Albania and Montenegro Tours and Trips

A great introduction to Albania with a city tour and mountain hiking. The hotels are functional and suited to a hiking type holiday. The breakfasts were very good and there are plenty of restaurants and bars to choose between for an evening meal at all of the overnight stops. The hiking required a good level of all round fitness and poles were useful on occasions although not essential hiking boots are definitely preferred to trainers as they offer support and protection especially on the rocky sections on the trails. Drinking water was plentiful and easily replenished at all of the mountain stops and overnight accommodation other canned drinks were also available. The ferry crossing to Koran Lake requires you to carry your luggage through a tunnel in order to board the ferry so make sure you pack economically as it is a reasonable distance with a narrow footpath with cars and bikes also using the same tunnel you are required to leave your luggage on the lower deck. In summary the Explore tour notes are an accurate description of the daily schedule and the tour represents very good value.

When sharing a twin room space is needed between the beds.

A varied trip through 4 countries, of which 2 were new to me. A good combination of history, culture and towns to see. Two optional boat trips were taken by the entire group, and given much lack of an alternative, should really be part of the official trip. Dusan, the tour leader was enthusiastic and helpfull throughout. Highlights for me were the cities of Sarajevo, Mostar and Dubrovnik. It should be noted that in June, the weather was very hot, and should be taken into consideration.

Enjoyable tour with Gerion and Alir our driver, both were friendly and accommodating to us. Breaking down the tour - on the first day which was supposed to be welcome meet and go for dinner didn’t happen as there were several people still arriving, I thought that we would have done the dinner the second night to get an introduction to Albanian foods and have him explain what things are and what most Albanian people eat and drink at home or when they go out for a meal but this did not happen and it never happened for the entire trip. On the second day when we went up on the cable car and then visited a farm where we ate some delicious food, but they dishes weren’t really explained to us and whether these foods are what is eaten every day or more for gatherings. On the 3rd day driving to Pogradec it would have been more worthwhile to visit the Golik bridge on the way there since it is of historical and cultural importance. Perhaps something to include in the day travelling from Tiranë to Pogradec. There seems to be plenty of time and opportunity to visit, still arriving in Pogradec around 4pm instead of 2.30, which is when my tour arrived. Also it would have been better when at Lake Ohrid that a boat cruise on the lake should have been part of the tour. Your wanting to highlight such a beautiful area and this would have made this part of the tour so much better. Day 4 was a very interesting day and we enjoyed walking around Voskopoja seeing the different churches and town before we went to Korca and had a walking tour of the city centre and old town before trying the baked Raki. Day 5 was an amazing drive through some of the mountainous areas of Albania and some of this was breathtaking. Day 6 we walked to Girokaster castle which was interesting but short time spent and we had no free time given to wander and look around by ourselves for 20-30 minutes after Gerion walked us through part of the castle area explaining the history and some customs. We then went to visit a museum back in town which was fascinating look at life back then, we rhen moved onto visit a farm with grapevines and beekeeping we also had lunch, was a great spread by the way but once again the opportunity to explain about the foods we were given didn’t happen, it would have been nice to know if what we were eating was typical of Albanian household’s daily or weekly meals or foods eaten during celebrations or gatherings. Day 7 we went to the Blue Eye, which is a very beautiful area and the water is so clear. Butrint was a fascinating place and the local guide Loretta was very good explaining about the history etc. It’s also a lovely area with the water of the Vivarium river from the Ionian Sea. We enjoyed this visit and the 20 minutes of free time at the end to visit the museum or tower or wander around that area or even just relax. Day 8 on our drive to our next stop for the night we saw some diverse scenery and views over the Ionian Sea / Adriatic Sea to Llogara NP. We loved staying in the park with nature around us. Seeing the cows in the morning as they wander around grazing. The Ali Pasha fortress was interesting especially learning from Gerion about Ali Pasha. Himare was a nice seaside town with out being over the top like Sarande can be. Day 9 we visited Apollonia which was ok but the ‘bouleurion’ has been rebuilt and not in original, although the columns may date back to the 2nd century AD it was great to see but not as impressive as the hype. On the way to there we went to a lore which seemed to be a nice town and Gerion’s historical knowledge is outstanding during our entire trip. Berat was great, really enjoyed walking around this town and Gerion taking us on a walking tour of the town, the history and was informative. On day 10 The fortress which we visited the next morning had a beautiful orthodox cathedral and museum which we enjoyed looking around however it would have been nice to see more of this area within the fortress walls. We arrived in Kruja after 4pm which didn’t really leave much time to visit the town before our final and only dinner together arranged by Gerion. In summary Gerion’s historical knowledge is extensive along with his knowledge of facts and figures of mountains, rivers etc is just amazing. He does need to include more information about Albanian culture and customs as I feel that we have finished the tour without a true insight into what makes Albanians Albanian today. He gave us a list of Albanian words / phrases but didn’t elaborate more on how to pronounce them. We’ve heard about the history and politics of the country but not the true essence of the people of the country. We have found the Albanian people to be friendly and helpful in general. Gerion and Alir were professional, courteous, supportive and helpful at all times. I would recommend this tour with a few tweaks

The hikes were varied and all very interesting. The scenery was beautiful! Our guide did a good job of choosing the trails to maximize scenery, quiet trails and suitability according to the weather. The accommodation and food were fantastic, although it has to be said that some of the places where we stayed were still in the process of being finished. I was also not so keen on showers that make the entire bathroom wet and slippery. I would have appreciated advance warning on the 5:15 am start the day after arrival. Luckily I was already on the right time zone and my flight arrived in the afternoon! The last day airport transfer inflexibility after a change in the program by Explore was very inconvenient and I ended up having a wasted night at an airport hotel on my own budget. I hope Explore work on airport transfer arrangements in the future.

Excellent trip. Fast paced and some long mountainous drives with fabulous views (though may be challenging it you suffer from travel sickness). What a beautiful country though - I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.