6 reasons to vacation in Albania, and the best travel tips!

The Khan365 Celebrity New & Headlines portal brings 6 compelling reasons of why visiting Albania. There are good hints on the main tourist attractions not to miss while visiting Albania.

Image: Khan365

1. Tirana – the humming capital

Albania’s capital, is colorful (in the last few decades has painted a lot of paint on the old facades), beautiful Tirana. But that is no reason to spend a few days in the 400’000 people city. Anyone interested in the dubious beauty of fascist buildings and housing estates, here you can find a lot of things. Tirana excited but rather, by his energetic Groove, many students provide the greatest night life in the Region.

Who is already there, should also enjoy the Café culture in the country has a long Tradition. In the city’s many cozy cafes that offer in addition, yet delicious cupcakes.

tip: In Albania were built from the 60s-years, an estimated 200’000 Bunker – dictator Enver Hoxha was afraid of attacks from the West as from the East. In Tirana, the BunkArt Museum that tells the history of the country in the redesigned bunkers was built a few years ago.

2. The Albanian Riviera

Reasons to visit the Eastern European country, there are many – the dream beaches of the Albanian Riviera are one of them. The southern part of the coast is not compromised in vain with more well-known regions in France or Italy. The big difference, though: Albania’s southern coast is still as good as undeveloped. Who grabs a rental car, you can find beaches at the steep coast that bear the name “secret tip” to the right.

Tourist center of the South, the port city of Saranda, which is attended mostly by Albanians for their Beach holidays. Not in the mood for other tourists? Here one shares the beach with the Locals. Saranda is a stone’s throw from the Greek island of Kos – a day trip over to the island, so no Problem.

Very nice also the resort of Ksamil, with its secluded Bay.

3. Butrint: A look into the history of

With its location between Greece and Italy, this small country has seen in the course of its long history, many men – and all have left their traces. A kaleidoscope of the varied history, shows the Peninsula of Butrint in the South of the country, which was declared in 1992 to the Unesco world heritage site. To see there are temples, streets, theatres and churches of the ancient Greeks, the Romans, early Christians and Ottomans. One should not miss the archaeological Museum where you can admire the best archaeological finds of the Peninsula.

4. The Albanian Alps

The mountains in the North of the country is also known as the Albanian Alps. The peaks reach only to just below the 3000 Meter mark, the valleys, the mountains with its green and dense forests is still a piece of jewelry. Fittingly, the Albanian Name translates as “the Enchanted mountains”. Since it is almost a matter of course, that lynx, wolves and bears sneak through the bushes and an eagle to the summit circles. The mountains away from the tourist paths is a Paradise for Hiking and rafting.

5. Gjirokaster – the city of stones

The southern Albanian Gjirokaster is also suitable “town of the stones way”. The houses in the mountain town (20’000 inhabitants) were built from the local grey stone, even the roofs are covered. In the old town, about 600 buildings from the time of the Ottomans (15. to 19. Century) and, therefore, Gjirokaster, 2005, was a Unesco world heritage site. Some of the beautifully decorated houses can be visited, such as the opulent “Zekate House”, which towers over the old town. See also mosques and places of retreat (Tekken) of the Islamic Sufi order.

A special attraction is the Bunker from the time of the Cold war. The 80 rooms were designed for up to 300 people.

6. Berat – 1001 window

A world heritage site! Albania has historically a lot to offer – as the city of Berat, which is also a testimony of the Ottoman rule. The Nickname “city of 1000 Windows” was awarded the 60 000 inhabitants of the municipality by the characteristic houses with their many-to-ceiling Windows. A Must when visiting the castle district and the Muslim Mangal district with its impressive mosques.

Source 

You may also like :

• El Pais: Five reasons to discover Albania
• Lonely Planet recommends Albania among 10 places for affordable adventures
• The Independent: Five foodie experience on the Albanian Riviera
• The unexplored waters of Albania are filled with artifacts

The unexplored waters of Albania are filled with artifacts

The undersea treasures of Albania were the focus of an article of the famous British media on line www.thetimes.co.uk

The journalists were here on a mission to explore the underwater treasures in order and to raise awareness to save one of Europe’s last secret underwater treasure troves before it is plundered.
The underwater world here combines Albania’s recent isolationist past with its ancient history..

“It’s incredible what’s down there,” said Mateusz Polakowski, 29, an underwater archaeologist at Southampton University. “We don’t even know about a tiny fraction of it.” He is part of a team of archaeologists and technicians working feverishly to map out Albania’s underwater riches unexplored for decades because the country was ruled for four decades by the  dictator Enver Hoxha.

Enver Hoxha, whose communist forces seized power in 1945, ran Albania as a hermit kingdom, the most repressive and ideologically driven regime in Europe. It was the North Korea of its day. Its coastline is less than two miles from the beaches of Corfu, but it might as well have been on the moon.

Thanks to the diving ban, however, the waters off its coast are an archaeological time capsule, unrivaled across the Adriatic and the Mediterranean.

Underwater heritage experts hope Albania will avoid the fate of Greece and Italy, whose historical richness have been pillaged by treasure-hunting divers. Further north in the Adriatic, in the seas off the former Yugoslavia, armies of looters have used scuba apparatus to plunder artefacts from beneath the waves.

In the Bay of Vlore, on Albania’s southern coast, where the Hercules was last week searching for shipwrecks, the waters ran red when Caesar clashed with Pompey’s forces during the Great Roman Civil War of the 1st century BC.

When the Ottoman Empire was threatening Italy during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, its fleet gathered in the bay. Jews expelled from Spain during the late Middle Ages escaped to Vlore via Italy. All have left their imprints on the sea bed.

“We’re trying to find this little guy,” said Polakowski. Leaning back in his chair, he pointed at a map of the sea floor, marked with a green line showing the location of a wreck from about the 1st century BC. “We can identify the age by the type of amphora it carries. This one would have been carrying things like olive oil or wine.”

This search of Albania’s waters has been going on unheralded for the past decade.

A day’s sail away from this shipwreck lies Butrint, which, according to the Roman poet Virgil, was founded by refugees from ancient Troy, who escaped the sacking of their city more than 3,000 years ago.

In the modern era, the Albanian coast was an important supply line during both world wars.

“It’s like looking under the ocean with a flashlight,” said Polakowski. “It’s so vast. We’ve still only surveyed less than 1% of the area. You can swim a site 10 times and you can still be 10 metres off a shipwreck and miss it.”

Scuba diving is technically still not permitted, but three years ago the Albanian Council of Ministers allowed recreational diving in defined areas along the coast.

Now treasure-hunters from Italy and Austria have been seen in Albanian waters, as well as enterprising locals equipped with scuba equipment and a desire to make fast cash.

Albania has the beauty of Switzerland and old-centuries unique traditions

The centuries-old traditions live together with the memories of the Communist era. This mix of both and the nature's beauty compared to Switzerland make Albania an exciting attraction for those arriving from the far north” - writes ‘Turizmus, a Hungarian tourism portal.

Turizmus praise the potentials of Albania regarding tourism, as they refer to several Scandinavian articles about Albania.

Photo: foldersmagazin.hu

“Residents and leaders of this beautiful country today do not yet know what it means when mass tourism starts. Even a couple of years and as the fast foods spread and open to the many star hotels, it happens.  Recently, in Scandinavian newspapers, we can see more and more stories about Albania as travel destination.

The capital, Tirana is not a metropolis such as Berlin, and it does not look like Budapest, "notes the author," but the mingling of minarets and concrete cubes, the hospital men offering of raki, is an exotic mix.

And here it is really all about home, in Albania you will find delicious food taken straight from farms of the villagers.

Read the original article here

Albania is a voyage of discovery, an unknown part of Europe

“Albania is a voyage of discovery, an unknown part of Europe”, writes Kurier, an Austrian daily newspaper based in Vienna.

Photo: /Manfred Ruthner

Albania opens up for all culture-interested. The hotels offer good comfort while culinary will not disappoint you as you taste the combination of Italian, Greek and Turkish cuisine.

Albania is a great package offering, magnificent landscapes, and precious cultural assets.

‘Kurier’ writes a long article describing the turbulent history of Albania, and how this country shines as must -tourist destination.

“Only a few decades ago, little was known about Albania. Visitors came sporadically and only on special occasions, such as the football World Cup qualifier in December 1980. There were no  football fans coming at that time, only a few journalists had arrived and were brought from the airport to the center of Tirana. But since the turn of the century in 1990, the country has undergone a tremendous development.

The ancient history of Albania is one of the main things that attracts visitors in Albania. From Roman heritage, UNESCO Sites to unspoiled beaches Albania will impress in each corner.

 

Photo: /Manfred Ruthner

The heritage of the Romans

The tourist treasure of Albania is located outside the capital, where grandiose landscapes and precious cultural assets await. On the way to the coast you pass Apollonia, a vast excavation field that invites you for a walk between the reconstructed parts of a Roman temple and the theater. In antiquity, the city was still accessible by ship and economically significant, but after an earthquake in the 4th Century silted up the port.

With the port city of Vlora you can reach the Adriatic Sea. Only recently, the promenade was opened with magnificent palm alley on "Lungomare".  Still, the beach chairs in front of the new hotels are unused in the sand and waiting for guests. In 1911, the declaration of independence of Albania from the Ottoman Empire took place in Vlora; Relics, pictures and documents can be admired in the Museum of Independence.

 

Photo: /Manfred Ruthner

Albania Riviera

Immediately behind Vlora, the landscape becomes more contemplative and the coastal road becomes curvier. Again and again, it opens the view to small bays, where pebble beach and turquoise iridescent water lure. Here runs the border between the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea. In tight serpentines you get on the Llogara Pass. At 1,000 meters above sea level there is a spectacular view: along its entire length the Albanian Riviera spreads, olive groves and orange groves form a delightful setting for the bright pebble beaches. At the observation deck, a paraglider is getting ready. A quick start, and the thermal already captures its glider and carries it out in wide curves along the coast. Down the beach you can see a construction site - soon the guests will be able to move into the resort.

There are hardly any cars on the panoramic road to the south and dozens of people on the bike. No locals, however, but tourists from the US, who enjoy the view on the low-traffic route at autumnal pleasant temperatures. In the distance you can see the island of Corfu.

Opposite the mainland, in the southernmost part of Albania, lies the Natural Park of Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, probably the most important in Albania. An avenue of eucalyptus trees forms the entrance, then opens the view of the well-preserved Greek theater. For hours you can go exploring in the park under shady trees. Particularly interesting are the remains of a temple, the ruins of a Byzantine basilica from the 6th century with remains of a beautiful mosaic floor and the findings exhibited in the museum.

Gjirokastra

 There is the next UNESCO World Heritage Site, Gjirokastra, the "stone city". Climbing steep cobbled lanes leads to the castle, past small shops selling embroidery, small stone-carved artwork and other souvenirs. The fort houses the National Arms Museum, which houses a remarkable collection from the period between 1912 and World War II. The view of the old town is impressive. All roofs are covered with flagstones, which are abundant in the mountainous environment.

Berat

The road to the north from here is well developed and crosses one of the most scenic sections of Albania. Wide, untamed river valleys with weathered bridges and an impressive mountain backdrop evoke memories of Karl May's novel "Through the Kingdom of Skipetars". Soon Berat is reached, one of the oldest cities in Albania. The castle district on a hill consists of numerous houses, most are still inhabited, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, they are under special protection. A former cathedral is used as a museum. Impressive is the precious icon wall with scenes from the life of Jesus and the twelve apostles and saints. Below the castle is the district Mangalem, also called "city of a thousand windows", with mosques and fascinating old houses.

Photo: /Manfred Ruthner

Kruja

High on a steep mountain slope lies the city of Kruja, which is inextricably linked to the history of Albania. From here, the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg led a successful fight against the Turkish army. In the castle, the very turbulent history of Albania is graphically traced. When you look from the top, you can already see the suburbs of Tirana, the final destination. On entering the capital, you can still see depressing prefabricated buildings, relics from the communist era. But the center presents itself as metropolitan, with a broad boulevard that runs between government buildings in Mussolini architecture and well-kept parks and finally flows into the Skanderbeg Square with opera and cultural palace from the 1960s.

Read original article: https://kurier.at/reise/auf-entdeckungsreise-durch-albanien/308.080.481 

Archeology magazine: Albania’s archeological treasures and findings

New archaeological findings in Albania, shows that this country is rich in history and still unexplored. 

As a new pipeline cuts its way through the Balkans, archaeologists in Albania are grabbing every opportunity to expose the country’s history, from the Neolithic to the present, - writes Archaeology magazine in a new article which also featured on the cover of January/February 2018 issue: “The head of a bronze figurine identified as Zeus from Apollonia, Albania”.

(TAP/G. Shkullaku)

In modern Albania, the mélange of historical cultures is packed so densely they often seem to collide. The national E852 highway follows the same bank of the Shkumbin River as an ancient highway, the Via Egnatia, which was first traveled by Roman soldiers around 200 b.c. The road was modernized and maintained for centuries thereafter, and it became the main thoroughfare between Constantinople and the Adriatic, facilitating communication and trade between Rome and the eastern lands of the empire. Today, luxury Mercedes swerve between transcontinental bicyclists taking in the lush Mediterranean landscape and donkey carts hauling towering piles of forage. The route winds gently past medieval Ottoman Turkish bridges and white obelisks from the Communist era immortalizing partisan battles fought during World War II. Scrappy tobacco fields and mounds of hay and cornstalks line the route, planted and stacked by hand, much as they have been for centuries.


See full article here: https://www.archaeology.org/issues/284-1801/letter-from/6161-albania-pipeline-excavations