Highlights of Albania

Gerion was the best tour leader of any of the trips I have done with Explore. Not only was he incredibly well informed about his country but he was extra attentive to the participants' needs. A really super person.

Lovely scenery in Albania. Hotels that we stayed in were good. Food was delicious and good prices. Excellent leader.

Overall, it was a great trip! The only drawback was the number in the group, which at 16 I felt was too many. Most small group tours we do are plus/minus 12 people and the extra people make the trip that much harder to negotiate and the bus felt a bit cramped. Otherwise, a great leader, Denis and itinerary!

Very interesting trip around Albania. Denis was a very knowledgable guide with lots of information about the country. Accommodation was always in an excellent location close to main attractions.

Hotels were generally good but majority of breakfasts very poor (eg cold fried eggs). The scenery was varied and stunning in parts, archaeological sites fascinating and the numerous reminders of the Communist era chilling. We had far fewer group meals compared to most Explore trips I've been on. Enjoyed the two "countryside" lunches which were of high quality. Restaurant food was extremely good value

This was our first Explore and small group trip and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Tedi the leader was excellent, good company, well organised and knowledgeable. Our main driver was also great and the minibus was very comfortable. Roads much better than I expected. Trip is classed as full on but there is plenty of “downtime”. Accommodation is all comfortable and pleasant with a couple of very nice places. Trip is well thought out with a good mixture of landscape, archaeology and interesting places. We also had a lovely group! I would definitely recommend this trip and Explore to get a good overview of Albania.

Very interesting trip, knowledgeable and friendly leader. well paced and the scenery far exceeded the expectations from the description on the website

Our tour leader, Besa, was excellent - knowledgeable, articulate, sensitive to occasional individual needs or preferences and with enough experience to run our itinerary with the flexibility that, for example, avoided the worst of Tirana's traffic, or the busiest period of the day at popular sites or the best time of day to see certain viewpoints. Our driver, Astrit, was extremely safe and patient, having held an Albanian driving license for many decades. High praise for both; a really well thought out trip taking in many highlights of a little known, but beautiful country, culture and people.

I’m sorry to say that I left Albania rather underwhelmed. I’m very sorry to say it and it’s the first of these sorts of holidays that I’ve said it about. I’d heard so many extraordinary things about Albania and whilst the itinerary was comprehensive I’m not sure it lived up to the hype. Guide was great, the group was lovely, it’s history interesting, the accommodation average, the food dull and the raki undrinkable! Some of the scenery was lovely but most of that was seen in transit in the bus rather than as a feature of the trip. Maybe I just expected too much.

Interesting visit to Albania as it begins to gear up for tourism. Scenic drives through mountainous countryside, archaeological sites, some attractive towns and villages to visit, although the capital Tirana and coastal towns we visited suffer from too many high rise blocks and a surfeit of Communist era concrete. Fascinating and complex history to learn about. A different cuisine to try out - meat heavy and plentiful portions, although vegetarians are also well catered for. Service in restaurants needs improvement as different parts of our food order didn’t come together. Promotion of Albanian crafts and goods such as honey and olive oil needs improvement as there was very little in terms of souvenirs, postcards, guide books etc