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Albania Summer Road Trip

ALBANIAN SUMMER
I’ve become the person that can turn a visit to her own country into a perfect touristic holiday. I have to be touristically enthusiastic given that I’m the tour guide to the boyfriend who wants to know everything and go everywhere. It gets stressful just before the trip to think of the next place to show him. I’m taking things slowly by showing one town at a time given that we’ll be coming back here for many years and in this way there will always be a new place too discover. This time I had a perfect place to go and visit, a place that I hadn’t visited myself, the ancient town of Butrint in the southernmost point of the country.

Gjirokastra, Albania

Born under the Byzantine empire and later being reconstructed under the Ottoman empire, Gjirokastra is a very well preserved historical town of Albania. In Albania we have taken modernization very seriously after the fall of Communism in the 90s and very few towns have still remained that show how life and architecture was in the past centuries.  Gjirokastra is a must see place for tourist who want to discover the Albania of the past.

Where to eat in Gjirokastra: Kujtimi Restaurant You eat home made food from the traditional cuisine, so it takes a while to be served given that everything is freshly made but is all delicious especially the meat dishes.

Where to sleep in Gjirokastra: Hotel Gjirokastra An traditional house in the old town with just 4 rooms.  ( Tel:  0842 65982)

What to do in Gjirokastra: Visiting the 12th century castle, the ethnographic museum, the Zakate house (book it through the tourist center ), the Church of St. Sotirë and the old bazaar Mosque.

Saranda, Albania

Being on a technology hiatus these are the only 2 pictures I took of me and the beach in Saranda. Let me just say that the Ionian sea is just amazing, with its deep blue color and rocky beaches. Saranda is a city of the southern Albania and the perfect location to stay while visiting the ancient town of Butrint, the Blue Eye and the Ksamil islands.

Where to stay in Saranda: Demi Hotel, Rruga Butrinti, Sarandë, Albania Located on the main street of Saranda beach it has everything from the restaurant, a favorite with the locals with its Mediterranean cuisine to the Lounge Bar that is more of a disco, throwing parties every night with DJs. When booking the hotel you get access to its private beach and all the hotel amenities for free.

Where to eat in Saranda: Fish is everywhere served fresh, but get it the locally sourced directly from the city’s fishermen at Taverna Peshkatarit ( Rruga Peshkatari, Sarande). If fish isn’t something you like Restaurant Limani offers all the rest from Pizza to local meat based dishes. It has the perfect location just in the main boulevard, with views of the touristic port.

What to do in Saranda: In Saranda there are different beaches you can choose from, all complete with facilities. I spent a day at Barracuda Beach which has both also a swimming pool.  But what I would advice is moving to a different beach every day so that you can visit the various coastal villages. During my stay I visited Ksamil, Butrint & the Blue Eye which are the main tourist attraction sites.

Butrint, Saranda

Dating back to the 10th century BC, Butrint is a National Park of 100 square kilometers of nature and archeology sites protected under the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Visiting Butrint is a long walk going from one site to the other. Even though it was August and the heat was at its max the visit was pleasant due to the fact that Butrint is surrounded by water and the sites can be reached following streets inside a dense vegetation.

Ksamil beach, Saranda

Ksamil beach is considered Albania’s own little Bora Bora with its white sand, and the 3 small islands that can be reached swimming.