Reply With QuoteWent there about 20 years ago and swore I’d never go back. Maybe things have improved. Don’t flash a decent watch though - there are some nasty people there.
Considering this as an option on our forthcoming holiday & looking for recommendations please?
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Went there about 20 years ago and swore I’d never go back. Maybe things have improved. Don’t flash a decent watch though - there are some nasty people there.
Funny enough we just got back from Corfu… and we did the daytrip to Albania with the visit to the Roman ruins.
We were staying in Roda in the north - booked the trip with a firm based there but tui offered it as well.
You get the boat from corfu town - its about 70 mins over to Albania.
The seaside town of Sarande is where you dock - we then went on the coach along the coast for the ruins/ guided tour which was good but a bit rushed (and hot) as the traffic was
Murder that day.
Sarande is being built out very quickly - seems to be very popular spot for albanians and vistors - reminds me of a less opulent monte carlo as the town is built in the hillsides of the coast.
Did not get to wander round due to the time but the food we had in the included meal was fine.
Would I stay for a break in Albania - prob not I hear its a bit of a party town.
So the only downside for us was customs back in corfu town off the boat. Only 2 ppl working for a fee
hundred arrivals - the non eu queue took forever. Tbh in the end got fed up waiting - joined the eu queue
and got through - they did not seem to care !
Seems speaking to the tour guide on the coach its always like that. I think we paid 65 eur a head for the trip/visits to the ruins/lunch and port charge… its a long day but the weather was glorious.
If you are going to Corfu soon I suspect it should be a bit quieter.
Where you are staying on the island will determine how long your transfer back will be.
The tour which goes to the area where they filmed
the bond movie was beautiful and the 10 eur boat trip
to see the caves and bay was also great -
found a very nice italian resturant for
lunch as well.
Would definitely go back to Corfu - Corfu town also worth a wander /visit !
Cheers
matt
Albania... There's a cynical Dutch joke. "Nice of you that you visit Albania. Your car is already here!"
Went years ago.If you have a blonde wife or daughter with You they had better have some resilience to being ogled unless it’s changed!Even with you there!
Yes we went from Corfu quite recently. Really enjoyed it, was quite cheap day trip in all maybe 30 Euros each. We wondered whether it was subsidised by the Albanian government to get people to visit? Ferry over, didn't really bother with passport checks (??!) Went to an archaeological site, tour great, interesting, lunch - food ok, goodish spread. So Albania is ramshackled (wooden death trap bridges..) completely charming, maybe how Greece was 50 years ago (?) lovely people who try, cheap prices. Ksamil where we went was OK, abit unfinished, nice cafes. For a day trip taster definitely go we really enjoyed it, I'd go to Albania again, but would want to travel abit more along the undeveloped coast.
Did a road trip to Greece in the late 1970s.
Looked into visiting Albania, but my AA guide book told me tourist visas were only granted to official tour parties, entry by private car was banned and the clincher, men with beards or sideburns were excluded.
It was known as the 'North Korea Of Europe'.
Never did get there.
I did it once, some interesting ruins inland, but the stench of sewage is the memory that sticks with me.
Are you sure you're not mistaking it with our South Coast?Originally Posted by M4tt
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
I went with my then-girlfriend in 2014. Not from Corfu though. Drove in from Montenegro and spent a week there. Sarandë, Vlorë and a night in Shkodër before flying back from Podgorica.
It was one of my favourite ever holidays.
The coast was quiet and unspoiled. We stayed in what were then the top hotels in the country for pennies (kinda like decent 3/4* in the UK). They were on the hillsides with direct walks from balcony to quiet beaches.
The people there were excited to have Britons on holiday there. Kind and generous and interesting. The other holidaymakers were mainly from Kosovo and we chatted to many of them happily.
The food was great and the landscape was stunning. Fascinating ruins and beautiful weather. I'd recommend it in a heartbeat - and preferably before it becomes a tourist hotspot.
We encountered nothing negative at all.
The generosity was incredible when I made a shocking error. We stopped for petrol 3 1/2 hours into our journey from Vlorë to Shkodër on our final day and I realised I'd left my passport in the hotel. Rather than drive back and then do the 6 hour drive to Shköder again we were helped to call the hotel who confirmed they had the passport and arranged for one of their drivers to bring it to us. We were then looked after by the staff at the bar at the petrol station as we waited. A nervous wait, of course, but it arrived. It cost me 12 euros and the driver wouldn't accept a penny more. The staff at the bar gave us food and drink and refused to be paid for either the food or their help. They said "when we come to your country I'm sure you will be good to us too." Unfortunately, I doubt that's the case.
The trip was a bit "off the cuff" as we had initially intended to go to Italy from Montenegro but met some people on our last night there who said Albania was great. When we came home and told my then girlfriend's parents her dad said "you went to Albania? There's only one reason people go to Albania normally - if they're kidnapped!" Unfortunately that's the attitude about the country in the UK but I can't speak more highly of it.
I’ve just had 2 weeks in Turkey and they are the same! I was so uncomfortable with the whole thing it spoiled my holiday, but the ladies revelled in it and I was “miserable” for saying how uncomfortable I felt with the whole situation.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Rick Stein went there through Croatia
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0672403
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