Highlights of Albania

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.

Albania is a beautiful country well worth visiting...very busy full on trip and tiring but so worth it...our guide Denis was superb..so knowledgeable, friendly, organised, caring and helpful...Tony our driver was superb too...the roads can be very challenging and he drove them so carefully and expertly...many thanks to both of them for an exceptionally good trip...

A great itinerary with good pace . Like so many small group escorted tours it's overall enjoyment is heavily dependent on the chemistry within the group.. Most of our group with a common UK background gelled well. The Australians and Americans amongst us less so because they seemed unable to "plug into" the prevalent humour and repartit.

All hotel staff and rooms were good except the Hotel Panorama at Lake Ohrid. It took 3 hours to get someone to repair a broken door lock after repeated requests. Our tour guide did not respond to the message we sent for help on this. The room had bare plaster in places and pieces of wooden skirting board were loose on the floor. Finally the bed sheet on one bed had been laundered but was very damp inside. Trip notes average (could be better). Tour content as expected but no real highlights. Rather a lot of mosques and churches. Prices in restaurants and cafes cheaper than expected, staff were attentive and helpful and the toilet facilities were clean. Tour leader had excellent command of English and good local knowledge. He actually got better as the tour progressed but had one major fault. He always started to talk before everyone had arrived (not just me but others as well).

Albania was an interesting place to visit as I had never been there or knew too much about it. The 10 day trip gave a good overview. Our tour guide (Dritan) was excellent and did a great job to be informative and entertaining plus handle the various personalities. One issue was the quality of the transport. The AC in the bus we had was totally insufficient and made many of the km's of travelling uncomfortable and very hot in the bus. Depending where you sat, you could get off the bus after an hour or 2 and your clothes were wet with perspiration. I think this is a major weakness of this trip. It might be Ok in cooler parts of the year, but definitely not suitable for August. The accomodation was also up and down in quality. I had note there were at least 3 hotels where the drain in the shower was clearly not recently cleaned. This meant the water did not run away when having a shower and you were left standing in 2 inches of dirty water when taking a shower. One other topic was room allocation. I know that in talking to others on the tour that room alocation seemed haphazard. One guest was a solo traveller and was given a room with a double and a single beds in it. We were a couple and got a room with either 2 singles or a double, but the room was so small, you could barely walk around the room or get around the bed. I note that many rooms were Ok but some were not. One location we went to was Saranda. It was a very unappealling location and the next day we stopped at a very nice beach area literally 1 hour down the road. I would suggest it would have been much nicer to stay here instead and totally skip Saranda. In terms of Albania itself, I realise they are a country recovering from years of political unrest with a dictator etc. But the country itself is nowhere as nice as I thought it might be due to rubbish being tipped everywhere on roadsides and footpaths and generally detracted from the experience. Also their use of plastic is disappointing. This is clearly not Explore's problem and not something you have any control over. But it would affect my desire to visit or recommend others to visit Albania in the future. Same as our visit to Saranda. The shoreline was quite littered. And the physical area was a complete amass of overdevelopment worth every sq mm covered by restaurants, bars or hotels. There is zero charm to this location so that is why I would suggest to bypass it

The itinerary was varied and Dritan our guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the country. The journey through the mountains was fantastic as was the the fortress at Berat. The views at the top were outstanding. Generally the hotels were good apart from the hotel at Lake Ohrid.. Mr Albert, the driver was great and he told us about life under communist rule which was very interesting. The local guide at Butrint was exceptional..Overall the trip showed all aspects of life in Albania which was great.

Excellent tour and interesting country. All Explore trips have done the leaders have been excellent but for the Albania Trip the leader truly outstanding and passionate about his country. Felt very safe with driver Toni.

The tour was really well organised and gave a great opportunity to visit so many different sites in Albania. Our tour leader and guide did an amazing job of explaining the history of Albania as well detailed information about the sites we visited.

Miss out Seranda. Two people on the tour were not able enough to take part fully, this put the tour leader in an awkward spot. They seemed to blame him. One mostly stayed on the bus and took up two seats. This takes the fun out of it for the rest of us who are enjoying the experiences. Could fitness levels be more stringently applied? Albania is wonderful. Tour guide (Dritan) wonderful, passionate and always good humoured despite the challenges he faced from the couple of grumpy (older) people who seemed to expect the rest of us (and him) to help and support them.

This was a great trip, although I didn't find it as full on as the itinerary suggested. Albania is a beautiful country with very friendly people. Denis is a fabulous group leader - friendly, fun and informative without overloading you with too much information. Would have been nice to stay in Himara rather than Sarande, but I guess that didn't fit the itinerary so well. Would definitely recommend this trip.

Denis is an outstanding guide. His knowledge, manner and humour were greatly enjoyed by everyone on our tour. The tour felt easygoing, yet we covered a lot. Albania is a beautiful country…don’t let it become known as a country littered with rubbish!

Albanian is wonderful country. The tour itself was generally good although there were days that could have been more organised but that might have been the guide. Who while being able to shed light on social history did not expand on the itinerary. Adjustment's made did not add to experience. Did not learn our names did not set up what’s app group no welcome meeting where we could meet each other and no tally of spending of money given.

Good itinerary but the chosen hotels were ordinary.

This was a fantastic tour and introduction to Albania - full on and full of wonderful scenery, fascinating Ottoman villages and fortresses, old churches and frescoes, hidden archaeological treasures, along with great food and company. The whole tour certainly packs a lot in but was superbly lead by our tour leader, Irina, nothing was too much trouble, and her knowledge, organisational skills and humour significantly contributed to making this a truly memorable holiday.

The tour is a really good overview of a fascinating country. Excellant tour leader who bought everything to life.

This is a great trip with a number of notable highlights: the churches in Voskopoje, the amazing archaeological site of Butrint, where the guide was excellent, The Llogora National Park and Berat as well as the family visits. Denis the group leader was excellent: his knowledge was outstanding and he looked after the group well. Improvements could be a little less time spent on some of the lunch stops and allowing some more time to explore Berat. There was also little time to explore Tirana, so going a few days before would be sensible. I would suggest an alternative overnight stop than the touristy Saranda. Overall a great trip and I would recommend it.

The entire tour ran smoothly. The guide was realy informed and helpful. I was bitten by a dog and he reacted quickly got me to hospital to receive the required treatment.

First few days weren’t as full on as advertised. Saw no need for overnight in Korca, an extra night in possibly Pogradec would have been better. Spending a couple of hours each day having lunch was a waste of time, when a sandwich would have sufficed .

The tour was very varied and interesting. Some beautiful scenery, interesting sites and museums. Our guide Geri was very knowledgeable, helpful and personable. He was very popular with the group and obviously well respected and liked by the other Albanian guides. We really enjoyed the tour and would unhesitatingly recommend it.

The guide and driver worked hard to make everyone feel comfortable.

Dennis was an exceptional guide - we were very fortunate to have him. Would have liked an opportunity to visit the House of Leaves in Tirana.

Excellent tour , good itinerary. I would say it’s not full on but moderately relaxed in respect of no early morning starts and always at our hotels by late afternoon, so plenty of time to relax before dinner. Dennis our tour leader was excellent, his knowledge of the country was unbelievable and always interesting.

Korcë was a bust as was the day spent supposedly driving along the gorgeous Riviera when in fact the shore was mostly out of sight and what we did see of the beach was not impressive. Traffic and roads were poor. Little free time. Van was fine, driver excellent, hotels so so (noisy at times, faulty toilet, wifi good). The one hike, in the woods, was a poor trail. Excessive focus, in my view, on religious sites. Trip highlight was the scenery along Europe's lone wild river, but that we could not spend an hour or two out there on our feet enjoying it was a lost opportunity.

Excellent tour around Albania with a good range of activities. Our tour leader Gerion was extremely knowledgeable and patient, and the minibus driver Fathi was a careful and skilled driver. Highlights were definitely the local lunches and exploring the rural villages.

Our guide was excellent, didn’t put a foot wrong. Albania is lovely, and so were the people I met. It is safe and relaxed and relatively unspoilt, and it defies expectations - well it did mine. It is packed full of history, going back to ancient times. I would go and see it now before it turns into another Costa Brava, which is the direction it appears to be headed in. Explore does a good job of showing you round.

We highly recommend Highlights of Albania. The trips were highly organised and our guide Geri was very knowledgeable and looked after us well. It was our first trip with Explore.

Very efficient and well organised guide who knew a huge amount about the country that he was well able to share with the group. He always appeared calm and patient in all situations. He was always friendly to everyone.

A varied & interesting itinerary. Albania is a beautiful country & worth visiting to see the histirocal sites & learn about its difficult past. Our guide, Geri, was brilliant, so enthusuastic, full of knowledge & well organised. He shared his sense of humour with the group. I loved Albania & would recommend this trip.

The tour leader was very knowledgeable and helpful throughout . I also felt in safe hands on the roads with our careful driver. Although it’s a busy itinerary it was pretty well balanced. There were some excellent lunch stops with lots of chances to try the local beverages and cuisine. Driving through the Albanian countryside is certainly a scenic and beautiful experience. The country’s history is very interesting and well explained by the tour leader and local guides. I have no hesitation in recommending this trip and hope to be back next year on another Explore adventure.

A great way to 'explore' this facinating and beautiful country which has had a challenging history - leaving its people with a zest for moving forward but also with a strong pride in thier country and its future.

The activities were interesting and varied and the guide was superb!!

Cut out the overnight stay at Llogora Nat. Park (the walk was nothing special), and spend extra night at Berat. Would have liked more free time to explore the old town.

Excellent trip, described as 'Full on' and if anything it was a bit too 'Full on'. Crammed an awful lot of experiences into ten days, could have been extended to eleven days ?

Wonderful country. We saw some great places.

The tour was excellent with a great variety of activities. I will definitely recommend this tour to others. Tedi, our tour guide, was excellent. Very knowledgeable about all aspects of Albania and he was very happy to answer our questions about the way of life etc. His suggestions for restaurants were excellent. He was enthusiastic, patient and so helpful. We were very fortunate to have him as our tour guide.

A very enjoyable holiday which is very full on and do not for anyone who’s after a relaxing trip. The scenery is stunning and the sites visited are top quality, but be prepared for a lot of walking on quite hilly and uneven terrain…. you’ll need to be fit to get the best out of this holiday

A truly beautiful country and an itinerary that allowed us to see much of it.

Very enjoyable trip. Albania has so much to offer including beautiful scenery, a multitude of historic sites and great food. I was also agreeably surprised by the hotel standards, which were excellent for the most part. Our tour leader, Geri, was a pleasure, full of information and enthusiasm about his country. We were a large but very congenial group of fellow travelers.

Terrific tour, wonderful guide in Gerion. For the most part the itinerary was relaxed, with arrivals mostly by mid-afternoon so there was plenty of time to explore our cities and towns into the evening. Only complaint about accommodations was the 2 hotels had very poor to non-functional Internet access. Otherwise, that were all nice places to stay. Only the last 2 days felt a bit rushed. Overall, Gerion on did a great job of taking care of us. He's charming, engaging and full of information. I'd certainly recommend him and this tour to my friends.

We have been on over 30 explore holidays. Always been very happy with the experience overall. Albania is up there in the top 5. Very interesting country and full of surprises. Wonderfull food, inexpensive, great hotels in superb locations. Great weather(maybe lucky) Welcoming people. Go now before the tourist industry takes off in a big way. To top it all we had a superb tour leader,Geryon, he has my vote for tour leader of the year. A good tour leader makes a great holiday a fantastic one. We'll done and thank you

This is an excellent trip. The trip covers a large amount of Albania, whilst being a small country, so not a huge amount of travelling. Albania is a surprisingly beautiful country, with some stunning scenery, the people are very friendly, the food is delicious and the guide Geri was very informative, approachable, organised and with a good sense of humour.

Beautiful mountain scenery. In our minibus we climbed and climbed and climbed up to amazing panoramas through the mountain ranges. Tour leader was fantastic....his history knowledge and story telling kept the attention of us all. The history of ALBANIA is plentiful with good stops of castles, Roman settlements, mosques etc. Untouched by tourism at the moment so go now. A great trip.

A very enjoyable, but full on, trip taking in different areas - both modern and ancient cities, archaeological sites, castles, mountains and the coastal plain. An extra day or two would have made for a more relaxing tour, with more time in places such as Berat and Saranda. Some picnic lunches, rather than lunchtime eating in restaurants would have fitted better with the itinerary and provided some extra time. But, overall the tour was brilliant and varied, the tour leader was excellent and very informative, the included meals a great experience and the hotels of a good standard - apart from the one in Tirana which was acceptable.

AMAZING ALBANIAN GUIDE, ARBEN, COULD NOT BE IMPROVED IN ANY WAY. THE ITINERARY IS IDEAL TO ALLOW TRAVELLERS TO SEE ALL OF THE COUNTRY'S MAIN PLACES. CAN'T WAIT TO TAKE ANOTHER EXPLORE TOUR IN THE NEAR FUTURE - THIS ONE WAS FLAWLESS AND EXCEEDINGLY ENJOYABLE.

As usual another fantastic, well organised your from Explore with excellent local guides who made the trip really special.

A really interesting tour with plenty of history. Our tour leader Gery was excellent, sharing so much knowledge about the Country and he ensured everything ran super smoothly. Accommodation was as expected. Albania has beautiful scenery and is relatively inexpensive for food and drink.

Interesting country with lots of history to explore. Well organised and knowledgeable guide and driver made for a relaxing trip.

A comprehensive tour of Albania with some long driving days.

This was a great trip, well organised and led by a very knowledgeable and professional local guide. The itinerary was great, with so many interesting place to visit. The only improvement I'd suggest is a few extra days to allowa bitlonger in a few places, as well as a bit of downtime.

Albania is a remarkable country , magnificent castles , preserved medieval churches and spectacular scenery. I spent 2 nights in Tirana prior to the tour starting. Disappointed that the Historical Museum is closed till 2028 but there are other places to visit , I went to Bunk Art 1 a fascinating exhibition of how a repressive communist regime developed ,catch the No 11 bus and the House of Leaves the former surveillance centre for the secret police. I enjoyed the all aspects of the tour from the cable car ride up Mount Dajti , the medieval churches of Voskopoja, the spectacular road to Girokaster, the Skendulaj house at Girokaster still owned by the same family since 1700 a most amazing house , I enjoyed the lunch we had at the beekeepers family home best meal I had on the trip and the stunning views of Kruja castle from the hotel. The guide , Gary and the driver Fatti were very professional , helpful and made sure every one had a good . The standard of hotel was very good. Albania is very much a cash orientated country , cards not widely accepted. You can smoke any where in Albania , cafes & restaurants included. Albanian food is OK , I enjoyed the Byrek pie very nice. Breakfast not a big thing in Albania , but I found it OK. Try the Koran trout when staying at Pogradec. Cafe culture plays a big part in Albanian life , nice to have a coffee and watch the world go by.

A very interesting and enjoyable tour. The driver was excellent on some rather hair raising roads. There was so much to see I would have liked a little more time.

Beautiful country with amazing scenery. Friendly locals. Nice group. Very knowledgeable guide and helpful driver. Personally I would have liked to have had more time getting amongst nature and the scenery and less time looking at churches, mosques, tombs etc (almost a daily event!). In other words a slightly more balanced itinerary with even more focus on present day Albania would have improved the trip for me. Highlight: the beautiful meal we ate in a family garden at Gjirocaster. Disappointing: the thermal pools. I was really looking forward to them but those of us who went thought they were not worth getting your swimsuit on for. All in all it was a good trip.

An interesting tour from cultural, geographical and historical perspectives. Great leader and an excellent driver. A pity the failed airport pickup was such a shambles. Great group, very enjoyable trip.

Fascinating to find out about a country I knew little of. Wonderful scenery. Delicious traditional dishes, excellent tour leader, lovely helpful local hoteliers etc.

An interesting country trying hard to leave its communist past behind. Vibrant buildings in Tirana contrasting with Roman and Greek ruins elsewhere. Good food and drink (wine and beer) and an excellent leader, Denis, who looked after us very well. Do visit.