On our Albania road trip, in a country recovering from historical repression, we found we were openly embraced as visitors to its land. With rugged mountain landscapes and beautiful beaches, Albania awaits with bated breath, for the rest of the world to catch on to its vibrancy as a European travel destination.
Albania Road Trip – Red Carpet Welcome
For a country that was, until only relatively recently, completely isolated from the outside world, Albania welcomes you as if a long-awaited friend.
We were hardly obscure, in our seven-metre gleaming white campervan. But when locals in horse and cart or those on foot, weighed down with sticks across their back, warmly waved as we passed by, we felt an immediate sense of ease and acceptance. This was the first surprise of many on our Albania road trip.
Another friendly Albanian!
The initial idea of driving through Albania on our European road trip, had us feeling a little anxious. We had to get special permission from our motor insurer and at the time, to the outside world, Albania was something of an unknown entity. Friends questioned our decision and worried about our safety. There really was no need.
Albanian Welcome on the Road Trip – Short Video
Driving on your Albanian Road Trip
We crossed the border from Montenegro and entered Albania without difficulty. Our camper van jarred and jerked along the rutted roads as we dodged potholes and pedestrians. We passed curbside peddlers, dotted along the streets, with their customers sifting through jumbled piles of clothes, old shoes and bric-à-brac. Boutique shopping as far removed from their everyday life as a visit to the Moon. Caged-chickens, piled in crates littered the pavements.
Albanian roadside markets
One of the first things you may notice on your road trip through Albania is the lack of adherence to road rules. It is an organised type of chaos. Don’t be surprised if the traffic lights aren’t working, or even more interestingly, the locals ignore them.
Moreover, be ready to share the road with a variety of local livestock. We drove behind goats, sheep, cows and even turkeys gobbling their way down the highway.
As we neared the capital of Tirana, the traffic intensified. Here the roads bulged with buses and cars barging and pushing to get ahead. The road lanes became superfluous. Horns blared, colours blurred and local drivers seemed unperturbed as they scraped and nudged their way through. I’m still not sure how we got out without a scratch. The rest of the drive through Albania was much less hectic.
A Very Short Guide to Albania’s More Recent History
Albania has complex historical and cultural past, but to keep this short we’ll just deal with more recent events.
After the end of WWII, Albania became a communist state. It was ruled over, in the main, by an extreme communist, Enver Hoxha. At first, Hoxha made alliances with the Soviets and China but he found their communism too weak and finally cut off all ties, isolating Albania even more.
Enver Hoxha’s Residence in Tirana, in an area known as Bllok
Life under Communist Rule
It’s difficult for us to imagine living a life so cut off from the rest of the world. The communist state controlled all aspects of Albanian’s lives. A local, Gazi, told us that travel abroad, car ownership and practising religion, were all forbidden. Everybody’s furniture was exactly the same, the buildings were all painted the same colour and if you had a television you all watched the same thing.
Propaganda was broadcast for four hours a day, detailing how great Albania was, how its people were the happiest in the world and how lucky they were compared to all other countries.
A New Beginning… Nearly
In 1985 Enver Hoxha died and by 1990 communism rule was coming to an end.
Gazi told us that in 1991, he was given his first pair of jeans and had his first taste of a fruit, so foreign to him – the humble banana.
However, the country was still embroiled with crime, fraud and widespread corruption. In 1997, Albania’s economy collapsed, resulting in widespread civil unrest and fighting. Many Albanians lost their life savings through schemes they had been encouraged to invest in by the government. UN peacekeeping troops were sent in to restore order.
Since then Albania has cleaned up its act. Although corruption still lingers in its halls and money continues to talk too loudly, Albania is gradually growing up. It was admitted into NATO in 2009 and once it satisfies the European Union criteria, it will be allowed out to play with the big boys.
Tirana, the capital of Albania
Albania Road Trip: Tirana
Our first stop on our road trip through Albania was in its capital, Tirana.
We did a free two-hour walking tour, as we do in many capital cities. It’s a great way to get local knowledge and first-hand accounts of experiences of living in the city.
Places to visit in Tirana
Skanderbeg Square
Skanderbeg Square is the centre plaza of Tirana. The name comes from the 15th-century national hero, ‘Skanderbeg’ who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire for Independence.
Skanderbeg Statue, Tirana, Albania
In 2017, Skanderbeg Square was renovated to create a large pedestrian area. The paving used stone from across Albania. The area is slightly sloped around the edges allowing drainage of water from a central fountain. The fountain serves to wet the stones to show off their colour and also acts as a coolant in the summer months.
Tirana National History Museum
Just on the edge of Skanderbeg Square, you will find the National History Museum, the largest museum in the country. The museum documents Albania’s rise and fall through the ages, and includes pavilions dedicated to the communist terror and another to Mother Teresa, who was born in Albania.
National History Museum on the edge of Skanderbeg Square, Tirana. The wet tiles show off their colour
Tirana National Art Gallery
The National Art Gallery has plenty of Albanian political art but also hosts exhibitions from around the world. While we were there, Austrian artist, Deborah Sengl’s 44 installations of 200 stuffed white dwarfed hamsters were gracing the Art Gallery. This peculiar display named, ‘The Last Days of Mankind’, seemed particularly eery given Albania’s history.
One of Deborah Sengl’s forty-four instalments on display at the National Art Gallery in Tirana
Outside, behind the National Art Gallery, we found some old communist statues which we thought were part of the Gallery. However, while we were taking photos security moved us on stating that we were in a restricted area.
Communist statues placed behind the National Art Museum
The Pyramid of Tirana + Video From The Top
The Pyramid of Tirana was designed by Enver Hoxha’s daughter and her husband, as a museum in honour of her father. It originally opened in 1988, three years after Hoxha’s death. However, when communism ended, so did the life of the museum. It has occasionally been used as a venue for events, but its main drawcard for tourists and locals is to climb to the top and then practice their agility on the steep descent. One of us accomplished this feat …
It now lays abandoned, strewn with graffiti as a stark grey reminder of what once was.
The Pyramid of Tirana
In front of this unattractive scar of a city still healing, sits a monument with a contrasting message. One of peace. The ‘Peace Bell’, was made by the children of Shkodra from thousands of spent gun shells collected during the 1997 civil unrest.
The ‘Peace Bell’ made from gun shells from the 1997 civil unrest
Bunkart2
What was originally a top-secret nuclear bunker is a now a museum in the centre of Tirana. The bunker was originally built in the early 1980’s to shelter élite police and interior ministry staff in the event of a nuclear attack. In fact, hundreds were built around the country in the case of attack.
The Bunkart2 museum highlights the political persecution of about 100,000 Albanians from the years 1945 until 1991.
Bunkart2 entrance dome
PostBlloku
Just near to Blloku, the once off-limits residential area for the élite communist leaders, is the PostBlloku Memorial. The installation consists of three separate parts: a piece of the Berlin Wall, a mushroom-shaped bunker and concrete pillars taken from Spac MIne, a forced labour camp for communist dissidents.
Bunkart2 entrance dome
Concrete pillars from Spac Mine, a labour camp for dissidents
A part of the Berlin wall donated to Albania by Germany
Albania Road Trip: Berat
Leaving the historical monuments of Tirana and the crazy traffic, we headed out into rural Albania towards Berat. We then continued our Albania road trip following the coast South towards the Greek border.
We camped in a campsite just outside of Berat – and were later kicking ourselves that we didn’t take the road into Berat to explore the city. We later found out more about this city full of white ottoman houses on a hill over the Osum River and it definitely looks like it would have been worth a visit. We found this useful guide by Gabriel Traveler, that gives you a good idea of what a visit to Berat would be like and how economical a trip to Albania can be.
Albania Road Trip: Rural Life
We hadn’t planned to spend too long driving through Albania, as our plans were to spend more time on our Greece road trip. The remainder of our Albanian road trip consisted of driving the endless bumpy roads, admiring the surprising landscape, spotting old bunkers, waving at locals and waiting patiently for the many animals and their herders to move off to the side of the road.
Rural Albania
One thing you will see on your drive through Albania, in fact, will see numerous times, are concrete mushrooms sprouting up from the landscape.
Enver Hoxha had these bunkers built during his dictatorship because he was paranoid about being attacked. It’s difficult to know the precise number of bunkers but estimates range from around 173,000 to 750,000. Regardless, there are thousands and thousands laying abandoned across Albania. Presumably, in time they will decay along with the memories and atrocities caused by Hoxha himself.
A bunker on the roadside – you’ll see hundreds of these on your drive through Albania
Bunkers weren’t our only companions on our brief three-day road trip through Albania. We encountered many goats and other animals on the roads. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera at the ready when we came across the road full of turkeys, so you’ll have to trust me – it was an extremely amusing sight.
Albania Road Trip: Life’s an Albanian Beach
Albania is a country of surprises and has to be one of the most interesting we have visited. We were no less surprised by its beaches. Long stretches of azure water, just waiting to impress. It was autumn (November), so not exactly beach weather but that didn’t stop Lars – he went swimming several times in some of the beautiful deserted bays.
I wonder how long it will be before summer tourists adorn the beaches, and Albania becomes as popular and tourist-laden as its next-door neighbour, Greece.
Livadhi Beach, near Himare, Albania
Himare
Livadhi Beach in Himare is one of the longest stretches of beach, on the Albanian Riviera. It’s 1.2km long and known for its beauty among the olive groves.
On the last night of our Albania road trip, we watched the sun set on this beachside bunker on Livadhi beach. Quite a fitting rendition for our final night in a country, breaking free from its captivity.
Next stop: Campervanning through Greece and the Peloponnese
Lonely Planet named Albania as one of the top ten best value places to visit in 2019. It will be interesting to see how Albania measures up and whether it can transform itself from a country that was for a long time in isolation, to one that captures our admiration.
On a visit to Albania in 2014, Pope Francis said,
The eagle, depicted on your nation’s flag, does not forget its nest, but flies into the heights. All of you, fly into the heights!
Will Albania fly into the heights? Maybe it’s worth a visit before it flies too high.
Albania Road Trip: Good to Know
Motorhome Parking on our Albania Road Trip:
Tirana– Sheraton Hotel Parking overnight – 10 euro for 24 hours with security. – Coordinates 41.315988, 19.824131
Berat: Berat Caravan Camping
Quiet site. Good facilities and hot water showers. Strong wifi. Owner speaks English and very welcoming. Washing machine €5 per load. 8/10
Himare: Camping Kranea
Nice and quiet spot right by the beach. Good facilities. Owner speaks English. You can order dinner in the morning for that evening. 8/10
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Have you been to Albania? Are you planning a trip? We’d love to hear about your experiences. If you have a moment, leave us a comment below.
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So glad you found our site helpful Roger. If you have any questions etc. we are happy to help 🙂
We plan on visiting 2020. You site was really helpful. Many thanks.
Thanks for stopping by Stefan. We found Albania so interesting and the people were super friendly. Definitely worth a visit. We would have liked to have spent more time there.
Really enjoyed reading that article. Have wanted to go there for a very long time (even blogged about the country, despite never having visited haha). However, Ms B finds it too exotic for her taste, by the look of it, so I might try to find a friend to join me for an extended weekend trip or just go on my own. Nature looks so beautiful, and I like the exotic factor. And all those bunkers everywhere.
Thanks so much for reading:) We agree Albania is certainly an interesting country, especially when you can compare what you saw on your previous visit. There were plenty of potholes still on the country roads though;)
Lovely trip. Albania is an interesting country, so contrast between the old and the new city. I personally like the country and people were friendly. We were there last in 2015. Mickey was complaining as no pot holes anymore in the road and there are road sign and bus station as in the old day, there were nothing at all..
Great post. I love Albania too very much. First went in 2007 and then 2017. Tirana especially is massively different. In 06 Skandebeg Square was surrounded by a huge roundabout. I visited Bunkart 1 and also did the nearby cable car into the mountains. I will do 2 next time. I am writing a book about train travel in the Balkans and former Yugoslavia. I loved Kosovo too. I think that I will enjoy reading your blog a lot
It must have been very interesting returning after ten years and witnessing the transformation. Good luck with your book – we haven’t ‘trained’ it much so that would be an interesting read.
Thanks for reading guys x
Great info. Adding to our bucket list. Thank you!
Thanks so much for your comment Leesa, really pleased you enjoyed the article. Albania is definitely one to visit and cheaper than its neighbours …for now;)
Fantastic article guys really enjoyed it! Looks like an amazing country just waiting to be discovered! Keep the blogs coming…loving your journey ?