Oh Albania… How you surprised me, and how you made me happy! I assumed that I was heading into a country full of nice beaches, good food, and a relaxing environment (all of which turned out to be more than true), but you have given me far more. What started as a simple trip to celebrate my graduation from the graduate school with my mother turned out to be an incredible adventure, full of turns and twists that was not expected, almost always for the better.
Due to my prior busy-ness with school and some other relevant work, I barely had the time to get properly ready for my time in Albania, heck, I even had to finish reading the one history book I had about it AFTER I was already back at home! I was that unprepared. That should not be the case for you if you hang around and keep reading all my work on Albania, in which I do my best to share my genuine thoughts about what had happened throughout my journey in that mountainous gem in the Balkans!
Who is Albania for? Pros and Cons of Spending Some Time in Albania
Our globe is home to around 200 countries, depending on whom you ask, and as such, I prefer not to give an exact number for such “political” matters if possible. This means that, even if you were to explore three of them per year, chances are, you may die well before seeing them all. I am not saying these to demotivate anyone, these are just simple facts. Unless you are super rich and can afford to travel full time, you will not be seeing all those countries, period. What that means is making tough choices is a part of travelling.
When I go through the list of countries (recognized and unrecognized) what I feel is an immense desire to see them all, but at the end of the day I do have a method of sorts in my mind that lets me pick where to go every year, if I have the time and means for any such adventures. Let me now try and address some pros and cons for travelling to Albania so that you can make up your own mind whether it is a worthy destination FOR YOU or not. Though do keep in mind that reading the rest of my work may motivate (or demotivate) you further regarding going there!
Pros
- Albanian people are some of the finest when it comes to their interactions with tourists and foreigners alike, making anyone’s stay there a true delight. There was not a single time there, throughout the two weeks that I spent in the country, when I felt like I was not welcome. No one ever wanted to swindle me, nor was I ever overcharged. In fact, two separate times the vendors gave me extra cashback saying that we are their guests. This never really happened to me before, at least not at this rate. They seemed to be extra friendly with both the Italians and the Turks (there is even an entire TV channel titled as “Seriale Turke HD”) so do keep that in mind as well if you are either.
- Albania is cheap, like really cheap. Even coming from Turkey (a country in a deep economic crisis since at least 2018) I was shocked to see the prices at both Albanian markets and their restaurants. You can get an entire kilo of grilled meat for less than it costs to get a decent kebab in Turkey, in a fine establishment no less! Beer and alcohol in general are dirt cheap, and it never seemed to me that this “cheapness” was for foreigners alone as many spots we have been to were full to the brim with locals as well, enjoying the premises and their food like us. Markets were often full of people too, though none of this means that its people are extremely rich since, unfortunately, we did come across many beggars during our travels there, and we do know that the economic situation worsens as you move away from the more central or touristic cities. In any case, especially for most foreigners, Albania is truly cheap, and you can get some top-notch food and service at its many restaurants for the fraction of a cost of what you would pay on the other side of the Adriatic, and far less than what they would cost in cities like London and Paris.
- Speaking of food and service, Albania has a lot of that going on. Being at the crossroads of many civilizations, thus having a long and complex history, Albania manages to surprise all of its more foodie travellers by more options than one can imagine at first due to its humble size. Alongside with its already rich Albanian and then Balkan cuisine, one can find almost all examples of Italian, Greek, and Turkish cuisines in it as well, with decent joints cooking up meals worthy to go against even some of the finest establishments in these different cuisines’ respective home countries. I have had some of the best pizza I had in my life in Albania, and some superb pasta too, rivalling the ones I had in Italy. The seafood and gyros (or sufllaqe as they call it) was so good at some spots that I would question whether I was back in Athens, enjoying some such delicacies as I wondered about the fate of Parthenon is Ottoman times. I prefer not to have Turkish food abroad so I cannot comment on its quality there but our host in Tirana was convinced that it was as good as the meals he had in Istanbul and Ankara! In short, food is good in Albania, and thus life is good!
- Its unique history and seclusion for decades makes it an extremely interesting country to explore. Coming from a historian this may not mean much, as we are (in theory) literally get paid to study the past and as such is “required” to be excited about it. However, who can say no to visiting a small post-communist state that was neither a part of Tito’s Yugoslavia, nor that of the Soviet juggernaut, nor of its “cousin” to the far east in Beijing. In fact, one by one, Enver Hoxha would go against the policies of all these different socialist states, considering them to be “soft” and preferring his own understanding of communism instead. It most certainly is a unique case, and that is only the last 80 years of the country, with there being some thousands of years full of interesting stories to tell about it that came before it, all culminating in what the modern Albanian identity is today. I do not mean to say that there are some countries out there that are boring or that they have “less” significant histories, but Albania being at its size, simply punches way above its height!
Cons
- It is one of the relatively harder countries to get to and get around if you do not have a car. There are only two international airports, and the bus network in the country leaves a lot to be desired since their drivers seem to enjoy taking a much longer time to get anywhere, which makes planning to move around quite hard. It is not difficult per se, just harder than it should be. Quite a lot of natural wonderlands and some decent touristic areas are also hard to get to by this mass transit system so going there by an organized tour, or with your own car, or perhaps renting a car while you are there may be a better option for those who really wants to see ALL Albania has to offer. For those, like me, that prefers to walk around, and could spend days wondering around aimlessly in a city, then you will also have a great time, just know that getting to anywhere you want, anytime you want, will not be simple. Do find out more about this mass transit system though, do read THIS article of mine on it!
- Language barrier is a real issue, especially with the older generations and in smaller cities. Italian is far more widespread than English, and there were times when other Italian tourists would help us with the translation when we wanted to talk to locals. It is not ideal (well not so much for non-Italians) but then again it is not a deal-breaker. Albania is a small country after all, with a small population, so I can understand them not necessarily jumping to the English bandwagon as it may be too easy for their own languages to become irrelevant quickly if they embraced English fully. There are some countries out there that have high number of English speakers, and some that do not. I do not necessarily think that one is better than the other, but it is important to keep in mind such crucial issues when planning a trip abroad.
- Finding everyday goods and some food stables may be somewhat hard for you, depending on where you come from due to the miniscule size of Albania and thus its market. This was not an issue for me at all, but for example, my mother had a hard time finding a decent black tea for herself, and I did hear from some other Turks that they could not find some Turkish food stables in Albanian markets. If you intend to go there for a short amount of time, I am sure that you can manage, but for longer trips perhaps think about bringing alone some foodstuff etc. that you simply cannot live without. Interestingly, I was shocked at just how expensive instant noodles were in Albanian markets with most costing around 140 to 150 leks. If you are an extreme budget traveller that is used to having some noodles in the morning (or the afternoon, or for dinner), you may consider bringing some along!
- Doing research on Albania is considerably hard as well, both in English and in Turkish since both let me down quite hard. Sources you will find online will often be outdated and/or full of gaps at best, and outright faulty at worst. I will do my best to minimize this issue by trying to share us much (fun and boring alike) details about my travel to Albania within this website as humanly possible, but it can only go so far. You kind of need an Albanian friend or a proper Albanian host, or just know how to speak to locals to get most of the information, which will likely happen only when you will already be in Albania. That is quite tough for certain type of travellers like me, who wants to have a proper itinerary with a ton of details and alternatives long before flying to a country.
When to visit albanıa?
We visited Albania during the June of 2022, and that was a mediocre call. It was not terrible, as the country was pretty deserted, letting us explore it properly and freely. However, it was certainly quite hot. I do not understand how the so-called tourist season appears to last “properly” from July to September, when it would be even hotter… I also heard that the country becomes full of its many migrants workers that came back to see their families during the summer holidays, becoming quite populated for its size.
So, “proper” summer months are out of the question. Travelling around winter is harder than in the summer with certain roads in poorer shapes posing an extra challenge to the already weary traveller. Besides, a trip to Albania would not be complete without swimming in one of its many beautiful beaches. All of this means that going to Albania at around October and May would likely be the best options. If I had the time to do so, I would, but in all honesty academic life (and most professional work for that matter) kind of expects you to travel around summertime, and perhaps in the middle of winter, with months like October and May often being some of the busiest times for work of any kind. In any case, if you have no issues with timing, go there during either October or May, when the weather should be better, and there would be less people to take away from the travelling experience. When it comes to tourists to compete against for seats on a bus, less is always more!
Faleminderit Albania and its wonderful Albanians, it was an excellent stay with you fine folks, and if my words can motivate even a single traveller to make their way to your beautiful nation, I will feel somewhat at ease knowing that I did my best to pay back for all the great memories you have given to me, and for your hospitality!