Discover Albania

Our guide is waiting for us at the airport in Tirana. The programme of visits for this first day is as follows: We visit the National Museum on Skanderbeg Square, the Grand Palace of Culture, the Hethem Bey Mosque dating from 1793, the best mosque in Albania, the new Bazaar in the north and then a walk in the Albanian Champs Elysees in the old district of Bolk to visit the former villa of the dictator Enver Hoxha (1944-1990). A visit to a French bakery and pastry shop and a visit to the new Orthodox church built for the first centenary of our national independence. Sleeping in Tirana .

In the morning we go to the former capital of our national hero George Castriot Scanderbeg to visit his museum, the ethnographic museum of the city, a tekee and free time before lunch. Lunch in Kruja, our destination is the Catholic town of Shkoder or the capital of Northern Albania to visit the citadel of Rozafa, the churches and the mosque in the centre of town.

After lunch we leave for the coastal town of Durres, the largest port in the country. Here we visit the richest archaeological museum in Albania and the largest amphitheatre in the Balkans dating from the 2nd century AD with a capacity of 22,000 spectators. Along the way we stop to taste Albanian wines in the COBO winery in the Berat region. Berat is the best site in the country, with its thousand windows on top of each other, classified by UNESCO for its two outstanding districts of Mangalem & Gorica. We visit the Onurfi museum, the churches of the castle and the splendid mosques of Berat. A night walk along the main avenue of the city to see the well-lit areas of the city.

In the morning we go to the archaeological site of Apolonia, founded by the Greeks in the 6th century B.C. In this site we also visit an Armenian style church, the monastery, a Roman villa and the archaeological museum. The next stop is the city of our National Independence, which was visited in 1924 by a former French deputy, Justien Godart. In this coastal town we visit the Independence museum. After lunch we cross the Albanian Riviera. Many stops to take pictures. Late in the evening we arrive in Sarande to watch the local song and dance show in the castle of Lekures, which dominates the town of Quarente Sains.

In the morning we will go to the archaeological site of Butrint, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, where the Blue Eye is a peaceful and unmissable place. Gjirokaster is also the birthplace of two great Albanian men who dominated the second half of the 20th century: ENVER HOXHA &ISMAIL KADARE. In this stone city we visit the castle which dominates the city, the ethnographic museum (the former birthplace of the dictator). Late in the afternoon we arrive in a small provincial town. Overnight stay in Parmet.

In the morning we head east. Our road winds through mountains, rolling hills and untouched landscapes following the mythical Vjose river. In Korce we visit the first Albanian language school, the new cathedral, the first high school in the Balkans dating from 1917, the French military cemetery from the Great War, a beer in the summer residence of the dictator and accommodation in our hotel on the Ohrid lake.

In the morning we leave for the fishermen's village overlooking the turquoise waters of the lake. Our road follows the ancient Egnantia road that linked Rome and Constantinople in ancient times. We arrive in Tirana to visit the international centre of the Bektashis (the same importance as Meque and Jerusalem) for this branch of Islam. Sleeping in Tirana.

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