoy its beautiful architecture from outside and also click some nice photographs from above as its facing the valley below. Post a nice 1-2 hours walk you can indulge in a scrumptious lunch (veg/non-veg) at one of the local restaurants and can plan your return journey as the last return bus to Tirana is at 4 pm from the bus station. Itâs a small town and most of the places like the mosque, local market etc. to visit are around the castle.
Transport - Start early around 9 am as itâs a 2 and half hour journey by Mini 33 seater mini A/c private buses which ply between Tirana bus terminal and Berat bus stand and the ticket cost is Euro 10 for a return trip per person. Taxi fare from Berat bus stand to Berat castle is Euro 5 and return journey can be made on foot as its only 1.50 Km from the bus station and you can enjoy the beautiful view of the town and Osum river along the road on your way back.
On day four - We planned our visit to another nearby city Kruje (pronounced Kru-ee) which is approx. 33 Km from Tirana bus terminal and an one and half hour journey by bus and good for a day trip . The buses ply from morning 7 am to 6 pm daily and tickets cost Euro 3 for a one way trip per person. Kruje is the hometown of Albaniaâs national hero Skanderberg and the town is located on the slopes of Mount Kruje with a very picturesque location. Itâs a small town and you can see all the places by walk starting with a visit to the Kruje castle overlooking the city and the valley and the beautiful surrounding mountains. Now only the tower and few walls of the castle are remaining and within the castle on the left is a magnificent building of which is the Historical museum (Tickets Euro 5 per person) and Ethnographic museum (Tickets Euro 4 per person)and you may visit the same and learn about the national hero of Albania and admire the beautiful frescoes and the artwork.
After the visit to the castle you may start your journey back to the bus stand/car park walking through the old bazaar with its cobbled street and wooden houses/stores on the either side. This is the best place to do some souvenir shopping and purchase of some silver jewellery which are locally made. Once you are done visiting both these beautiful places you may visit the local restaurants lined along the street and enjoy some nice local foods, doner kabab or a pizzaa. The quality of the food all around Albania is excellent and the prices are also very reasonable with average meal costing in the range of Euro 8-15 for 2 persons. Once you are done with your visit you may walk down to the bus stand where you were dropped and catch the same bus back to Tirana which is at every hour until 6 pm in the evening. Summers are very long in Albania and the sun sets at around 9 pm in summers so you have a long day light to enjoy your holiday.
Day five and day six were spent visiting various local areas in Tirana and shopping for souvenirs and gifts to take home. We visited the Grand park of Tirana spread over few acres and you can easily spend the whole day over there with various facilities like Nature trails, Jogging tracks, children play area, Mini train which takes you around the whole park in 45 minutes and a beautiful lake. After having spend half a day at the park we visited the local market, known as the âNew Bazaarâ and is a place where all the locals come to shop for fresh vegetables, fruits and other natural products like honey, spices etc. We also tried the lovely coffeeâs and their Gelato ice creams during our stay and these are the best we have had and beats the best of the brands in the world so do not forget to indulge in the same. Also here is a quaint pizza joint near the Toptani Shopping centre - Royal Pizza run by a local and the sandwiches in the local bread and the pizzas are to die for and they have both - vegetarian and non-veg version.
Day six afternoon after checking from the hotel we took our flight back from the Tirana International airport to Abu Dhabi via Wizz Air which was a 5.15 hours flight. There is one business lounge at the end of the airport terminal once you complete your immigration and its accessible to all the Platinium card holders with the LOUNGE KEY, so if you have one, please relax at the lounge which has a nice spread of vegetarian food and lots of soft drink options.
Overall it was a place worth visiting and for a period of 3-7 days and in case you go for a 7 day holiday and enjoy beach destination then you may rent a car for 2 days and visit few beautiful beaches along the drive on this route - Tirana - Vlore - Albanian riviera road - Sarande - Ksmil - Blue eye - Gjirokashtra. The drive is approx 263 Km one way and you will have to start early as its almost 4 hours drive one way and you may enjoy the best beach destination in Albania with their blue crystal clear waters and white sand.
By - Nazir M K (TravBytes)
