Impressions of Albania

Since the fall of what was indisputably the most xenophobe, blindly fanatic and tragically misanthrope Communist regime on European soil, Albania’s veil of secrecy and black hole mystery have been lifted and are rapidly giving way to a widely international acknowledgement of the country’s treasures of natural beauty with snow-capped, rugged mountains and idyllic coastlines and of a rich cultural variety, spanning the historical arch from the Hellenic tribe of the Chaonians of the Epiros region in the south, to the abundant traces of Ottoman dominance until the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, tangible in the architecture of the cities throughout the country. So, yes, there is a lot to explore in Albania, an attractive and welcoming place to visit which used to be hermetically sealed off from the rest of the world for a very long time and has now resolutely opened up. Its people, vaguely connected to the ancient Illyrians, are friendly, the younger in reasonable command of English, the older occasionally speaking some Italian or Greek, and furthermore, all people speaking fluent … Shqip, Albanian, a tongue mysteriously unrelated to anything else spoken in the entire world. For starters it helps to know that 'jo' is 'no' and 'po' is 'yes', don't mix up! Fortunately, friendliness does not require language and in Albania friendliness abounds. People are indeed friendly and welcoming: unlike in some other Balkan countries, cars even stop for pedestrian crossings, … although, admitted, this is about the only rule there seems to be in the national traffic code...

Southern Albania

Central & Northern Albania

Tirana, Durrës, Elbasan, Pogradec, Korçë