Albania Summer 2024 trip report (no bicycle adventure this time)

[kiley]

I booked this 11 day trip to Albanian as a family of five as a BA holiday(double tier points) with club flights and 5 nights at the Melia Durres (at the end of the trip). For me it was just right to keep me on the BA siler path for anther yr.

The “fun” started at T5 departures check-in where the agent insisted we all needed a visa for Albania. This was after we had all handed over our valid British passports! After some further nervous discussions and the agent taking council from a colleague, she had a change of stance and informed us we did not require visas, apologises and stated she thought we were going to Toronto. At this point I was just thankful all was good and I didn’t see any need to continue further discussion with the check in agent regarding the requirement of visas, even if we were hypothetically travelling to Toronto.

Security, lounge and departure were all good and we arrived in Tirana early evening for the start of our adventure.

Our first night we stayed in Zona 1 in an apartment booked through booking.com. It felt safe and plenty of restaurants and bars. If you are into more of a night life scene then Blloku District (south of the river) may have more appeal. But for one night of climatization it was perfect.

The plan for the next 4 nights was to stay in Ksamil (pronounced samil) in the south of the country marketed by Albania tourist board as “The Maldives of Europe”. Having never been to the Maldives in not in a position to compare. But I would guess its not! Getting from Tirran to Ksamil is a 5 hr drive or a flight to Corfu and a ferry. We took the option of driving with the option to stop off and absorb some culture enroute.

The first (and only) stop south bound was near a small town called Koloje at a vineyard /Farm/ restaurant in Rruge Pa Emer. This place was a hidden gem, off the tourist trail and served some of the best locally produced food I ever tasted. I didn’t taste the wine as I was driving, but the other half gave the thumbs up….as did many locals.

We arrived at our second hotel (Colosseum Hotel) in Ksamil late afternoon, checked in, dropped our bags and went straight out to watch England play in the Euros at a local bar. Plenty of beach bars to choose, non of which are particularly expensive, although the ones with a rooftop sunset view did charge a premium for drinks. Our hotel was typical local hotel, clean, friendly vibe and perfectly adequate with nice sea views.

Ksamil as a town is a little behind the time in terms of infrastructure, but as long as you watch where you are walking and don’t fall down any open road works its perfectly safe and manageable. Our “grown” up teenagers went out without us most evenings returned safely circa midnight (all bars close at midnight). The beaches and the ocean are as good as it gets in Europe, very similar to Croatia, golden sand and warm (no wetsuit required) clear water. perfect if you are into open water swimming

Unbeknown to myself, My son had arranged himself some jujitsu tourism (again) in Sarande which is the next town up from Ksamil, So after dropping him off one evening at the local Gracie Barra we ventured around this very nice Harbour town. Sarande is very different to Ksamil. Just as busy but without the party feel of Ksamil. If you are in Ksamil, Sarande is defo worth a visit for a day/evening.

Our next excursion was to Muzine to see the “Blue Eye” this place if defo worth a visit. Its Stunning. Fee paying carparking is available but you cannot park close. You have to walk from the car part for about 15 minutes to the entrance of the national park, pay a fee to enter the part ( I can remember how much but was pretty negligible). Then once in the park there is an option of a land train or a walk up to the blue eye. Given the 38 degree temperature and a 40 minute walk, we opted for the land train. which I think was 500Lek (5 Euro) return ticket. Once at the top, the blue eye walk takes about 30mintes including stopping at the view points and grabbing some very Instagram ready pictures.

We Left Ksamil and decided to stop for one night in Berat to break the journey up to Durres. Enroute we visited Apollonia ancient Greek ruins. As a stop off to break the journey this place was ideal, We were the only visitors on his historic site and there is a restaurant serving fresh cheap food. I’m not really an ancient ruins kind of guy, but this place felt pretty cool. Its not on the scale you would find in Athens, but still worth a visit. DO NOT FOLLOW google maps to get there! I did and it involved a hire car on its side. For legal reason, I will not be disclosing any further information! but many thanks to the local farmer and his soviet era tractor for rescuing a poor family of five and putting the hire care back on all 4 wheels with very limited cosmetic damage.

When we arrived in Berat, we had just about had enough trauma to last a life time (I have not mentioned the forest fires from Blue eye to Apollonia as i’m still trying to regress this memory.) We checked into Bujtina Bega (castle) hotel in Berat and did not venture in this city. The next morning we woke up to more stunning views for breakfast and got back on the road for our finial segment at the Melia Durres.

Firstly the Melia Durres in NOT in Durres! but this was a needs must to get the double tier points. The check-in process at the hotel was smooth, save being reminded of the city tax we needed to pay which seemed a little ironic as this hotel is 40 minute drive from Durres! We had a lovely 5 days here but having had a week in Albania already, it was a little shock to now be paying a very high premium for F&B. On a plus note, the hotel had a Euro Football fan zone set up in the garden with a free BBQ on match days. We had the pleasure of seeing England loose whilst eating a free sausage. Overall the Melia was pleasant and as expected from this type of cookie cutter resort. Just not too much going on in and around this area in the evenings.

We did take a day trip to Tirana from Durres and one of the highlights of our trip was visiting Bunk’Art 1 which is a 5 floor underground communist bunker come “art” gallery. Its very interesting if this is your bag, but don’t expect any typical types art, just Marxist-Leninist exhibits. As a further plus, its very cool in the bunker and provided some much needed relief from the August Albanian temperatures.

On the day of our departure we drove back the airport, nervously dropped off the hire car back to “budget” rental and headed to Tirana departure lounge. BA Club flights home were un eventful and satisfactory. Double tier points were deposited with 7 days or arrival back in the uk.

I would recommend Albania if anyone is thinking of visiting this wonderful and diverse country for 80 Tier points ( double with BA Hols) each way. People are very friendly; food is great, your money will go a little further and we never had a dull day!

….. Phu Quoc (Ironman) + Phuket Trip report with bicycle adventures coming soon……

[qc]

I’ve just read this – great trip report! Shame the route to status via BAHs has been killed off.

[hma11]

Enjoyed reading your trip report! Looking forward to reading your adventures in Phuket ahead of our trip in July.