Albania is Europe’s Last Hidden Gem — For Now

We’ll be honest: the only reason we came to Albania in the first place was to do a hike in the mountains. But what we found here was so incredible that we ended up staying for three whole months. 

Over those months, we’ve traveled from the very north of Albania all the way to the south. We spent a couple weeks climbing some of the most beautiful mountains we’ve ever seen. We’ve experienced the buzz of Tirana, Albania’s up-and-coming capital city. We’ve been to beautiful historic towns; had more than a few farmhouse meals; and we ended our trip on the spectacular Albanian Riviera. 

What’s most amazing is that just a few months ago, we had no idea what Albania had to offer. It’s a country that’s really not on the tourist map yet. 

We originally decided to go to Albania because we wanted to be more adventurous travelers. During the past couple years, we’ve stuck to pretty well-known destinations like Italy and Greece. So what that means is that we really haven’t strayed too far from the tourist map — until now. 

As we said, we came to Albania to do a hike but not just any hike. This was a challenging trek through Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro called the Peaks of the Balkans. It had been on our bucket list for a couple years and we were finally ready to tackle it. 

The hike was everything we hoped it would be. We spent our days trekking from one beautiful landscape to another. We stayed in rustic lodgings, sometimes very rustic including mattresses on the floor and bare concrete shower stalls. 

Our next stop was the capital city, Tirana. And it was a lot more lively than we were expecting. After a couple weeks of peace and quiet in the mountains, we were almost overwhelmed with what we found in Tirana. 

Tirana was our first real experience with how inexpensive Albania can be compared to western Europe or North America. It’s a city filled with restaurants and we could afford to eat out every single day, even twice a day. 

A great example of how affordable Tirana can be was our apartment. We had a beautifully designed, spacious one-bedroom Airbnb in a central location. By local standards, our apartment would be considered outrageously expensive. But to us coming from North America, it was an amazing bargain at just $1,150 USD.

Tirana was great for enjoying the city vibe; checking out the enormous Skanderbeg Square; and some very unique attractions like a former bunker that’s now a museum documenting Albania’s communist past. But after a month in the city, we were itching to get back into the countryside. After a lot of research, we found a farm down in central Albania that we were really excited to visit. The only challenge was how we would get there. 

Getting around in Albania isn’t that easy. There’s no train system. There are buses but we couldn’t take them because we’re traveling with our two dogs. So we bit the bullet and rented a car for the month. Our hesitation was because we’d heard a lot of mixed reviews about driving in Albania. And it’s true that the roads aren’t always in the best condition and the drivers can be a little impatient. But if you’re a confident driver and you don’t mind handling a lot of steep hills, you’ll be just fine. 

We had a magical week at the farmhouse with beautiful scenery, amazing food and, since it’s a winery, great wine. But what we noticed at the farmhouse — and really everywhere else we went — is that English is not widely spoken. Younger people might speak some English but the older generation is far more likely to speak Italian as their second language.

Despite the language barrier, we managed just fine with a combination of google translate and using some hand gestures. Generally we found that the locals seemed a bit reserved. Once we broke the ice with a few words of Albanian, we always got a warm welcome.

By this point in our journey, we were trying to decide where to go next. November was around the corner, Europe was getting cold and rainy. Since we were already in Albania, we thought why not head to the warmest, sunniest place we can find…the city of Sarande on the Albanian Riviera. We were a little worried about heading to a resort town in the off season. The tourists are gone; the beaches are empty; the restaurants are mostly closed. Would spending a month here be a huge mistake?

It turned out to be a great decision. First of all, our apartment was wonderful; it was beautifully designed and, best of all, it had an incredible view of the town and the Ionian Sea. Of course, Sarande offered much more than just a great apartment. It’s a great jumping off point to explore the rest of the region. We visited the historic town of Gjirokaster, which is like a fairy tale city hidden in the mountains. We checked out the ruins of the Roman city of Butrint, which were in a leafy national park. And we had weeks of perfect weather to spend hiking along the gorgeous coastline. 

After three months in Albania, we can’t believe how much we got to experience. We had the mountains and the sea. We had delicious farmhouse meals and international dining. We explored ancient ruins and beautiful historic cities. We had all this for an amazingly low cost and we felt safe and comfortable wherever we went. 

Of course, we’ve had to be very open minded. Some of the rustic experiences were very rustic. Not everyone speaks English. Not all the familiar brands are available here. And it’s not that easy to get in and out; not every airline flies to Albania. But if you do come to Albania, plan to stay for a while because there’s so much here to experience.