Vlore Tours in September 2027

Wonderful way to explore Albania aboard a bike saddle will be for us less fit people pretty challenging cycling, but the rewards for one’s efforts were great incredible views, fantastic mountain scenery, beautiful coastline and rural landscape. Once again, having a local guide made a massive difference introducing us to a wonderful range of Excellent local food much of it, organic locally grown and us very tasty and nutritious. The history and culture of Albania is fascinating. Although it’s difficult to burp watch while cycling, it was wonderful to hear the gold orioles singing, and the bee aters calling above your head as you rode for a beautiful rural countryside

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our cycling holiday in Albania with Exodus travel. Booking the trip was easy and communicating with Exodus very straight forward. We booked 4 months in advance in order to guarantee our places and to book flights when they were cheaper. We were met on arrival by Erlis our guide and the transfer to our first hotel and start of the trip was seamless. The trip itself was very well planned and executed. We didn't have to make many decisions and great accommodation and restaurants, coffee stops were all arranged for us in advance. Accommodation ranged in quality but on the whole was really good. The food was excellent always and plenty of it. We cycled in September so it was mostly very hot and we needed to rehydrate often. There were 2 days of really tough cycling, 1st and last but there were plenty of stops and options to go on the bus. I hired an electric bike which was a godsend on the difficult days especially due to the heat. It was an incredible trip; Albania is a fascinating country with a diverse history and beautiful landscape. We feel privileged to have travelled there at this time.

This is our 10th Exodus cycling trip and because we were both very busy in the summer, we didn't have a lot of time preparing and read up about the trip. We knew next to nothing about Albania and just managed to read the trip notes once so that we know how many days to pack for and that was it. The trip turns out to be a great pleasant surprise. We thought Albania will have poor infrastructure with lots of pot holes (like Cuba or Romania) but the back roads that we rode on were great. Most of the cars are Mercedes (surprisingly) and the hotels were great European standard (most have good fast WiFI except in the mountains). The food and drinks are cheap (even with the £ being so low because of Brexit) and the old city of Gjirokaster and Butrint were amazing. The quality of cycling is also very good. There are quite a few climbs (especially the one on the last day) but we are never in a rush and with our keen leader encouragement, we managed most of them.

It says it's challenging and it is - but the effort is worth it. The scenery is fantastic - at times it felt like "cycling through a postcard"... hard climbs and fun descents. The food is great - really fresh and vibrant; lots of good fish, local vegetables, cheese and meat - delicious and plenty of it! An interesting and beautiful country - I'd definitely recommend it - if you are up for some long steady climbing!

Excellent week, great guide & support, great group of people, lovely country, well maintained bikes. Food was very good at all of the stops and the although some of the accommodation was a little basic it's all you need as you are only there for the night and there isn't much time spent around the hotels / guesthouses as we were always busy with activities. There seems to be a lot of money being spent on new roads and the 14km descent on a brand new road was fun :) , I do wonder if these roads will become busy in time, but at the moment we saw very few other vehicles on a large percentage of the rides.

A great Cycling trip that had it all. Breathtaking mountain landscapes and coastal scenery with fabulous food and wines to be had. My group of 13 fit club cyclists found this a sometimes stengous tour in the 36 degrees heat in Mid September. There’s really no easy days in the saddle and almost everyday involves long climbs with equally long descents. The roads are very rough in places and you need to keep your wits about you for the cows, mules, dogs & goats that you meet on the narrow roads. Albania is a beautiful mountainous country that will take you back to times of old with its simple ways and graceful charm.