Albania - Europe's Forgotten Country - photos of Albania on Worldisround

Albania - Europe's Forgotten Country

July 2003. I've always been a little curious about this little European country, so I booked a long weekend in July via a tours agency. It so happens, there was no tour as such, and as I was travelling alone, I had to find my way to the hotel which the agency booked in Tirana. The airport in Rinas is situated between Tirana and Durrës, so I hired a guide (which I had to trust) to take me to the hotel and then pick me up the following day to do a little tour around Albania. Travelling alone in Albania is not for the ... (more)

« previous

Good road sense?

At the gift shop, Krujë

Krujë

Skanderbeg Citadel, Krujë

Skanderbeg Citadel, Krujë

Painting of King Skanderbeg

Inside the Skanderbeg Citadel

Stained-glass window

Krujë

Fushë-Krujë

More concrete bunkers

Apollonia

Apollonia

Apollonia

Apollonia

Apollonia

Apollonia

Apollonia

Apollonia

Apollonia

Apollonia

Driving back to Fier

Girl with kitten

Eating watermelon

Saying goodbye

« previous	view all 89 photos	next »

article published 8/8/2004

bookmark with del.icio.us

Comments

Add a comment

Your pictures are beautiful. I am an American & my friend loves Albania and its culture. However, a few of her friends seem to think unfavorably about Americans. They believe Americans people & culture are boring. They believe that Americans are unaatractive as well. Is this the general view of Americans by most Albanians?
— Michael, January 20, 2009

Thank you!
Thank you Shon for your kindly sharing photos on tour new educational website: http://www.liveandlearnlanguages.com/albanian.html

Your photos are great!
— Beth, August 12, 2008

My husband and I run the first English company offering package holidays to Albania. We were initially offering holidays to Saranda, but due to the increase in interest in Albania, and the developing tourism market, we are expanding to Vlora, Durres, and many other places and will also be offering tours around the country for those people who want to visit several towns. Please visit our website if you would like to find out more about this beautiful, welcoming country and its people. www.illyriatravel.com
— Joanne Brekofski, April 29, 2006

Hi Shon. Thank you for bringing us the great images from Albania, but please don't take me wrong when I say, that Albania IS NOT what the pictures show. It is more then that. Maybe you did not have the time, to see all the sights, and believe me, in Albania you find some GREAT ones. But I guess your visit was not your fault, maybe was your agents fault that found you a bad place to stay, and a bad guide. A good sugestion is, try and make some Albanian friends in England, which I know there are many, and next time they go back in their hometown, go with them. Believe me, you will have THE BEST time. Oh, one more thing, don't be afraid of us the Albanians, if they aproach you to sell something, just say "no, thank you" and they leave you alone. I hope you have a good time next time you visit, and take some better photos. Regards Dritan from Chicago, USA
— Dritan, April 5, 2006

I'm an American who went to Albania last summer. . it is a beautiful place and with the exception of Durres, I spent time in each of the same cities you did.
— Sher, March 23, 2006

Well done Shon.... Thanks for the photos. I always try to see recent photos from Albania since I live in the US now. There are nice things in Albania, but for some reasons foreigners always try to find the worst images. I don't know why they do it.... I try to tell my husband (who is American, by the way) that Albania is not what you see on the news or in pictures. Regards, denisa
— Denisa, March 20, 2006

Hi Shon.Bravo.Gutsy little Fella. It is not easy to book a trip and boom, go just like that. I give you that. But you committed the usual "frightened tourist sin" my brother. 70% of your pictures depict what you do not see elsewhere...bunkers, poor people selling the corner of the street, dusty streets, bent and rugged people to whom 50 yrs of hardship carved ugliness upon. Where is the youth? Where is the achievements of the past 14 years? none of this you show in there. There are unbelivable places up north that you do not find even in Switzerland. Views to take your breath away. Unexplored. But of course you did not have the means to share with us all this bcs of the circumstances and i understand. But you did not see Albania Shon. You just had a glimpse of it. I thank you just for visiting. I hope you decide to fully explore it one day when things get even better. Best wishes and regards.
— Gigi, January 31, 2006

hi there. i'm an albanian girl and i was really curious to see the photos you took durin your visit in Albania. to tell the truth i was a little disappointed. Albania is not only what i saw in those photos. I'm sure you loved the Dhërmiu coast (Drymades) but the fact is that you didn't mention that.. did you go at the south coasts: Himara,Saranda, etc? we have a beautiful nature. Nowadays Albania has chainged a lot, especially Tirana. with all my respect. blerta.
— Beta, November 3, 2005

I'm happy to see that you enjoyed your trip to my wonderful country. It is a great place to visit, and I'm glad you had that opportunity.
— Ledi Corriea, August 24, 2005

I understand...
It seems like Albania has always had a tough time under various regimes. But going out for a couple of drinks with a young Albanian who works in a bookshop off Skandersberg Square, he made it clear that Albanians still feel as isolated as ever, even after Hoxha's reign. This is primarily, because other nations in Europe hardly issue visas to travel for Albanian tourists. And I agree with you, there are some stunning women in Tirana!
— Shon Ellerton, September 4, 2004

Albania isn't what you people make it seem like... Durrës is a beautiful tourist area while Tiranë is alot plain gorgeous. The women their are beautiful as ever. Albania has been in slavery for 500 years by the turks... 50 years Enver Hoxha comes in like an asshole and makes ppl think they are stronger but they are not.. After Communism feel in 1991 it was hard to come back.. But they are doing their best and watch will happen in 10 year from now
— an Albanian, September 4, 2004

Very interesting. Liked the pictures of the family and the girl with the kitten. Sounds like you had an educational adventure.
— Lorraine, August 10, 2004

Thank you ,,
.. for sharing your wonderful pictures. I remember, years ago, Albania is such a mysterious place - politics and ideologies as usual, standing in the way. So your photos are an eye opener, a window to a world that is slowly opening up; where most of us have not been there yet. Good set of informative pix all round and I also enjoyed your pictures of Rome. It must have been quite a holiday!

Cheers
— soh gt, August 9, 2004

I couldn't agree more, Tony. And thank you, Shon for this informative and very interesting article, about a country most of us will probably never visit. Parts of your article remind me so much of my own trip to Lebanon a couple of years ago, which I did independently and pretty much on a whim. Way to go! Apollonia looks stunning, by the way.
— Phil Amey, August 8, 2004

Fascinating!
Thanks for this Shon. One of the reasons I look at this site is to learn about parts of the world we don't normally get the chance to visit and this article certainly does that. The closest I ever got to Albania was a holiday to Corfu a few years ago. I remember watching the Greek navy patrolling the narrow strait between the two countries apparently looking for people trying to escape from Albania.
— Tony Marlow, August 8, 2004