Albania is a country of 2.8 million people just across from the heel of Italy where the Adriatic and Ionian seas meet. It’s located on Europe’s southeastern Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered in the north by Montenegro and the south by northern Greece. It also shares borders with Kosovo and North Macedonia in the east.

Many people fly into Tirana, the capital, in the centre of the country. There is another international airport in Kukes, in the northeast, with another due to open in March 2025 just outside the seaside city of Vlore. There are ferry crossings from Ancona, Brindisi and Bari, in Italy. A popular way to get into the country is to fly into Corfu and take the short ferry ride across to Saranda (there are buses that go direct from the airport to the ferry terminal). Buses do ply the land borders but note that there are no trains in Albania.

Albania is a country with a chequered history, having been part of the Roman and Ottoman empires, and, during WWII, changing hands several times (Germans, Greeks, Italians) before falling under communist control and the 40-year rule of Enver Hoxha, who created a virtual hermit kingdom. Each of these have left their mark on the country both socially and architecturally. As such the place is awash with amazing churches, mosques, castles, and some of the 750,000 machine gun bunkers built during Hoxha’s paranoid reign. The glorious stone city of Gjirocaster down south is a popular destination (it has a nuclear bunker burrowed into the hill beneath it), as are the layered architectural glories of Butrint archaeological park, the ancient towns of Berat, Korce, and the northern city of Shkoder. Tirana is worth a few days to get a feel for the lunacies of Hoxha’s regime while those seeking remote adventure should check out the upper, wilder reaches of the Vjosa River and the free thermal springs at Benja, just past the southern town of Permet. Stop anywhere, eat local, throw in a ‘faleminderit’ (thank you), and Albanian hospitality will do the rest.

With a 476-kilometre coastline there are plenty of places to wet your feet. Ksamil beach, just down the coast from Saranda, is one of the best known but it can get overcrowded in the summer months. Vlore and Durres, further north, are popular tourist beaches but have succumbed somewhat to their own popularity and a propensity to crowd the beaches out with paid sunbeds. The coast to the north of Saranda is peppered with small, isolated beaches such as Lukova and Buneci where rustic restaurants serve simple fish meals and excellent native Korca beer. The small beach at Porto Palermo is a lovely local destination and sits cheek by jowl with a 200-year-old Ali Pasha castle. The sea in Albania is clean, crystal clear, and calm but be aware that many beaches are stony, not sandy.

The local cuisine is very much aligned with the rest of the Mediterranean, with lots of olive oil, fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish. A popular (and very cheap) snack is the byrek, a sort of flat pie made of layers of filo pastry filled with cheese and spinach or meat and onions. Pizza is found pretty much everywhere.

Albania is as safe as any other European country, if not safer. Just take the usual precautions with money, wallets, passports etc. Be aware that Albanians drive like lunatics.

The main currency is the Lek, though the Euro is widely accepted. Credit cards are accepted in the major destinations but in remote areas cash is often king. There are currency exchanges everywhere. Beware ATMs, though, as the charges to use them can be eye-wateringly high.

Like anywhere else, it can get more expensive in the summer months so slightly off-season travel might be best. In June last year I was paying 120 lek (about $2) for a coffee in a seaside café in Saranda only to find the price double overnight to high season prices. A local beer will cost between 100 and 200 lek (around $1.61–$3.22), and 500 lek (approximately $8.05) will get you a decent local dish of veal and vegetables. Overall, Albania is cheaper than most other European countries. For how much longer, is anybody’s guess.