Albania · North Macedonia · New 2027
Albania, Unlocked
Nine nights through the country that closed itself to the world for forty years — and is only now letting it back in.
The idea
A country you were not supposed to see.
Until 1991, Albania was the most sealed-off state in Europe. Its coastline was watched from hundreds of thousands of concrete bunkers, built for an invasion that never came. Most of them are still there — on beaches, in vineyards, on cliffs above the Ionian Sea.
This journey reads the country in layers. Greek and Roman cities buried in the hills. Ottoman towns built in stone and whitewash. The bunkers and tunnels of the communist decades. And then, across the mountains, the quiet shore of Lake Ohrid, where Albania and North Macedonia share one of the oldest lakes on earth.
The route is a loop: it begins and ends in Tirana, with three nights by the sea in Sarandë and a free day to do nothing at all. The price covers land services only, from arrival in Tirana to departure — you book your own flights.
Highlights
Six places, three thousand years.
The "town of a thousand windows": Ottoman houses stacked up the hillside below a castle that people still live in.
A Greek colony that became a Roman university town — Octavian studied here before he became Augustus.
Mountain pass, empty bays, and Ali Pasha's fortress at Porto Palermo.
Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Venetian layers on a wooded peninsula between a lagoon and the sea.
A town roofed in stone slabs, birthplace of Enver Hoxha and of the novelist Ismail Kadare.
A rowing boat over the clear springs that feed one of the oldest lakes on earth.
Day by day
The route.
- Day 1
Arrival in Tirana
Arrive in Tirana and transfer to the hotel. The evening is yours.
Night: Tirana - Day 2
Berat & Apollonia → Vlorë
Morning in Berat, the "town of a thousand windows" and a UNESCO World Heritage site, where people still live inside the castle walls. Then Apollonia, founded by Greek colonists some 2,500 years ago and named after the god Apollo. We reach Vlorë on the coast by evening.
Night: Vlorë - Day 3
The Albanian Riviera
South along one of the great coastal roads of the Mediterranean: over the Llogara pass, down to Himarë for free time, and a stop for the triangular fortress Ali Pasha built at Porto Palermo — the bay where the regime later hid a submarine tunnel. Evening arrival in Sarandë, facing Corfu.
Night: Sarandë - Day 4
Butrint & Ksamil
Butrint National Park, a UNESCO site on a wooded peninsula between a lagoon and the sea: the Greek theatre, the baptistery mosaics, the basilica and the Roman baths. A stop in Ksamil on the way back.
Night: Sarandë - Day 5
A free day on the Ionian
No bus, no schedule. Swim, walk the promenade, or simply sit and look at the sea.
Night: Sarandë - Day 6
Gjirokastër → Korçë
Gjirokastër, the UNESCO-listed "stone town", with its castle and stone-roofed Ottoman houses — and, for those who wish, the arms museum inside the fortress. Then north-east through the mountains to Korçë.
Night: Korçë - Day 7
Korçë → Sveti Naum → Ohrid
A morning walk through Korçë before crossing into North Macedonia. At the monastery of Sveti Naum we glide by rowing boat over the springs that feed Lake Ohrid. Dinner in Ohrid with live Balkan music.
Night: Ohrid - Day 8
Lake Ohrid → Durrës
A boat on the lake in the morning, then the old town of Ohrid — once called the Jerusalem of the Balkans — with its churches and Samuel's Fortress. Back across the border to Durrës and the largest Roman amphitheatre in the Balkans.
Night: Durrës - Day 9
Krujë & Tirana
Krujë, the mountain stronghold of the national hero Skanderbeg, with its castle and old bazaar. Then a full tour of Tirana: Skanderbeg Square, the Italian-era boulevards and the buildings of the Hoxha years. Farewell dinner with folk music and dance.
Night: Durrës - Day 10
Departure
Transfer to Tirana airport.
The order of visits may change with the season and local conditions. Final itinerary confirmed at booking.
Included
- 9 nights in 4-star hotels
- Daily breakfast and 8 dinners, one of them with live Balkan music and one with a folk show
- Specialist tour leader throughout
- All transfers and touring in a modern air-conditioned coach
- All entrance fees and city taxes
- Lake Ohrid boat trip and rowing boats at Sveti Naum
- A Balkans travel book
Not included
- International flights to and from Tirana
- Travel insurance
- Meals and drinks not listed
- Personal expenses and gratuities
Land services only — international flights are not included. You will need a passport valid for the North Macedonia crossing.
2027 departures
Dates and prices on request.
2027 dates are being set now. Tell us when you would like to travel and how many of you there are, and we will send the dates and the full price.
Enquire by email Ask on WhatsAppinfo@legacybalkans.com
Mehmet Ulusoy +90 532 285 07 37
Key DMC · Skopje +389 71 324 369