- Visit Unesco World Heritage sites: Pogradec, Butrint, Berat and Gjirokaster
- Journey through the beautiful Albanian Riviera
- Discover historic monuments, including Durres Amphitheatre and Korce Museum of Medieval Arts
- Explore Llogora National Park
![Highlights of Albania](https://res.cloudinary.com/enchanting/q_80,f_auto,c_lfill,x_w_mul_0.37,y_h_mul_0.47,g_xy_center,w_360,h_270/exodus-web/2018/06/Old-city-of-Berat-1.jpeg)
Highlights of Albania
$500 off your summer adventure – Travel before October 31st 2024. For T&Cs click here.
Reviews
Add your own reviewAmazing country
A very busy tour which took us to all the major sites and through beautiful countryside
Most Inspirational Moment
Seeing the beautiful scenery and the fascinating historic towns. The museum of Medieval Art in Korçë was stunning. I’m not a huge fan of Icons but this museum was excellent.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Artur is a lovely man, very well organised and attentive. Unfortunately his English was difficult to understand when he was explaining the history, archaeology etc.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Shoes with decent non-slip soles are essential for the slippery cobbled streets. A trekking pole useful especially if it is raining.
Never again
Constant dire room issues ruined it. Wrong emphasis on trip content, notes inaccurate, bad hotel and restaurant choices. Leader elusive, finally his response: “you’re on the wrong holiday”. Lived in 8, school 4, business 7 + holidays = 44 countries visited but Albania broke me.
Most Inspirational Moment
Berat's mosque. Imam polite, informative, ceiling of the annexe was out of this world, exquisite.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Offhand, I blew a fuse having to constantly fight my own room battles, he told me to "calm down". It Just got worse. I wasn't last to book but was treated as an inconvenience, after-thought. At one point genuinely thought I would be sleeping on the bus or at a different hotel as debate raged for 1/2 hour, last to get key every time.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Choose a different country, strongly suggest review choice of tour operator.
Highlights of Albania
10 day trip of central and southern Albania (9 nights and 8 full days) visited the major attractions and drove through beautiful scenery. It was a full itinerary and at times felt rushed with city walks taking place late afternoon/ early evening at the end of a long driving day.
Most Inspirational Moment
The visits to the small villages of Lin and Voskopoje, and the visits to the family houses for lunch in Dhoksat and morning tea in Berat. These all gave a great insight into the lives of Albanians over generations.
Thoughts on Group Leader
The group leader was very knowledgeable and had a lot of information to pass on. He was very caring about the group. It would have been helpful to have more definite instructions on plans and timeframe when visiting sites so we knew exactly what time and where to meet. Lunch breaks could have been shorter. The driver was very skilled and his driving on difficult roads was appreciated by the group.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Read up about Albanian history before travelling and if possible spend time in Tirana first as this tour has only 1 morning there.
Fascinating Albania
This is a beautiful country with breath-taking mountainous scenery. Although some drives are long the tour takes you to really intersting places large and small, that are well worth visiting and carefully chosen. The accommodation is varied (eg within the castle walls at Berat or in a Natioinal Park) but always good and clean. You learn a lot about the lives of the Albanian people and their long and often turbulant history. And although the food is fairly simple it is really delicious and the freshest I’ve ever eaten, thanks to all the produce being grown locally. The local fish (Koran)from lake Ohrid was really tasty. The freshness of the food was one of the high points of my trip. The people are genuinely friendly. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing so much of this varied country
Most Inspirational Moment
Goodness! What to say? I enjoyed so much of the trip... the mountains, seeing all the amazing produce growing all around in the country side, the remaining Ottoman houses and mosques and the few Byzantine churches that survived the communist destruction, the old towns like Kruje and Girokastra. The Icon museum in Korce. Also hearing from the owners of two fascinating Ottoman houses we visited whose families had managed (just) to keep their homes during the communist regime.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Our group leader was hard working and very well organised and the trip ran smoothly. We always had interesting stops en route, and good places to eat. However his level of English was not what is expected of a professional tour guide, and he had particular difficulties in pronunciation and the use of tenses which at times caused difficulty in understanding. But he was a nice guy who was very knowledgable, punctual and worked hard for us.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Enjoy being in a country on the cusp of being on the tourist map. So some museums are still being refurbished and some coastal areas are not yet highly developed. Enjoy the amazing local produce but dont expect your dishes to necessarily arrive when you expect them! Enjoy the countryside - drink from mountain springs and bathe in hot springs. Enjoy visiting castles and ancient sites. You will see so much on this trip.
highlights of Albania
I travelled independantly with a small group of friends on the 24th May and joined the group in the Tirana hotel.
The itinerary was excellent and the hotels, bus and our driver were all very good. The only thing that let the trip down was the guide and this had a very detri.ental effect on our holiday.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Our group leader,Arthur, spike very poor English, often translating things word for word (FROM Italian or Albanian) .this made it very difficult to understand especially as his pronunciation was so poor. He constantly repeated the same facts which became very waring and talked almost all the time on the bus even when asked for some quiet ti.e. When people stopped listening he shouted louder and several times he snapped at some of the group. He became angry when people wanted to visit sights and museums and I found myself avoiding him at all times.
Advice for Potential Travellers
this was an interesting trip if you had a different guide.
Albania trip May’24
Beautiful country which is still updating infrastructure for a booming tourist industry. A lot of the past Ottoman buildings may be swept away in some of the overdevelopment that is happening.
Albania’s self sufficiency of fruit and vegetables means you are always eating local and the quality and taste reflect that.
Most Inspirational Moment
Traveling through the spectacular Gramos Mountains next to the Vjosa River between Erseke and Permet. Skenduli House in Gjirokaster was a particularly interesting visit. The host, whose family had lived in this house for many generations, spoke excellent English and explained the historical uses of the different rooms including for weddings.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Our Group Leader was a lovely man who worked very hard and had good knowledge of Albanian history and culture, unfortunately his level of English was not good so it became difficult to follow what he was saying. He also felt he should be constantly giving us information when travelling on the mini bus which led to a lot of repetition which also became trying. At some sights we would preferred to read the English information boards ourselves but the Group Leader insisted on doing this for us.
Advice for Potential Travellers
The Albanians are friendly and helpful but I would visit before the tourist boom starts to dominate the culture. Most of the museums we wanted to visit were closed for repairs or renovations. It didn’t actually look like much work was happening so I would check this out before going.
Highlights of Albania
A comprehensive tour of Albania encompassing many different areas. It’s a historical, archaeological & environmental delight.
Most Inspirational Moment
Seeing wild flower meadows in the mountains with the shepherds & their flocks plus a predominance of agricultural land. The profusion of home grown fruit & vegetables. A veritable time warp. Also, the large amount of Roman & Byzantine ruins showing the importance of the country years ago.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Artur was enthusiastic about his country & extremely knowledgeable. However, he went into too much detail; he tended to over talk so we had no reflection time until he was asked to have periods of silence. His command of the English language was sufficient for us to understand him, but at times I felt he did not really understand our questions as he would not answer them with a relevant answer as he seemed to miss the point. He did repeat the same information more than once even when on the bus with the microphone. Maybe this was to ensure everyone had heard it but that did become rather wearing. Maybe this is the way he has been trained…
Advice for Potential Travellers
This is a full on trip with no spare time; we were mostly moving on each day.
Good but not great
The natural landscape of Albania is stunning; loved the mountains, lakes, rivers, sea. The built environment is less attractive with some high rises spoiling the overall appeal of the country. The tour is very cultural – lots of churches, mosques, buildings, ruins. The whole thing felt like ‘stop, look, listen’ school trip at times with a never-ending Albanian history lesson. Little free time with a packed schedule and we were discouraged from exploring independently from the group.
Most Inspirational Moment
There's not one that stands out about the others, but I like the opportunity to swim in the sea, the hot springs, the walk, (only a short one disappointingly) the views of the mountains , the meal in the house owner's garden and Berat - great accommodation, fabulous group meal next door to hotel, a nice 'feel' to the town and some free time
Thoughts on Group Leader
Artur is very knowledgeable but was ranked as one of the worst guides I've ever had on my travels. He was clearly passionate about Albanian history, and seemed to think that we all shared his passion with non-stop commentary whilst he was guiding us around the sights, on the bus - he would not shut up. I wanted the opportunity to look around in peace, to look through the bus window in peace, to chat to fellow travellers but there was a constant drone of history in a very hard to understand accent (though he is fluent) . I asked him to offer less commentary on the bus so he switched off the microphone and carried on talking as much without the microphone. Far too much detail, lots of repetition. He seemed to get cross when we didn't have any questions but then when I did ask questions he was cross because he's already given the answer at some point when I'd switched off from the droning. He was reluctant to allow us the opportunity to meet the group later and opt out of the guided tour. He got very, very cross with me when I said that Voskopje was not an artists' village but the trip notes said 'the artists village...an important and well-known centre for the arts where many talented Albanian painters work' I asked when we were going to see the artisits as there was one church with painted walls that had been graffittted over and he said that the artists had died centuries ago. So why did the trip notes use the present tense? He lacked any understanding of my frustration over this.
Advice for Potential Travellers
If you are fascinated by Albanian history, love to look around churches and mosques, old and new and old ruins then this is the trip for you.
A country worth visiting
This was a very good introduction to Albania. The guide (Ed) and driver (Di) were excellent. There was a fair balance between visits to historic sites, city walks, interaction with locals and beachside scenery. All the hotels exceeded expectations, as did the food. My reservation would be that it was too tiring moving hotels every night (apart from 2 nights in penultimate one). Perhaps the programme could be extended by a couple of days. Also, the time listening to detailed explanations of the geo-politics of Albania from the guide felt excessive at times. More free time to explore at leisure would have been appreciated. The beach swimming time was very brief, and not at a very good site (biting fish!). Surely there could have been a better beach to go too, and for longer. The bus was good, but the PA system was distorted sometimes making it difficult to hear the leader.
Most Inspirational Moment
Walking through the castle and bazaar at Kurce. Watching local teenagers dancing to live music in the square at Berat.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Very well organised and dedicated to his job. An expert in his country's complicated history and politics. Sometimes Ed talked too much - the detail was too much for us to take in. He tended to go off at a tangent when describing something! But he was a very friendly and helpful leader with incredible local knowledge and contacts.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Read up about Albania beforehand - it is such an unusual country it will help to make sense of what you see. Not too good for vegetarians and definitely not vegans.
Excellent tour, well worth it
Very enjoyable tour in a very interesting country with a lot of history. Spectacular mountain scenery (some long drives but split up with stops along the journeys). Lovely Ottoman towns and cities, such as Berat and Gjirokaster, pretty villages visited en route to cities. Tourist resorts such as Saranda, and large cities such as Vlore and Durres are far from pretty or attractive. A lot of the hotels we stayed in were good and all central when in cities. Good value for money, both cost of the tour itself and in Albania in general.
Most Inspirational Moment
Visiting pretty Ottoman cities such as Berat and Gjirokaster. Learning about the country's history and troubled past and travelling along the Vjosa Valley in the south - very scenic. Albania is 70% mountains and is very scenic, whether you are the mountains and viewing the plains below, or driving through the plains with the mountain ranges around you. Meeting local people and visiting family homes.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Excellent
Advice for Potential Travellers
Currency - as previous reviews mention, credit cards are not accepted in a lot of establishments, in particular restaurants and shops I visited. In a lot of places we visited, Euros were accepted and some items were in LEK and Euros. You can't buy LEK in the UK, you need to change money when you are there. The best rate was in an exchange bureau not far from the hotel in Tirana, which our guide (Armir) showed us. There is a bureau at the airport on arrival but the rate is probably not very good, as is usually the case in airports - follow your tour leader's advice re exchanging money, you don't need to change cash immediately. I exchanged £100 into LEK on the first day in Tirana and it lasted me throughout the holiday, including tips. I used credit card for paying for the meal in Hotel Panorama in Kruje on my last night, as I had used up the last of my LEK that day. I also took Euros and used those where they were accepted, in particular souvenir shops in some places and towards the end of the holiday when my supply of LEK was very low. You could even tip the guide and driver in Euros if you run out of LEK. Essentially, don't change large sum of money when you arrive, see how you go and then change small sums as and when, and take Euros with you as you can always use them on a future holiday to another country. Any unspent LEK you can always exchange at the airport on leaving the country, before going through security. At the time, 100 LEK was about the same as one Euro, so easy conversion rate with your Euros or when buying anything. Prices in Albania are a lot lower than in other European countries and eating/drinking out is fairly cheap - £8 approximately for a pizza (and it was large) and two soft drinks! Ice creams in Berat were very cheap in cafes etc (about 35p for one scoop), some cities charged a lot more - especially in Durres where they were about £1a scoop. Tourist Information - For pre-trip reading and for reference during the trip, take a good guidebook with you (I took the Bradt guide to Albania). Tourist information leaflets and maps are few and far between and a lot of the hotels we visited didn't have either. Tourist information offices, when open, don't really have a lot of info compared with other European cities. The tour leader gave orientation walking tours in some cities or towns; we arrived at and visited a lot of the towns and cities late in the day so you don't get much time in them- we only had one group evening meal (the final night) so we made good use of our time after any orientation tour by exploring by ourselves (we found everywhere very safe to do so). Group meals were always at lunch times so you didn't really need a meal in the evening some times, Note the lunch included at village of Dhoksat was plentiful and excellent, you certainly won't want to eat a lot (if anything) in the evening back in Gjirokaster - note the meal prepared and cooked by the family in Dhoksat is vegetarian - tell your tour leader early on in the holiday if you have food allergies or dietary requirements, or would like meat/fish - as Armir had contacted them well beforehand in this respect.
Start
Finish
Availability
Adult Price From
Optional Single Supplement
Friday Friday
30 Aug 2024 30 Aug 2024
Sunday Sunday
08 Sep 2024 08 Sep 2024
Availability
Sold Out
Adult Price From USD 1,800
Optional Single Supplement +USD 300
Availability
This departure is guaranteed to go ahead and is now fully booked, although we may have people holding spaces without payment. Please contact our Sales team for further information.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
06 Sep 2024 06 Sep 2024
Sunday Sunday
15 Sep 2024 15 Sep 2024
Availability
Sold Out
Adult Price From USD 2,025
Optional Single Supplement +USD 300
Availability
This departure is guaranteed to go ahead and is now fully booked, although we may have people holding spaces without payment. Please contact our Sales team for further information.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
13 Sep 2024 13 Sep 2024
Sunday Sunday
22 Sep 2024 22 Sep 2024
Availability
Sold Out
Adult Price From USD 1,800
Optional Single Supplement
+USD 300
Available upon Request
Availability
This departure is guaranteed to go ahead and is now fully booked, although we may have people holding spaces without payment. Please contact our Sales team for further information.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
20 Sep 2024 20 Sep 2024
Sunday Sunday
29 Sep 2024 29 Sep 2024
Availability
Sold Out
Adult Price From USD 1,800
Optional Single Supplement +USD 300
Availability
This departure is guaranteed to go ahead and is now fully booked, although we may have people holding spaces without payment. Please contact our Sales team for further information.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
27 Sep 2024 27 Sep 2024
Sunday Sunday
06 Oct 2024 06 Oct 2024
Availability
Sold Out
Adult Price From USD 2,100
Optional Single Supplement +USD 300
Availability
This departure is guaranteed to go ahead and is now fully booked, although we may have people holding spaces without payment. Please contact our Sales team for further information.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
04 Oct 2024 04 Oct 2024
Sunday Sunday
13 Oct 2024 13 Oct 2024
Availability
Sold Out
Adult Price From USD 1,800
Optional Single Supplement +USD 300
Availability
This departure is guaranteed to go ahead and is now fully booked, although we may have people holding spaces without payment. Please contact our Sales team for further information.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
11 Oct 2024 11 Oct 2024
Sunday Sunday
20 Oct 2024 20 Oct 2024
Availability
Guaranteed (Available)
Adult Price From USD 1,800 Book with USD 450 deposit
Optional Single Supplement
+USD 300
Available upon Request
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
25 Oct 2024 25 Oct 2024
Sunday Sunday
03 Nov 2024 03 Nov 2024
Availability
Guaranteed (Available)
Adult Price From USD 1,800 Book with USD 450 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 300
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
21 Mar 2025 21 Mar 2025
Sunday Sunday
30 Mar 2025 30 Mar 2025
Availability
Guaranteed (Available)
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
11 Apr 2025 11 Apr 2025
Sunday Sunday
20 Apr 2025 20 Apr 2025
Availability
Guaranteed (Available)
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
02 May 2025 02 May 2025
Sunday Sunday
11 May 2025 11 May 2025
Availability
Available
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
23 May 2025 23 May 2025
Sunday Sunday
01 Jun 2025 01 Jun 2025
Availability
Guaranteed (Available)
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
06 Jun 2025 06 Jun 2025
Sunday Sunday
15 Jun 2025 15 Jun 2025
Availability
Available
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
20 Jun 2025 20 Jun 2025
Sunday Sunday
29 Jun 2025 29 Jun 2025
Availability
Guaranteed (Available)
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
29 Aug 2025 29 Aug 2025
Sunday Sunday
07 Sep 2025 07 Sep 2025
Availability
Available
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
05 Sep 2025 05 Sep 2025
Sunday Sunday
14 Sep 2025 14 Sep 2025
Availability
Available
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
12 Sep 2025 12 Sep 2025
Sunday Sunday
21 Sep 2025 21 Sep 2025
Availability
Guaranteed (Available)
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
19 Sep 2025 19 Sep 2025
Sunday Sunday
28 Sep 2025 28 Sep 2025
Availability
Available
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
26 Sep 2025 26 Sep 2025
Sunday Sunday
05 Oct 2025 05 Oct 2025
Availability
Guaranteed (Available)
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
10 Oct 2025 10 Oct 2025
Sunday Sunday
19 Oct 2025 19 Oct 2025
Availability
Available
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesFriday Friday
24 Oct 2025 24 Oct 2025
Sunday Sunday
02 Nov 2025 02 Nov 2025
Availability
Available
Adult Price From USD 2,025 Book with USD 506 deposit
Optional Single Supplement +USD 330
Availability
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
View Trip NotesWould you like to include flights with your booking?
- ATOL protected
- Competitive flight prices
- Full refunds in the event of FCDO cancellations or major disruption at your UK departure airport
- Specialist support to rearrange flights and transfers
- Regional flights available from many UK airports
You may also like
The Adventure Begins Here
Get regular inspiration straight to your inbox from Exodus' experts.