Who's been to Albania?
 

Hello,

We found a flight that might work for us that lands in Tirana, Albania. From there we would go to Montenegro and on to Croatia. I thought maybe Albania might be worth a few days of our time...Berat and Kruja in particular. But if really worth while we might be able to fit in Gjirokastra, perhaps Apollonia.

I have never even considered Albania before...after some inital planning I would love to hear from someone who's been there. Is it safe, how do these sites/towns rank in interest - would a few days be worth our time (we would be stealing time from Austria likely) or is the country not quite there yet as far as being a travel-must?

We'd love to get a sense of the place.

Thanks,

Naxos

>Who's been to Albania?<

Mussolini tried it, but left after a few years.

Friend of mine was there about 6 yrs ago. He found it very dreary.

((I))

To answer your question, I don't thank anyone has actually "been" there. I do seem to remember the terroists in the movie, "Back to the Future" with Michael J. Fox were from Albania...

You should hear what my Serbian friends say about Albania!

Mind you another good friend is Albanian but she lives in Sydney now. Probably a better option I think.

This may not help but I saw a TV show on Albania this weekend and it is no longer on our list of places to see. Obviously there is only so much you can glean from an hour show.

Croatia is so fantastic and that I can say from lots of experience! :))

<i>This may not help but I saw a TV show on Albania this weekend and it is no longer on our list of places to see</i>

Why not? What was it about the country that didn't appeal to you?

Nobody wants to GO to Albania. People want to LEAVE Albania.

Well, actually, I'd go, and I'm sure it's a far cry better than it was even five years ago, but as a vacation destination, I think not.

<i>as a vacation destination, I think not.</i>

The same question - why not?

Naxos asked a straight question and got some foolish answers and some which whilst not foolish implied criticism of the country without explaining why.

Like Naxos it is a country my wife and I are half-considering going to sometime. Why? Partly because of its history and partly because it appears to be off the beat of the tourist lemmings with their lists of must-sees.

Any factual insights even if only based on reasoned hearsay would be welcome.

Like I said before there is only so much you can take away from a one-hour show. I would still definitely consider adding Albania on to another trip but probably would not go there for the entire vacation.

Why? The host (cannot recall the name) was pretty open and unbiased and said that it is generally...well, um...not pretty. The cities shown were more industrialized rather than architecturally interesting. One reason I travel is for architecture. The scenery appears to be less dramatic as other locations I want to go to. No mention of food, though - I travel for that, too. :) One thing that does intrigue me is the history.

The host ended by saying he would not return but was glad he went for historical reasons. TV shows normally are not what it takes to turn me on or off of a country - I have to see it for myself. It just seemed in this particular show there were far more negative images shown than positive. That is all I meant - nothing against Albania or its people whatsoever. Just not my cuppa...just like some folks loving Mexico and some not so much, for example.

I did not see anything on the show that scared me or concerned me, though.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1076.html Check out Albania on the state department website. Doesn't sound like any country I would want to travel in.

All I remember about Albania was years ago - not sure just when - Bibles were not allowed and they were being smuggled into the country.

Oh Yikes, bratsnbeer that site really doesn't paint the prettiest picture does it? I appreciate all the replies humor and all....and we'd love to hear more. Some of the sites look quite good - especially the Unesco-World Heritage museum city of Gjirokastra....but perhaps Albania is a little too up and coming for us.

I have this real desire on this trip to see...less polished places? We just visited some really touristy places in June (Venice, Lake Como, Florence) and while nice, I couldn't help comparing the trip to my last Greek excursion where at times I really did feel like I'd found &quot;off the beaten track&quot; and vestiges of perserved culture. T

his line of thinking has me looking around at Croatias neighbours but I don't know.....We just haven't found the right balance of destination meets public transport, safety and - okay I can hear some of you laughing as I write this-lol! I don't know how to describe it - safe but not disneylandish?

Anyway that was the thought behind Albania (we've also expored Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Bosnia etc, etc). Hmpf.

Cheers,

Naxos

My husband and I spent several days there once. We had planned to take a train from Lake Orhid to Tirana but ended up taking a not-very-comfortable bus. We hired a taxi to take us to Berat, a pretty and interesting village. Tirana is rather delapidated. We stayed in the large hotel on the city square and it was o.k. There is a Sheraton but it is rather far from the city center where we prefer to stay. The people LOVE Americans and President Bush who had just visited. American flags fly everywhere. I cannot remember much else about Albania. From Tirana we flew on to Lubijana.

NaxosTravels If you hve been to Bulgaria and Romania maybe Albania would be okay for you. Sometimes the state dept paints a gloomy picture of countries.

Read what the state dept has written about Bulgaria and Romania and see how it compares to what is written about Albania.

In October we went on the sleeper train from Budapest to Venice. It went through Croatia and Slovenia.
We decided to go to the dining car - to get there we went through several cars of what must have been people from those 2 countries. They were drinking their beer and smoking up a storm and lots of kids running around etc. We got to the dining car but it was worse than the rest of the train - worn out and dirty.

We loved Budapest but not the train from Budapest.

If you go to Albania, be sure to write a report. I have often thought of Lativia, Lithuania and Estonia. I have been in Tallin but that is all in those 3 countries.

I was there once as part of a Dalmatian coast excursion and found it most depressing. I would go to Montenegro or Croatia but skip Albania. They are the butt of all the jokes in that part of the world--must be for some reason.

Good Feedback.

I should clarify that I have never been to Bulgari, Romania etc. I've been poking around exploring the possibility of going to these countaries - but have never been. I traveled in Northern Mainland Greece...that is as close (and as far I guess) as I've been to the area.

I hear what your saying Bob - not really a ton of happy thoughts on the place-lol!

For whatever reason I just can't get excited about Hungary. I try, but it doesn't happen. That one I really should look into more.

Cheers,

NaxosTravels

When we were in Greece there were lots of newspaper articles about Albanians trying to cross the border into Greece, to get out of Albania and its high levels of poverty.

If that were rationale for not going, why do millions of Americans visit Mexico every year? Mexicans are dying to get to the United States, literally... Mexican border towns cannot keep a sheriff because the drug lords murder them and their families as soon as they put the badge on. One just has to make sure you are well read regarding countries and regions of countries and the www.state.gov travel section is a good start.

You sound like DH and I a little more than a year ago. After years of wonderful trips to more well-known tourist areas, and a number of trips that included less-touristy areas of well-known countries (i.e., Languedoc area of France - definitely an area frequented by tourists, but not as much, especially Americans), we started looking elsewhere.

I investigated the Dalmation coast - Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro. We ended up deciding not to go there (this trip), because we really enjoy history, and are not so much beach people. And while there's lots of history in that area, of course, the sites were more spread out than we wanted on that trip (our 13yo son was travelling with us). And it seemed like many people go to that part of the world to enjoy the laid-back beach scene; that's great if you like it, which we don't so much.

We ended up going to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. While Prague and Budapest are big tourist destinations, the rural countryside and smaller towns are not heavily touristed, especially for people from the U.S. There's a lot of history to be seen, especially castles, which are an interest of me, DH and our son. And there are many gorgeous little towns. Of course, all these countries are just fine in terms of safety.

Enjoy your planning!

You can really get off the beaten path in Croatia. I also highly recommend Hungary. One of the reasons we bought a house in Croatia is so we can easily travel to Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, etc. and do a lot of exploring. We have found the further east we go the more we love it!! However, I will always have a special place in my heart for Scotland and Wales. And I love Italy but am passionate about Croatia.

My husband and I are not beach people whatsoever but we love the sea. We are the type to find secluded areas and snorkel, look at crabs and just walk through the water. And we love the smell of the salty sea air (we live 3,000 miles from any ocean) and the sounds of pounding surf. You can find a lot of that in Croatia.

naxos:


I've responded to your other threads concerning Romania...as for Albania, I have driven the northern and eastern parts of the country twice...with German rental car plates on the (now)Montenegro and (now)Macedonia borders. People were helpful and friendly, as were the local gendarmes and border police. This was in the 80's when few if any westerners crossed into Albania. They had a simple system of allowing you over the border...commonly known today as &quot;racial profiling&quot;..and &quot;purpose of visit&quot;, and &quot;where will you be staying&quot;...we opted at no time to stay....the border officers looked at my notebooks where I had jotted notes on Yugoslavia (in those days)that they could not read..but they waved us through at both crossings (near Ulcinj beach in what is now southern tip of Croatia), and from Lake Ohrid (quite beautiful) which is now in Macedonia...but we visited some interesting ruins, especially the castle on the Lake Ohrid border (Sveti Naum), had a few meals of less-then appealing offerings..and scooted back to Ulcinj at one time, and to Ohrid the other. Would I recommend going? Nope.

travel2live2:
&gt;&gt;&gt;(we live 3,000 miles from any ocean)&lt;&lt;&lt;

I'm curious...I can't conceive of any place other than western China, certain former Soviet Republics in Siberia, far northern Canada, or (?) where you could be that far from any ocean. Please enlighten us.

Stu t.