Has anyone here been to Albania?

[Count Walewski]

Shot in the dark I know, but if you've been I'd love to talk.

[WerthHisWeight]

Spent about a week there back in 2007 or 2008.  Tirana, Vlora and Gjirokastra.  Roads suck.  Drink beer from Korce.  What more do you need to know?

[Dave B]

Been to Croatia, and since they are both in the Adriatic, they night have similarly nice beaches/coastline

[Count Walewski]

Spent about a week there back in 2007 or 2008.  Tirana, Vlora and Gjirokastra.  Roads suck.  Drink beer from Korce.  What more do you need to know?

I'm thinking of going to Tirana this fall. My schedule would actually put me in Tirana on Albanian Independence Day (November 28). If I have only two days in Tirana, and one of them is going to be Independence Day, where should I go and where should I eat?

[houston-nat]

NYT travel article from 2006

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

There was an "Enver Hoxha Bookstore" in Vancouver back in the day. I guess Lenin was too middle of the road for the reading public of Bolshy Columbia 

[mitlen]

Shot in the dark I know, but if you've been I'd love to talk.

Not to be a smart arse or nosey but, "why"?    Pleasure, business, personal, government spy  .... 

[Count Walewski]

Not to be a smart arse or nosey but, "why"?    Pleasure, business, personal, government spy  .... 

Personal. I was in the area and learned that it would cost me less than $100/person round trip to fly to Albania. Who can say no to that?

[mitlen]

Personal. I was in the area and learned that it would cost me less than $100/person round trip to fly to Albania. Who can say no to that?

Cool  ....  adventures are the best.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

There's a lot to be said for being ahead of the tourism curve

[varoadking]

There's a lot to be said for being ahead of the tourism curve

Do women shave their armpits in the EU these days?

Just want to know what to expect this spring...

[Natsinpwc]

I spent a week in Albania one night. 

Have been to Kosovo. Food was good. I would expect you could get some good and cheap vittles while you are there.

[WerthHisWeight]

I'm thinking of going to Tirana this fall. My schedule would actually put me in Tirana on Albanian Independence Day (November 28). If I have only two days in Tirana, and one of them is going to be Independence Day, where should I go and where should I eat?

Food is solid, if unimaginative.  There is an "old town" district with some decent cafes and restaurants.  The city is not an architectural wonder (Gjirokastro punches that ticket).  Independence Day should be entertaining, but Tirana is not worth much more than that day.  On the bright side, they LOVE Americans, a sentiment that is getting increasingly difficult to find.

I was there on business, so was pretty much programmed the whole time.  Don't recall any restaurant names, but there are guidebooks out there.

[WerthHisWeight]

Do women shave their armpits in the EU these days?

Some do, some don't.

[Count Walewski]

My options were Tirana, Pristina (in Kosovo), or Skopje (in Macedonia). The website I was using to check ticket prices crashed whenever I tried to enter Pristina as a destination, and so that narrowed it down to Tirana and Skopje. Tirana seemed to be the more interesting of the two, though if I were going in summer it might be the other way around.

[Count Walewski]

Also if people have an opinion on Prizren (in Kosovo) as a day trip from Tirana, let me know. This is looking pretty attractive right now, only a 3 hour bus ride.

[varoadking]

This is looking pretty attractive right now, only a 3 hour bus ride.

With or without the chickens?

[Count Walewski]

Alas, I've never been fortunate enough to ride a train or bus in eastern europe that had chickens on it. The closest I came was on a train in Hungary, where an old woman had some puppies on the train with her.

[mitlen]

Alas, I've never been fortunate enough to ride a train or bus in eastern europe that had chickens on it. The closest I came was on a train in Hungary, where an old woman had some puppies on the train with her.

The missus works with a woman from Albania.    I'll ask her to see if she can get good tips.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I was on a plane with chickens & goats...they all freaked out when we hit turbulence. Good times.

Alas, I've never been fortunate enough to ride a train or bus in eastern europe that had chickens on it. The closest I came was on a train in Hungary, where an old woman had some puppies on the train with her.

[Vega]

All I know is that the bad guys in Taken were Albanian.

[OldChelsea]

Personal. I was in the area and learned that it would cost me less than $100/person round trip to fly to Albania. Who can say no to that?

Parts of eastern Europe continue to be much more affordable than western Europe. $150/night can get you a room in a really nice Radisson Blu hotel in Riga or Vilnius if you book on the right days, and I'm going back to Tallinn for a week this coming March, staying for just $50/night at a quite decent hotel I stayed at on my earlier trip there five years ago (booked through Travelocity).

I'd like to check out Albania too - they speak quite a distinctive Indo-European language there.

[WerthHisWeight]

My options were Tirana, Pristina (in Kosovo), or Skopje (in Macedonia). The website I was using to check ticket prices crashed whenever I tried to enter Pristina as a destination, and so that narrowed it down to Tirana and Skopje. Tirana seemed to be the more interesting of the two, though if I were going in summer it might be the other way around.

Have been to all three.  My order of preference:  Skopje, Tirana, Pristina.

You mentioned a three hour bus ride - I'd be wary of any such estimates.  As I said, the roads suck.  Three hours isn't likely to get you more than about 75-80 miles.  The those three hours will be hellish.

[Count Walewski]

I'm told there is a brand new superhighway through the mountains that connects Tirana and Prizren, and that this is what the bus between the two cities runs on. Supposedly, it is really pretty scenery and also contains the second longest tunnel in the world.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I hear that the country is completely covered with concrete fortifications...Hoxha was a wee bit paranoid I guess.