I recently just returned from a 2 week trip to Greece/Italy. We stayed in Corfu, and we took a boat to Saranda, Albania for a day. There were 2 ways to do this, either you could take a very comfortable organized day trip with Ionian cruises, or you could do what we did. The people that I was traveling with like to really "experience" other cultures. We took a boat that mostly the Albanians use to go back & forth to Corfu with. Once we got there we negotiated with a taxi driver to show us the sites for 4 hours, he charged $50. He took us to various points that had amazing views, views that really were as amazing as those in Santorini. We went to the ancient town of Butrinty which was a beautiful archaelogical site. What made this area so much more attractive to me is the fact that it is very undeveloped and rugged. There is a very new (in fact they are still working on it) hotel in town, it is open. I believe it was called Hotel Butrinty, I wrote the name somewhere and need to locate it. It was a 4 star hotel and for suites we were told it would be $150. I could probably only imagine a night or two in this area, but if you are going to Corfu it is really worth going to. Many of the Albanians we met kept telling us to spread the word that they are not "animals" and that they are nice people. Which they really were. I think in a few years this area may definately become developed, so I would suggest for the adventurous traveller that this is a must see.

I must correct myself- it is Hotel Butrinti.

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Has anyone gone?

Thank you, Angela. It is good to hear that Albania is raising from her misery and people are starting to visit. But I think it will still take years and years before it will be a country were you can travel confortably. And safely. Which is a pity, because the poorest country in Europe would need all the money it can get.<BR><BR>But as a day trip from Corfu. Yes, I would definitely visit.