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

Very interesting and rewarding trip with a very pleasant and well informed Albanian guide. We were well looked after but not mollie coddled. I particular enjoyed the stories of the guide’s childhood growing up in the communist era.

Albania was just as I'd hoped, beautiful scenery, lovely people and great food. The trip was well organised thanks to an excellent, knowledgeable tour leader, Tedi, I can't rate him enough! Our driver, Fati, was an exceptional and safe driver. If I had to criticise anything, it was the trip to the coast, Durres, not quite as idyllic as I imagined it would be, not that we spent a long time there. Perhaps we did not go to the 'nice' part! Overall I would recommend Albania.

This trip had everything, loads of history, museums, mountains, forests, thermal springs, farm hospitality, local crafts, pretty towns, coastal resorts all visited at a comfortable pace. A wonderful insight into a lesser known country, brought to us by our excellent guide, Tedi, who was so knowledgeable and interesting to listen to, but also great fun to travel with. Thank you Tedi and Explore.

This was our first Explore trip but it won’t be our last. We were especially pleased with Irina our tour guide. She was extremely knowledgeable and happy to share with our group. If there was a problem she was there to help. The accommodation was very pleasant and provided hearty breakfasts to start off the day. Both my wife and I felt that the itinerary was well thought out and provided us with a comprehensive first look at Albania historically and today.

Fabulous mountain scennery, lovely food and accomodation, and fascinating history and cutural highlights. We had a knowledgeable Albanian guide and the group size of 16 was just right. As described, the holiday was full-on!

This trip covered a huge range of experiences of Albania and is to be commended for that range. Dritan, our guide helped to embellish this with his historical knowledge, humour and obvious love for his country. He was great company. Albania was an eye-opening experience. The pace was full-on and I did wonder whether it would benefit from a more relaxed pace over a longer period - say 14 days.

A great way to explore a country. We had an excellent local guide who shared his love of Albania. Stayed in good quality hotels. Wonderful people, great food. Woukd holiday with Explore again. In fact we are looking at the walking holiday in North Albania for a future trip.

A great trip. Such an interesting country. A diverse itinerary. Dennis, our guide was amazing. He had an extensive knowledge of his country and very passionate about Albania’ future.

very interesting trip to a very interesting country. Good guide, well organisd trip.

The guide ( Gerion) was amazing, not only was he extremely knowleadgeable of the entire history of all the towns and cities we touched on and passed, but his detailed understanding of the periods of the rise and fall of each period was astounding. We started off with no knowledge of Albanias history and left Albania with insight of its rich past and tapestry of interwoven historical achievements and tragedies. Truly an eye opener for us all. Gerion was an encyclopaedia of knowledge . But most of all, he is a most caring and personable tour guide with a keen sense of humour, which we love. We could approach him with any of our concerns and he negotiates on behalf of us,and eventually, solves our problems for us. For me, personally and my travelling companions , it is 102% of the time. He is , what we call, the absolute "best", a 5* guide and tour leader.