Albania
Ottoman stone towns, a capital that changes every year and a Riviera that still feels new.
Albania was closed to visitors for most of the 20th century, and that isolation is the reason it looks the way it does today. Tirana is loud, colourful and changing fast; the pyramid, the painted apartment blocks and the bunkers are all within a short walk of the main square. Berat, three hours south, is a town of white Ottoman houses stacked up a hillside below a castle that people still live in.
Further south, Gjirokastër's slate roofs and fortress mark the road to the coast, and then the Riviera opens up: Ksamil's small islands and pale beaches sit opposite Corfu, with the ruins of Butrint a few kilometres away. The water is as clear as anywhere on the Adriatic and Ionian, and the prices are still lower.
Our six-day tour runs from Tirana to the Riviera and back; the Grand Tour enters from Montenegro and leaves for Ohrid via Berat and Elbasan. Roads have improved a lot in the last decade, but they are still slow in the south, so we give the driving days room.
Practical information
Entry rules depend on your nationality and change from time to time. Many visitors enter for short tourist stays without a visa; check the current requirements with the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania or your own government's travel advice before you book.
We do not give visa advice; the rules change and depend on your passport.Check the official source →Tours in Albania
Multi-day tours that visit the country and, where we run them, day tours in its cities.
All tours
