Dear visitors,
We share the joy of introducing the newest website for hotels in Balkans. www.balkan-hotel.com is managed by Albania Holidays along with www.albania-hotel.com, www.albania-holidays.com and www.tirana-hotel.com.
It comes with a modern design and a lot more new features to make your booking easy and secure. It will offer accommodation in Albania, Bosnia hotels, hotels in Croatia, beach hotels in Greece, Kosovo hotels hotels and tours in Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia hotels, hotels in Bugaria and Turkey hotels. We are populating our database to offer you a wide range of hotels in Balkans.
Keep visiting www.balkan-hotel.com and let us know what you think,
Thanks for visiting
16 July 2012
Albania daily life tour, tour to Gjirokaster, Unesco Heritage Site
Albania Holidays organizes original tours of
unique value.
In the video below you can see how tourists enjoy Albanian hospitality and see for themselves the simple life in Gjirokaster and Dhoksat village in Lunxheria. Guests feel at home when they are welcomed with a glass of traditional drink Raki or a spoon of homemade jam (or gliko). Hear the testimonies!
Albania Daily Life Tour
In the video below you can see how tourists enjoy Albanian hospitality and see for themselves the simple life in Gjirokaster and Dhoksat village in Lunxheria. Guests feel at home when they are welcomed with a glass of traditional drink Raki or a spoon of homemade jam (or gliko). Hear the testimonies!
Albania Daily Life Tour
17 June 2012
Albanian Riviera - The number one place to visit in Europe in 2012 according to The Rough Guides
Still number one !
Another serious media, this time from UK, Rough Guide, suggest the top 5 best
places visit in Europe for 2012. And number one is again our magical Albanian
Riviera, which was lately also awarded number one by Frommer’s. At our www.albania-hotel.com or www.albania-holidays.com you can
book different hotels in Albanian Riviera and also organize a trip to experience
yourself these hidden treasures of the Mediterranean coastline.
The best places to visit in Europe in 2012
January 2012
London might get all
the press as the world floods in for the Olympics, but elsewhere in Europe
plenty of intriguing destinations are on the rise, either due to special events
planned for this year or new attractions that are just beginning to draw visitors.
So what are Europe's best holiday ideas in 2012? We've picked our top five.
Read on...
Albanian Riviera
 |
| Albania Riviera |
Savvy beach bums have
begun to chart a course for a still-wild stretch of the Mediterranean:
Albania's shores, between the cities of Vlorë and Sarande. You may have to ride
a rattle-trap bus to get there, but you won't regret that when you settle in to
a dinner of fresh calamari in front of the electric blue sea.
Albania beaches, a set on Flickr.
15 June 2012
"Albania" - We can do it !
Just heard from the
media about this wonderful project of Elisa Dushku. This is probably the first
initiative of this kind in promoting Albania, even though it is a common thing
in promoting destinations all over the world to attract the attention of
tourists and investors to visit a country. Greece had a similar campaign few
weeks ago which ended with success and reached its target.
I believe that we
Albanians can also show that we can do it. I don’t think our Elisa Dushku,
Fadil Berisha and the rest of the team are not able to find 60 000 $ to support
this promotion campaign, but this should come as support of as many Albanians
as possible, because this country belongs to all Albanians and needs our support.
So please donate as much as you can!
Especially at this moment when Albania and its tourism is getting the attention from the well known media such as LonelyPlanet, CNN, Frommer's etc. this can be the best promotion material to keep the beat going. The entire Albanian travel industry will profit from this, which means better image for Albania and more money for our economy.
Especially at this moment when Albania and its tourism is getting the attention from the well known media such as LonelyPlanet, CNN, Frommer's etc. this can be the best promotion material to keep the beat going. The entire Albanian travel industry will profit from this, which means better image for Albania and more money for our economy.
We can and should make
it! I believe this can be the best promotion gift Albania tourism can get in
its 100th Independence anniversary.
Kliton Gerxhani
Albania Holidays DMC
Albania Holidays DMC
16 April 2012
The Observer: Testing the water in Albania - by Killian Fox, Sunday 15 April 2012
Thank you for this nice article about visiting the Albanian Alps. These two quotes of yours say it all about the beauty of Albania and the genuineness of Albanian tourism:
“Anywhere else in Europe, this two-hour journey (which our guide book describes as "one of the world's great boat trips") would be hopping with tourists, but Albania is not a big draw – at least not yet” and “Ask someone on the street and, even if they can't help, they'll find someone whose second cousin definitely can. If helpfulness and hospitality were a marketable resource, Albania would be rich.”
You can book the accommodation in Valbona also through our website Albania Hotel
Below the article:
Staggering scenery, deserted landscapes – crossing Lake Koman in northern Albania provides an insight into a country that's still off the tourist radar
The surface of the lake is perfectly still. The steep hills on either side and the high mountains beyond are empty of human life, save for the occasional lonely farmstead
embedded in the hillside. There are no visible roads, no telephone wires to connect this place to the outside world. It's not difficult, on the ferry journey along Lake Koman in northern Albania, to imagine you're drifting through a landscape that has lain undisturbed for centuries.
It's the height of summer but there aren't many people on the ferry either. Most of our fellow passengers on this hulking cargo ship are down below, smoking and drinking
lethally strong coffee in the bar. They've seen it all before. Those who haven't – my girlfriend and I, a few backpackers and some tough-looking Czech bikers – are on the upper deck drinking in the staggering scenery.
Anywhere else in Europe, this two-hour journey (which our guide book describes as "one of the world's great boat trips") would be hopping with tourists, but Albania is not a big draw – at least not yet. The last century has been hard on this little country, just across the sea from Italy and just north of Greece. More than 40 years of communist rule under the isolationist dictator Enver Hoxha, followed by a ruinous period of extreme capitalism in the mid-90s, have left the country struggling to find its feet in the new millennium.
Our first port of call had been Shkodër, the largest city in the north, overlooked by an impressive medieval castle built by Venetians and Ottomans, and crisscrossed by wide
communist-era boulevards. When its population emerges in the evening to promenade and gather outside cafés, you could imagine you were somewhere in Italy – until you hear a muezzin's call from one of the city's many mosques, or fix your eye on a building that looks like it was transplanted from 1950s Moscow.
We planned to strike out the next morning for the Albanian Alps in the north-east. The best way to get there, if you want to avoid a long, precarious road journey, is by the Lake
Koman ferry. But we had no idea how to get to the lake, couldn't find an information
office, and even the guidebook was sketchy on the subject. Eventually a taxi driver with a few words of English called a friend and arranged for us to be picked up early the next morning. This was typical of our experience. Ask someone on the street and, even if they can't help, they'll find someone whose second cousin definitely can. If helpfulness and hospitality were a marketable resource, Albania would be rich.
It was 6.30am when George, a cheerful man with a thick moustache, ushered us into his minivan outside the Rozafa Hotel. At 6.32am, we drew up alongside a café on the same
street and George treated us to early-morning espressos accompanied by shots of Metaxa brandy. At 7.15am, we were finally good to go.
Lake Koman was created by a dam – a major hydroelectric project built in the 1980s. An hour into the ferry journey, the tree-lined hills give way to sheer limestone cliffs which
gradually close in until it looks like you've run out of lake. Just as you conclude you're heading straight into the side of a mountain, the water opens up again and you turn into a narrow passageway between two vertical walls of rock. It's like the riverboat sequence in the first Lord of the Rings movie. Even the Czech bikers were gaping.
The Valbona valley, at the heart of the Albanian Alps, is a two-hour drive from the ferry's Fierzë terminus. It's flanked on each side by high mountains. The elevation was so
dramatic that we had to crane our necks to see their craggy peaks.
We spent several nights at a friendly little chalet-style hotel called Rilindja, hiking around
the local villages and eating fresh river trout. And yet we'd seen only a fraction of what the country has to offer during our 10 days here. We missed out on the fine beaches (it has a coastline that bridges two seas – the Adriatic and the Ionian), the Greek and Roman ruins at Butrint, the town of Gjirokastra (Nobel laureate Ismail Kadare, who was born there, describes it as "the steepest city in the world … unbelievable [and] dreamlike"), not
to mention the capital city, Tirana. If you're willing to put up with bumpy roads and idiosyncratic transport arrangements, Albania is a rare find.
“Anywhere else in Europe, this two-hour journey (which our guide book describes as "one of the world's great boat trips") would be hopping with tourists, but Albania is not a big draw – at least not yet” and “Ask someone on the street and, even if they can't help, they'll find someone whose second cousin definitely can. If helpfulness and hospitality were a marketable resource, Albania would be rich.”
You can book the accommodation in Valbona also through our website Albania Hotel
Below the article:
The surface of the lake is perfectly still. The steep hills on either side and the high mountains beyond are empty of human life, save for the occasional lonely farmstead
embedded in the hillside. There are no visible roads, no telephone wires to connect this place to the outside world. It's not difficult, on the ferry journey along Lake Koman in northern Albania, to imagine you're drifting through a landscape that has lain undisturbed for centuries.
It's the height of summer but there aren't many people on the ferry either. Most of our fellow passengers on this hulking cargo ship are down below, smoking and drinking
lethally strong coffee in the bar. They've seen it all before. Those who haven't – my girlfriend and I, a few backpackers and some tough-looking Czech bikers – are on the upper deck drinking in the staggering scenery.
Anywhere else in Europe, this two-hour journey (which our guide book describes as "one of the world's great boat trips") would be hopping with tourists, but Albania is not a big draw – at least not yet. The last century has been hard on this little country, just across the sea from Italy and just north of Greece. More than 40 years of communist rule under the isolationist dictator Enver Hoxha, followed by a ruinous period of extreme capitalism in the mid-90s, have left the country struggling to find its feet in the new millennium.
Our first port of call had been Shkodër, the largest city in the north, overlooked by an impressive medieval castle built by Venetians and Ottomans, and crisscrossed by wide
communist-era boulevards. When its population emerges in the evening to promenade and gather outside cafés, you could imagine you were somewhere in Italy – until you hear a muezzin's call from one of the city's many mosques, or fix your eye on a building that looks like it was transplanted from 1950s Moscow.
We planned to strike out the next morning for the Albanian Alps in the north-east. The best way to get there, if you want to avoid a long, precarious road journey, is by the Lake
Koman ferry. But we had no idea how to get to the lake, couldn't find an information
office, and even the guidebook was sketchy on the subject. Eventually a taxi driver with a few words of English called a friend and arranged for us to be picked up early the next morning. This was typical of our experience. Ask someone on the street and, even if they can't help, they'll find someone whose second cousin definitely can. If helpfulness and hospitality were a marketable resource, Albania would be rich.
It was 6.30am when George, a cheerful man with a thick moustache, ushered us into his minivan outside the Rozafa Hotel. At 6.32am, we drew up alongside a café on the same
street and George treated us to early-morning espressos accompanied by shots of Metaxa brandy. At 7.15am, we were finally good to go.
Lake Koman was created by a dam – a major hydroelectric project built in the 1980s. An hour into the ferry journey, the tree-lined hills give way to sheer limestone cliffs which
gradually close in until it looks like you've run out of lake. Just as you conclude you're heading straight into the side of a mountain, the water opens up again and you turn into a narrow passageway between two vertical walls of rock. It's like the riverboat sequence in the first Lord of the Rings movie. Even the Czech bikers were gaping.
The Valbona valley, at the heart of the Albanian Alps, is a two-hour drive from the ferry's Fierzë terminus. It's flanked on each side by high mountains. The elevation was so
dramatic that we had to crane our necks to see their craggy peaks.
We spent several nights at a friendly little chalet-style hotel called Rilindja, hiking around
the local villages and eating fresh river trout. And yet we'd seen only a fraction of what the country has to offer during our 10 days here. We missed out on the fine beaches (it has a coastline that bridges two seas – the Adriatic and the Ionian), the Greek and Roman ruins at Butrint, the town of Gjirokastra (Nobel laureate Ismail Kadare, who was born there, describes it as "the steepest city in the world … unbelievable [and] dreamlike"), not
to mention the capital city, Tirana. If you're willing to put up with bumpy roads and idiosyncratic transport arrangements, Albania is a rare find.
Lake Koman, Albanian Alps
Hi all
We published new photos on Albania Holidays group page on flickr and arranged them. You can also browse sets like: Albanian culture tour, Albanian beach photos under the group Albania Holidays and several sets under Tirana Hotels group such as: tirana business hotels, tirana nature hotels etc.
You are welcome to share some photos of your visit in Albania
Via Flickr:
A wonderful picture from Barbara Hausammann of Lake Koman, Albania
We published new photos on Albania Holidays group page on flickr and arranged them. You can also browse sets like: Albanian culture tour, Albanian beach photos under the group Albania Holidays and several sets under Tirana Hotels group such as: tirana business hotels, tirana nature hotels etc.
You are welcome to share some photos of your visit in Albania
Via Flickr:
A wonderful picture from Barbara Hausammann of Lake Koman, Albania
24 February 2012
Balkans video- Hidden treasures of Europe
A very nice video on Balkan countries. Entitled "Hidden treasures of Europe" this video pictures the best of Balkan countries considering it as integral part of EU, under enlargement.
Under the slogan 'So similar, so different, so European' this clip shows just how gorgeous and surprising Southeast Europe can be. Yes, the region is different and this is what makes it so vibrant, exciting and fascinating. But is it actually that different?
Albania Holidays is also contributing to the idea of promoting Balkan countries with a new online project.
Under the slogan 'So similar, so different, so European' this clip shows just how gorgeous and surprising Southeast Europe can be. Yes, the region is different and this is what makes it so vibrant, exciting and fascinating. But is it actually that different?
Albania Holidays is also contributing to the idea of promoting Balkan countries with a new online project.
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