Albania / Macedonia / Montenegro / Kosovo
Discussion
Planning a very quick whistle stop tour of the intersections of these countries back end of the summer.
Driving between them all, in & out of Tirana.
Planning to visit Tirana, Lake Ohrid & up through the national parks to Skopje in N Macedonia, Pristina & Prizren in Kosovo, Podgorica & Kotor in Montenegro.
Bit of a loop to take in a few countries.
Anything else in that area on the route that we shouldn't miss out?
Driving between them all, in & out of Tirana.
Planning to visit Tirana, Lake Ohrid & up through the national parks to Skopje in N Macedonia, Pristina & Prizren in Kosovo, Podgorica & Kotor in Montenegro.
Bit of a loop to take in a few countries.
Anything else in that area on the route that we shouldn't miss out?
The interior of Montenegro is nice too, this place is worth a visit;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_River_Canyon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_River_Canyon
Know this part of the world quite well. Stunning places!
Tirania - interesting enough for a day but that's all you'll need. There's really not much to see. If you can, I'd suggest you head south Through Vlore and then towards Saranda. Will take a good five hours but well worth and the cross country route over to Ohrid will blow you away.
Ohrid is beautiful. Be careful if you head into Skopje. There's a fair amount of tension there between various nut job factions as there has been for a while and these do sometimes tend to bubble over rather nastily - not that we ever hear about it here.
These aren't wealthy countries so don't expect billiard board roads (although there are some, particularly in Albania) or everything to work as it should. But it rarely matters.
Other than that, just go with the flow - you'll have a cracking time!
Tirania - interesting enough for a day but that's all you'll need. There's really not much to see. If you can, I'd suggest you head south Through Vlore and then towards Saranda. Will take a good five hours but well worth and the cross country route over to Ohrid will blow you away.
Ohrid is beautiful. Be careful if you head into Skopje. There's a fair amount of tension there between various nut job factions as there has been for a while and these do sometimes tend to bubble over rather nastily - not that we ever hear about it here.
These aren't wealthy countries so don't expect billiard board roads (although there are some, particularly in Albania) or everything to work as it should. But it rarely matters.
Other than that, just go with the flow - you'll have a cracking time!
We did three weeks around Montenegro a couple of years ago, so I'll give you the highlights I can remember.
- Kotor is great, just try to miss the cruise ships cause it's not very big and gets crowded fast
- There're some really good Roman mosaic floors at Risan https://goo.gl/maps/NMgPWciP8kphC8gEA
- The beaches on the south side of the Lustica peninsula are good, pebbly, but interesting https://goo.gl/maps/XMxr89BFkaQD1rRp7
- The walk up Bobotov Kuk can be done in a day and the views are excellent https://goo.gl/maps/5vTHxmNz8oEhC2Tz9
- Another vote for the Tala Canyon, and the road down the side of the Piva river is also worth a trip
- Long Beach at Ulcinj isn't all that, it's just a really long sandy beach with a few bars on it, but there's an old holiday camp right at the end that's worth a look for the weird dalek-esque huts https://goo.gl/maps/hAwnRfXautY7EmSm6. Park before the bridge and walk over. Then walk straight back, dependin on your opinion of nudists.
I did this exact trip back in 2017 - i'll try and write up a longer post with some good tips.
You hiring a car right? Only a couple of the providers allow cross-border rentals to the countries you list. I think we went with Sixt as they did every single country we wanted to go to. In Kosovo you need to buy insurance at the border regardless or they wont let you in,
Do you have time to go to Mostar? We did that plus Dubrovnik in addition to everywhere else you listed. Lake Ohrid is a particular highlight.
Overall one of the best trips I have ever done.
You hiring a car right? Only a couple of the providers allow cross-border rentals to the countries you list. I think we went with Sixt as they did every single country we wanted to go to. In Kosovo you need to buy insurance at the border regardless or they wont let you in,
Do you have time to go to Mostar? We did that plus Dubrovnik in addition to everywhere else you listed. Lake Ohrid is a particular highlight.
Overall one of the best trips I have ever done.
If you're a wine drinker, and like a decent amount... you could do worse than a visit to Vevchani (just north of Lake Ohrid) and attempt to earn the "Wine Passport"! Vevchani (during the breakup of Yugoslavia) declared itself independent, created their own passports etc. Obviously part of North Macedonia, but they have the "wine passport" to replace it - they even created their own currency to sell to tourists as a souvenir (don't know if it's still available).
Very friendly place - take cash, otherwise you'll be drinking on a tab and won't realise how cheap it is until you go back to pay it the next day. £72 for 4 people over 8 hours (10pm to 6am). Don't ask me any more about the drinks, I honestly don't remember!)
https://experience-macedonia.com/vevchani-village/
Very friendly place - take cash, otherwise you'll be drinking on a tab and won't realise how cheap it is until you go back to pay it the next day. £72 for 4 people over 8 hours (10pm to 6am). Don't ask me any more about the drinks, I honestly don't remember!)
https://experience-macedonia.com/vevchani-village/
Just sorting through some photos and thought I'd post these to get you in the mood...
Tirana. I actually did it a disservice earlier. It's actually quite a nice city in the middle. Some nice bars, etc:
Saranda:
Typical Albanian, shabby motorway service station
Lake Ohrid
Grounds of the Monastery of St. Naum - just over the Albanian border on the Macedonia side (nice boat trip down from Ohrid).
I also forgot to mention that if you're travelling with the OH, best to invest in some blinkers.
Tirana. I actually did it a disservice earlier. It's actually quite a nice city in the middle. Some nice bars, etc:
Saranda:
Typical Albanian, shabby motorway service station
Lake Ohrid
Grounds of the Monastery of St. Naum - just over the Albanian border on the Macedonia side (nice boat trip down from Ohrid).
I also forgot to mention that if you're travelling with the OH, best to invest in some blinkers.
plenty said:
It's dangerous. Full of gangsters. Food is terrible. Overpriced. Concrete everywhere. I absolutely recommend you and everyone else stay away.
Haha Ok I might take a look , if it has the same waters as Croatia in the med which are my favourite so far but at less of a cost I’ll defiantly have a good look . And spread the good word ofcourse ;-) to avoid at all cost .
911r said:
Why don’t more people go to Albania ?
It looks really nice , what’s the catch ?
There's no catch as such. The primary factor is that the country is still relatively poor and its tourist industry is lagging behind other places in terms of promotion and bringing the overall 'offer' up to the wider expectations of the typical northern European tourist. It looks really nice , what’s the catch ?
It's not been the most stable of economies which has put off investment by the big holiday companies who would also struggle to staff resorts from the local population.
So for the most part, it's been one of those places more suited to the independent, DIY traveller as opposed to the typical 'all-inclusive-expect-everything-on-a-plate' type holiday maker.
Personally, I think its for the better and suspect that some its charm may well be diluted once the corporates start to develop (as they are indeed starting to do).
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