Albania was a bit of an experiment for us: there isn’t a whole lot of info around on travelling across or inside of its borders, and we were intrigued by this place that only opened for tourism just over 20 years ago following the fall of its Communist dictator in the early 90’s. Some of the things we had read suggested that prior to the 1990’s Albanian citizens were not permitted to travel internationally without permission, and that under the Communist regime there were only 600 cars in the country in total. A lot has changed in twenty years.
Lonely Planet named Albania their #1 travel destination of 2011, and the articles and blogs we had come across in recent years indicated it was one of Europe’s last coastal treasures yet to be exploited by hordes of tourists, and its difficult to get here so that’s not a huge surprise. The main gateway is via the Greek island of Corfu which lies off the coast of Albania, with many cheap airlines flying into Corfu (more on that in the next blog!) and then fast ferries making the 30 minute trip to Sarande in Albania’s south.
From the neighbouring Balkan countries the bus is the best option, and from Lake Ohrid on the Macedonian side it turned out we bought tickets for the last direct bus of the season to the beach resort area of Sarande, narrowly avoiding having to string together multiple buses via the capital of Tirana. It was eight hours overnight and included a border crossing – at AU$60 each it wasn’t as cheap as we had expected, but then we didn’t need accommodation for the night either so it was ok. The last bus of the season had just 5 people on it and as is the way with travelling, we made a US and a UK friend that we would hang out with for a few days (cue BrExit and Trump dialogue!!).
Four heads in Albania are definitely better than two! The four of us got off the bus at 6am in Sarande feeling tired and surprised to find a small city of well maintained buildings, a promenade around the huge harbour and a multitude of cafes, restaurants and shops. Feeling smug with our decision to come here we headed into a cafe to figure out how to get to the beach town of Himare about 55km north and were thrilled to be charged AU$2.15 for four coffees. Yes, that is 54c per macchiato. So far so good Albania!
Whilst food and accommodation are super cheap compared to most other European countries, travelling via taxi is not. The average cost of petrol per litre that we saw was AU$1.70 and our 90 minute (hair raising) trip north from Sarande cost 50€ (approx. AU$75). Thankfully there was four of us to split the fare. We chose the lovely seaside village of Hirame for our first few nights and AU$50 per night scored us ocean views in a family owned hotel with breakfast included. Travelling in late September definitely has perks in countries that wrap up high season at the end of August, however it would also have been nice to have a few more people in town to create a little more energy and buzz.
There are so many beaches to explore in the area surrounding Himare and meeting up with our new friends we decided on Gjipe Beach which we accessed on foot via a canyon. Looking down on the cove from above gave us the sense we had stumbled upon somewhere pretty special and made us all question why aren’t more people talking about Albania??!! The beers were $2, two deckchairs and umbrella were $3, and the water was warm and crystal clear. We felt a million miles from anywhere, especially when the walk back to town had us walking through a herd of cows and goats!
Equally stunning are the beaches south of Sarande where we stayed for 3 nights and in under an hour on a local bus we were in Ksamil with white sand between our toes and turqoise water lapping the shore. There is no question that Albanian beaches are up there with some of the best in the world, and in late September at least they are all virtually empty.
Just 5km from Ksamil is the World Heritage Area of Butrint which dates back to the Roman empire and today holds the remnants of a theatre, cathedral and baptistry. For a low income earning country they have done an excellent job of preserving this site and creating a tourist attraction that brings day trippers from surrounding countries also.
In terms of timing we would probably have preferred to be here a few weeks earlier to soak up the euro-summer vibes but it was also very nice to be able to get into restaurants without a booking, find a large patch of sand to claim, and to be offered an upgrade on our Sarande hotel to the premium room overlooking the water! As we ate our cooked-to-order breakfast on our last morning (and Rhi’s birthday) it appeared we were one of only 2 couples checked in to the hotel and outdoor furniture was being packed away for the off season.
Albania is on our return list for sure. We feel like we have been let in on a secret and will be keen to get back here before it becomes like Dubrovnik or Budva further north, victims of their own success. Its certainly not a foodie destination, and like the neighbouring Greece there is the oh-so-pleasant issue of no paper waste in the toilet, but it has caught our attention and perhaps forever spoiled us in terms of how little you need to spend to stay in Paradise.
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