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Many thanks to @Colin @John @slidey @zapato1060 @supergraeme and @GillyDee for all your thoughts, comments and experiences. Am keeping this in my favourites to revisit, but sounds like Tirana is a different option for those double TP’s next year!
Just to add our experience of Albania from last week.
Overall, loved it. Safe, friendly, hardly any scams, great value, great English spoken, decent roads and driving. Expensive fuel.
Avis at the airport was fairly pants, got given a beaten up car with 1/8 of the tank full and told to bring it back like that. Went to great lengths to not return it with more petrol! The car collection and pick up area was hands down the most chaotic and disorganised I have ever seen anywhere in the world. Some ten companies are fighting over a dusty car park the size of a football field with vehicles parked haphazardly everywhere.
Stayed at the International Hotel in Tirana for 2nts – review here:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g294446-d317815-r1016180243-Tirana_International_Hotel_Conference_Centre-Tirana_Tirana_County.htmlOverall, meh.
We did a walking tour in Tirana which was interesting. Bunk’Art 1 is super, super interesting, Bunk’Art 2 also worth a visit. The Dajti cable car is cool.
In Durres we stayed at the Melia for 3nts – review here: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g21001232-d25099110-r1016183386-Melia_Durres_Albania-Plazhi_San_Pietro_Durres_County.html
Overall, wanted to love it, sadly the gazillion young children kinda ruined it. Would definitely avoid it in season if you are not going with a family.
We also went to the Duka Vineyard nearby, which was a nice change from all the children. Durres itself is worth visiting, but isn’t really near the Melia.
Also visited Berat – absolutely gorgeous and Kruje – nice, but not as atmospheric as Berat.
Tirana Airport is quite small and has very much the feel of a coach station. Zero jet bridges as it’s mostly FR and W6. The lounge is actually very impressive – no natural light, but lots of food and decent drinks selection.
BA in J was… BA. Outbound, the crew was entirely disinterested, did the absolute bare minimum. Inbound it started really well and then, an hour into a three-hour flight the service just ended. They announced we were on final approach an hour before we actually were…
Wouldn’t be rushing back to Albania, but it was a lovely long weekend away and would absolutely recommend it to anyone.
@PeteM – I think you might be doing Albania a bit of a disservice saying you wouldn’t be rushing back to the country having seen so little and chosen two duff hotels (per your comments).
I stayed at the International in May for one night and if it had been longer, I would have checked out. Great location but really miserable tired room/bathroom, vile breakfast and pathetic service. It’s exclusively set up for events including hosting Sir Keir a day or two before I was there. At the end of my trip I stayed at a tiny place – Bel Ami, so much better and cheaper.
One of the interesting places was the House of Leaves, former HQ of domestic spy agency. I was bowled over by the excellent food and restaurants in Tirana and Albania generally. Incredibly good value.
Tirana is also a gateway to Lake Ohrid and Ohrid itself, a truly remarkable place and an easy, very beautiful drive from Tirana.
Near Durrës you might have found Agroturizëm Gjepali a rather better and cheaper alternative to the Melia.
From the North, the drive from Montenegro is very impressive Kruja Castle (which it sounds as though you visited), Shkodra and the nearby agrotourism – Mrizi I Zanave. Going south, so many great places along the coast down to Butrint as well as inland towns like Gjirokastër etc.
@JDB did you go anywhere on the Albanian side of Lake Ohrid? I visited Ohrid itself about 15 years ago now and very much enjoyed my stay.
Also a +1 on your recommendation of Gjirokaster and Butrint. I had the Butrint site pretty much to myself when I visited but I’m sure much busier now with the more recent explosion of tourism in the country. I haven’t been anywhere in the north however, so Shkodra is on my list for a return visit to Albania one day
@tootsci – just the North Macedonian side of Lake Ohrid for three days, so much to see there, but aiming to see the other side soon. It’s a beautiful drive through the national park to the nearby site of Heraclea Lyncestis, only one other person there, remarkable given the quality of the site. Bitola, the nearest town, a couple of kilometres away is interesting as well.
I said “overall, loved it ” and “I would recommend it to anyone”, @JDB. We all travel differently and have different amounts of time available. There are 195 countries in the world and lots to see, so one has to be realistic about where and when to return, I think it’s entirely reasonable to not be rushing back somewhere.
I am amazed at the confidence with which you state that Agroturizëm Gjepali is a “rather better… alternative to the Melia”. This is potentially the case for you, but it clearly isn’t on the beach and is a completely different proposition to the Melia.
Agree on the food – excellent overall, if a bit samey!
There are 195 countries in the world
Depending on your definition 🙂
My “Been” app says 252 countries or 193 UN member states. Got to love a moving target.
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