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Interesting and variedcountry both geographically, politically and socially. Good accommodation. Would have appreciated an included first and last night dinners ( we organised the latter) and/or introductory drinks on the first day. It would have facilitated group sociability.
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Very good. Well organised and very thorough in his presentations; always willing to answer questions.... Flexible, helpful. Top marks. Ditto an excellent driver.
Be prepared for dreadful cobbled streets. You need sneakers with a good grip!
This is a trip which exceeded my expectations. Friendly locals, fabulous landscapes, cheap and cheerful food and drink with the excellent guide, Ed.
I have just one gripe which Exodus should consider and act upon.
Despite outside temperatures of around 18 – 20 degrees during daylight hours our driver had the air conditioning on most of the time. The only windows that could be opened on the minibus were located in the front doorseat plus a roof window which was only opened once in 10 days for a couple of hours at my insistence. Some of our 15 strong group, myself included, developed dry throats, head colds, coughs etcetera. A week after returning home I am still feeling the effects. And for the last 24 years I have worked outside in all weathers without catching a cold. Tgere was never any need for the air conditioning to be activated within the outside temperature range at this time of year. Opening a window for fresh air would have sufficed. Instead 17 of us were enclosed in an airtight container for several hours on a daily basis breathing the same recycled dry air. Not healthy!
There are court cases pending regarding illnesses contracted from air conditioning on aircraft. Take note Exodus.
Bonding with the group.
Excellent. He would make a great politician.
Take a face mask.
When I told friends I was going to Albania, the most common response was “why?”. Albania is relatively new to tourism so it’s a great time to explore the country. The locals are curious to get to know us which is a rarity in Europe. Albania doesn’t have really show stopping sights but there are a number of significant highlights which hold your interest throughout and make this a fascinating trip.
There are several sites of archaeological interest such as Apollonia and Butrint, with some lesser known sites that our guide squeezed into the trip. These sites are often still being excavated and are not commercialised in any way. Kruje is a jewel of a town, clutching to the side of the mountains with fantastic views over the valley below. Gjirokaster is not looking its best at the moment as they are currently replacing all the cobbles in the town but you can tell it will be spectacular once completed - lots of little old wooden buildings clustered underneath the castle on a steep mountainside. The coast is stunning, particularly the coastline facing Corfu - white sands, turquoise seas. There are also beautiful lakes and rivers.
Eddy was extremely knowledgeable and so enthusiastic. He took good care of everyone and did his best to give us the best possible holiday.
You change hotel every night bar one on this trip so travel light. It may look like there's a lot of driving but each leg of the journey seemed fairly short with frequent coffee or point of interest stops so I never felt restless. It's an incredibly cheap place to visit - you can get a beer for just over one pound, lunch for a couple of pounds and, even pushing the boat out, it's hard to spend more than a tenner. The only "expensive" item on menus is chicken (!) but red meat is much cheaper. There are plenty of tasty vegetarian options too. The guide needs around 1,500 Lek for the kitty, just over a tenner. We went on the first departure of the year and it was quite cold in the mountains so make sure you bring some warm clothes for the departures outside of the summer season. Albania is a land of very slippery and steep pavement surfaces so shoes with good grip are recommended.
This was a thoroughly comprehensive tour travelling around a large part of the country, involving visiting many fascinating historical sites, museums, the countryside ….various towns,mountainous regions, flat fertile plains and the coast .
There were several.... The stunning mountains, breathtaking views of castles , mosques and the courteousness of the Albanian we met....and learning so much about the country thanks to our guide.
Klodi was a very fine group leader. His knowledge of his country and it's history was extremely impressive. We learnt so much and he was always really helpful and had a great sense of humour ! Also, importantly, Ghent, our driver, was excellent. We couldn't have been in safer hands....driving through the mountains was very tricky at times, but he was always calm and very careful.
Go to Albania now before it becomes too touristy. It's a great country and after such a sad history,the people are doing wonders restoring and revitalizing it. Only one criticism....some of the lunch breaks were too long!
Overall the itinerary was fine but it could be enhanced. A night was spent in Vlores and a visit made to Durres. Neither town was inspiring and what we saw there was incidental to the trip and would not have been missed if it had not been included. Cut Vlores and Durres out and spend more time in Gjirokaster and / or Berat. Or reroute slightly and include other destinations not on the current itinerary. There was a feeling of being rushed around the Berat Castle area in particular – a quick photo here then move on. No time to take in the scene. The photos have to be good as there’s no time to retain a mental impression.
The hotel choices were good to excellent and that in Berat exceptional.
The minibus concept for transport has shortcomings, particularly when the bus is full. Anyone in an aisle seat has little chance of seeing mountainous countryside as line of vision is directed downwards by the top of the window for a tall person sitting in the middle of the bus.
Getting to understand the seemingly endless battles over centuries that the Albanian people have had to fight and the compromises they have had to accept on the road to maintaining their identity as a nation
The guide was very knowledgeable and shared his knowledge generously and frequently on a wide range of subjects, in part leading to the comment made immediately above. He tried hard to please everyone. That is not an easy task and can lead to the wrong result. When an option is offered and half the group go one way and half the other those attempts to please everyone end up disappointing half. Sometimes it's better for the guide to just say what's going to happen.
If you're interested in life in Albania during the last century, and during the communist era in particular, get to Tirana a few days before the trip starts. The trip itinerary allows for surprisingly little time in Tirana and during that time the only exposure to visual information about Albania in the 20th century is a visit to the national museum. However, that museum is far from the best place in and around the capital to find out how Albanians lived and were treated during the communist dictatorship.
A great trip with a knowledgeable trip leader. We visited numerous castles, mosques and churches. The mountains are magnificent as are the plains, rivers and beaches.
Entering the home of our hosts for a traditional lunch. The food was all produced locally and the garden was delightful. The infrastructure was also a pleasant surprise - many good roads and hygienic sanitary provisions.
iLife was very knowledgeable and adapted well to our sense of humour. He and our driver went "the extra mile" to point out and deliver extra experiences.
Don't worry about hygiene - dress casually - leave high heels at home - get a map or guidebook to research the country and it's history before you go. The trip involves some awkward walking and cobbles so be prepared with sensible shoes. Change money in small aliquot - food is cheap and wine/beer is much cheaper. Try the local restaurants - there are no McDonalds etc.
A brilliant trip and great introduction to Albania, a beautiful country with such an interesting history. Organisation and itinerary were first class, with an excellent guide and driver. The trip is full on, with a different hotel each night, but was not tiring. All except one (which was still OK) of the hotels very good or excellent quality and in very good locations. Food and drink good and very cheap.
Not one moment but so much wonderful scenery, unspoilt and historic towns Berat, Gjirokaster, Permet, Butrint, Apollonia, Kruje, lake Ohrid….
Eri was a wonderful guide and excellent ambassador for Albania. He was extremely knowledgeable and taught us so much about Albanian culture and history, as well as taking us to the best restaurants and places to visit. Driver Goshi was excellent also.
Go for a direct flight from Gatwick (BA) rather than the standard group flight which changed at Vienna and took much longer. You can arrive the night before and have the best part of a day longer in Tirana, and at the end you can have an extra half a day in delightful Kruje. Was cheaper overall too! The trip is full on but no really long journeys on the bus, and well timed stops. Bottled water was provided on the bus and some of the hotels. Kettles were provided in only one of the hotels, so take your own if you drink tea. ATMs charge high fees so take cash (£250 will be plenty for everything) and change it as you go. Plenty of places to change sterling commission-free everywhere you go. Food was good and fresh, and outside of Tirana and Sarande, beer, wine, coffee and ice creams were so cheap.
This trip gives you a really good taste of Albania. The country was quite different to how I expected and its an absolutely beautiful place. We packed a lot in, but it didn’t feel as if it was rushed. I would really love to go again!
The majority of the places we visited were absolutely stunning. We also did a lot of extra stuff, like viewing additional churches and mosques, which had lovely frescos and were often situated in lovely villages. Having a mezze dinner with a local family was also a highlight. The food overall was very good and fresh. Having a swim in some hot springs was also lovely.
Ed was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. The advantage of having a local guide is that they know a lot of people and places, hence why we were able to do a lot of extra experiences.
Definitely take mosquito repellant and bite cream. I didn't see any advice about taking any so didn't bother, but we all got eaten alive! It may have just been the time of year we went, but I wouldn't go again without. We didn't get much time in Tirana, just Sunday evening, so if you especially wanted to look around Tirana, it would be worth coming a bit earlier or staying on afterwards. If you are on the group flight, you don't need to exchange any money at the airport, our guide took us to do that on Sunday. The exchange rate was poorer in the airport too. There is a direct flight available which is a lot quicker, so that might be worth booking instead. The food and drink is very cheap, but I think I spent about £250 which is more than some people have commented, just because I tended to have an alcoholic drink at lunch as well as in the evening and ice creams here and there, so that is worth taking into consideration.
Overall a very interesting and informative trip.
Swimming in Lake Ohrid and the fish meal, mezze meal with locals, historic houses seeing how people lived.
Klodian was very nice and knowledgeable about his country. He has a good sense of humour and a very friendly manner. He could have given us a bit more local information or directions to the nearest supermarkets or other shops from the hotels. Congratulations to Gheti the bus driver for keeping us safe. His reversing and negotiating of hair- pins was superb. A lovely guy!
Book a direct flight if possible.
This trip really did exceed expectations. Much better than we thought it would be. Beautiful country, somewhere we knew nothing about, leaves you feeling you want to know more….
Too many to choose. The hotels were excellent as was the food.The mountains, the views, lake Ohrid, learning about the history of Albania,the 'blue eye' swimming in the natural springs, you can go on and on...Soft spot for Berat, beautiful place would like to have stayed longer. The hotel there was 5 star - excellent.
Edjon 'Ed' everything you could possibly want in a guide. Knowledgeable and passionate about his country, warm, friendly and professional.You would be hard pushed to find a better guide. Excellent. A guide like Edjon makes you realise no matter have much you travel, how little you know....always things to learn, wonderful.
Don't change too much money when you arrive. At the moment it is still very cheap here, especially in the mountains.If you have a few spare euros laying around it might be worth taking them with you as around Berat/Tirana prices are often priced in Euros ( exchange rate poor) but it might save you changing anymore cash into Lek later in the trip. A couple of the places we were down to visit as free to visit appear to be now charging a fee. Look at alternatives to the flight Exodus offer.