Albania: Is Europe's Last Hidden Gem Still Actually Hidden?

The Secret That Europe Has Been Keeping

For decades, Albania was the most isolated country in Europe — a communist dictatorship that banned religion, private cars, and contact with the outside world. The bunkers are still there: 173,000 concrete mushroom-shaped structures dotting the landscape, a monument to paranoia. But the country that built them has transformed itself into one of the most exciting travel destinations on the continent.

The Albanian Riviera has beaches that genuinely rival the Greek islands, without the Greek island prices. Ksamil, a small village near the Greek border, has turquoise water so clear you can see the bottom at 10 metres. In July and August, a sunlounger on a Greek island costs €25–40/day. In Ksamil, it costs €5.

The Albanian Riviera

The Albanian Riviera stretches for approximately 150 kilometres along the Ionian Sea, from Vlorë in the north to Sarandë in the south. The road that runs along it — the SH8 — is one of the most scenic coastal drives in Europe, climbing over mountain passes with views of the sea below before descending to hidden coves and fishing villages.

Ksamil is the jewel. Four small islands sit just offshore, reachable by a short swim or a water taxi. The water is the colour of a swimming pool — pale turquoise over white sand, deepening to cobalt in the channel between the islands. The village has grown rapidly in recent years, but the beaches remain extraordinary.

Himara is the Riviera's main town — a mix of old Albanian houses on the hillside and a modern beach strip below. The seafood restaurants along the waterfront serve grilled fish caught that morning. The old town, with its castle and Byzantine churches, is worth an afternoon.

Dhermi is the most beautiful village on the Riviera: white houses cascading down a steep hillside to a long beach of fine white pebbles. The drive down from the Llogara Pass — at 1,027 metres, with views of the Ionian Sea 600 metres below — is one of the most spectacular road experiences in Europe.

Gjipe Beach is accessible only by boat or a 45-minute hike through a canyon. The reward is a beach enclosed by 200-metre limestone cliffs, with water the colour of a lagoon. One of the most beautiful beaches in Europe.

Palasa is a quieter alternative to the more popular beaches — a long stretch of pebbles and sand backed by olive groves, with a small village and a handful of guesthouses.

Porto Palermo is a small bay dominated by a 19th-century Ottoman castle on a promontory. The castle was used as a submarine base during the communist era; the bay is now a popular anchorage for yachts.

Sarandë: The Gateway to the Riviera

Sarandë is the main tourist town of southern Albania — a crescent-shaped bay lined with hotels, restaurants, and bars. It is the arrival point for ferries from Corfu (35 minutes) and the base for day trips to Butrint, Ksamil, and the Blue Eye spring.

The Blue Eye (Syri i Kaltër) is a natural spring 25km from Sarandë where water bubbles up from an underground source of unknown depth. The water is an extraordinary shade of electric blue, surrounded by forest. It is one of the most beautiful natural sites in Albania.

Butrint: The Ancient City

Near Sarandë, the ancient city of Butrint is one of the most remarkable archaeological sites in Europe. Founded by Greek colonists in the 7th century BC, it was subsequently Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman. The ruins — a Greek theatre, Roman baths, a Byzantine baptistery with a stunning mosaic floor, Venetian towers — are layered on top of each other in a dense, forested peninsula surrounded by a lagoon.

Butrint is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and receives a fraction of the visitors of comparable sites in Greece or Italy. The setting — forest, lagoon, and ruins — is extraordinary.

Berat: The City of a Thousand Windows

Berat is one of the most beautiful towns in the Balkans. The old town — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — climbs a steep hillside above the Osum River, its Ottoman houses stacked so closely that their upper floors seem to lean towards each other. The distinctive feature of Berat's architecture is the large windows — the city's nickname, the City of a Thousand Windows, refers to the rows of windows that give the hillside its distinctive appearance.

The castle at the top contains a functioning village of Byzantine churches and traditional houses. The Onufri Museum, inside the Church of the Dormition of St Mary, contains extraordinary 16th-century icons by the Albanian master painter Onufri.

The lower town, Mangalem, is a maze of cobbled streets, Ottoman mosques, and traditional houses. The Gorica bridge, a stone arch bridge over the Osum River, connects Mangalem to the Christian quarter of Gorica.

Gjirokastër: The Stone City

Gjirokastër is the other great Ottoman town of southern Albania — a UNESCO World Heritage Site built almost entirely of grey stone. The castle dominates the hillside; below it, the old bazaar and the traditional kulla tower houses of the merchant families who built the city's wealth.

The castle contains a military museum and, incongruously, an American spy plane captured in 1957. The views from the castle walls over the Drino Valley are extraordinary.

Gjirokastër is the birthplace of two of Albania's most famous figures: the communist dictator Enver Hoxha and the novelist Ismail Kadare. The house where Kadare grew up is open to visitors.

The Albanian Alps

The Accursed Mountains — Bjeshkët e Namuna — are one of Europe's last great wilderness areas. The Valbona Valley and the Theth Valley are connected by a hiking trail that crosses a 1,800-metre pass and takes 6–8 hours. The landscape is extraordinary: limestone peaks, glacial lakes, and traditional stone guesthouses where you can sleep for €15 and eat a three-course dinner for €8.

Theth is a village of extraordinary beauty in a glacial valley, with a 17th-century lock-in tower (kulla) where men sought refuge during blood feuds, a waterfall, and a blue-eye spring. The village is accessible by road from Shkodër (3 hours on a rough mountain road) or by the hiking trail from Valbona.

Valbona is a wider, more accessible valley with a national park and a growing network of guesthouses. The hiking in the surrounding mountains is excellent.

Shkodër is the gateway to the Albanian Alps — a city of 100,000 people with a Venetian castle (Rozafa), a lake of extraordinary beauty, and a cycling culture that makes it feel like a Balkan Amsterdam.

Tirana: The Capital

Tirana is one of the most energetic capitals in Europe. The Blloku district, once reserved for the communist elite, is now the city's nightlife and café quarter — a dense grid of bars, restaurants, and boutiques that comes alive in the evening.

The Bunk'Art museums — built inside two of Hoxha's nuclear bunkers — are among the most unusual museums in the world. Bunk'Art 1, in a bunker beneath Mount Dajti, tells the story of the Albanian communist regime; Bunk'Art 2, in a bunker beneath the Ministry of Internal Affairs, focuses on the history of the secret police.

The National History Museum has a mosaic facade of extraordinary scale and a collection that tells the story of Albania from the Illyrians to the present day.

The Et'hem Bey Mosque, in the centre of Skanderbeg Square, is one of the most beautiful Ottoman buildings in the Balkans — notable for its frescoes of trees, waterfalls, and bridges, unusual in Islamic art.

Food and Drink

Albanian food is a Mediterranean cuisine with Ottoman and Italian influences. The staples are grilled meat (qebap, tavë kosi — lamb baked with yoghurt and eggs), fresh fish on the coast, and byrek (filo pastry filled with cheese, spinach, or meat).

The wine is excellent and cheap. The Berat and Përmet regions produce red wines from the Shesh i Zi and Kallmet grapes that are genuinely world-class. A bottle of good Albanian wine costs €5–8 in a restaurant.

Raki — a grape brandy — is the national drink, offered at every opportunity. The homemade variety, served in small glasses, is significantly stronger than the commercial version.

Practical Information

Visa: EU, UK, and US citizens do not need a visa for stays up to 90 days.

Currency: The Albanian lek (ALL). Cash is preferred outside Tirana and the main tourist areas. ATMs are widely available in towns.

Getting there: Tirana International Airport (TIA) is served by Wizz Air, Ryanair, and British Airways from major European cities. Ferries connect Sarandë with Corfu (35 minutes) and Bari with Durrës (8 hours overnight).

Getting around: Renting a car is the best way to explore. Roads have improved dramatically in recent years, though mountain roads remain challenging. Furgons (shared minibuses) connect most towns.

Budget: Albania is one of the cheapest countries in Europe. Expect to spend €40–60/day for comfortable travel including accommodation, food, and transport.

When to go: May–June and September–October are ideal — warm enough for swimming, without the August crowds. The mountains are best July–September.

The Honest Assessment

Albania is not perfect. The roads can be chaotic. The coastal development is sometimes ugly. The infrastructure in rural areas is basic. But for travellers willing to look past these imperfections, it offers something increasingly rare in Europe: genuine discovery. The sense that you have found something before the crowds arrive — and the knowledge that the crowds are coming.