Before visiting Albania, I had pre-conceived ideas about I might expect. What little I knew about Albania had to do with its repressive former dictator, its 20th century isolationism, its thousands of concrete bunkers, and its relative obscurity.

Yet, Albania took my assumptions and turned them upside down. From the moment I stepped foot in Tirana, I realized I had become privy to one of the world’s best kept travel secrets; a secret that is spreading quickly amongst the travel blogging community and slowly leaking to the general public.

Albania is vibrant, colorful and teeming with things to see and do.

My visit to Albania consisted of two parts. Part one included Tirana and a foray into the Albanian Alps. Part two encompassed the world heritage gems of Berat, Girokastra and Butrint—three UNESCO sites in southern Albania that showcase the country’s rich heritage.

ALBANIA’S WORLD HERITAGE SITES

Albania has five world heritage sites: two that it shares with neighboring countries, and three that are entirely its own.

Albania’s shared UNESCO World Heritage Sites include the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region (a distinction that is shared with the bordering country of North Macedonia) and the Primeval Beach Forests that blanket twelve other regions in Europe.

Though I visited the both Lake Ohrid and the beech forests during my trip to the Balkans, this guide to Albania’s world heritage sites focuses on the attractions that lie entirely within the Albania’s jurisdiction.

BERAT: CITY OF 1,000 WINDOWS

Known as the City of 1000 Windows, Berat is Albania’s most picturesque city and a Balkans road trip highlight. Stepping foot in Berat is like flipping through the pages of a European folktale. Here, old men and women walk hand in hand down cobbled streets. Grape vines scramble up the sides of buildings and are woven into awnings above hidden alleyways. Lovely Ottoman homes with oversized windows tumble down a hill, crowned by the imposing Kala Fortress.

With hidden cobbled lanes and stunning photo opportunities at every bend, Berat is how I imagine parts of Europe may have looked before the onset of mass tourism.

We stayed at the Hotel Orestiada for two nights while in Berat. The hotel sits at the end of a promenade that links Berat’s new town to its historic center. Each evening, bars and restaurants along the pedestrian street fill with tourists and locals alike. It is a nice place to sit back, eat dinner and watch the world go by.

Yet, while the new town has vibrant energy, the old town contains Berat’s most charming nooks and crannies.

Berat’s old town is divided into two levels. The lower level consists of buildings that skirt the mountain and flank either side of the Osum River. The upper level sits within the walls of the Kala Castle. A steep, twenty minute walk up the mountainside leads pedestrians to the fortress gates and upper town.

The Kala Castle overlooks Berat and its surrounding valleys. Within the walls are a collection of whitewashed homes and Medieval churches. The Church of Dormition of St Mary houses an iconographic museum that contains an outstanding collection 16th century icons.

While Berat is the most famous UNESCO Site in Albania, the city is a hidden European gem that is far from overcrowded. Like the rest of Albania, Berat’s charms have not yet succumbed to mass tourism and over-commercialization.

Berat is the kind of place where clocks seem to have stopped ticking decades ago. It is a place where old-world charm has survived despite–and perhaps partially because of–decades of brutal communism and isolationism.

GJIROKASTRA: THE UNESCO CITY OF STONE

South of Berat, Gjirokastra is another small Ottoman town with a fairytale setting. Dotted with 600 Ottoman-style homes, Gjirokastra’s old town overlooks the Drina Valley. Below the imposing Gjirokastra Castle, a sea of slate rooftops tumbles down the mountainside–hiding labyrinthine alleyways, miniature courtyards and cobbled streets.

The bus ride from Berat to Gjirokastra took approximately four hours and dropped us off in Gjirokastra’s new town. From there, we walked twenty minutes uphill, to the town’s historic center.

Built on excessively steep terrain, Gjirokastra defies the vertical slopes on which it was built. Gjirokastra’s Castle sits above the angled old town and overlooks the quilted farmlands of the valley below. The castle–one of Gjirokastra’s top tourist attractions and the second largest of its kind in the Balkans– costs $1.50 to enter.

Despite being the birthplace of former dictator Enver Hoxha, Gjirokatra does not share the drab aesthetic of Communist Albania. Instead, like Berat, Gjirokastra has a distinct architecture that sets it apart from other towns and cities in Albania.

Gjirokastra’s ornate Ottoman-style houses are famous for their original slate roofs and painted interiors. Some of the houses–including the Zekate House and Skenduli House–can be visited in exchange for a few lek.

After wandering the streets of the old town, we visited the Zekate House near the city center. This grandiose house is made of two symmetrical structures that share an arched doorway and are connected by a balcony. The walls of the main room are adorned in flowery frescoes, while the ceilings consist of ornately carved wood.

Gjirokastra became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, along with Berat. Like Berat, the town’s charming cobbled streets and white Ottoman buildings bear witness to Albania’s unique architectural landscape.

THE ANCIENT ROMAN RUINS OF BUTRINT

After spending a day in Gjirokastra, we took the bus to Sarande in order to spend a few days along Albania’s Riviera. Southern Albania is far more developed than the north and tourists from around Europe have been flocking to its sun-kissed shores in recent years.

We visited the archeological site of Butrint as a day trip from Sarande. Located less than twenty miles from Sarande, Butrint is beautifully situated on a forested hill and nestled between blue-green lakes.

The first established UNESCO Site in Albania, Butrint has a storied history. The present archaeological site is a collection of ruins that represent various periods in the city’s development–from its Hellenistic roots, to its expansion under the Romans, to the basilicas and baptistries that were constructed in the 6th century while Butrint was a Byzantine bishopric.

On top of the hill sits a Venetian fortress-turned-museum that highlights the area’s history. Entrance to the archeological site and museum costs $7.

Set in a beautiful forested area, the ruins of Butrint include an amphitheater, a castle, and remnants of a cathedral. Unfortunately, due to conservation measures, I was unable to see the floor mosaics of Butrint’s baptistry.

Nevertheless, Butrint’s ancient ruins are a worthwhile day trip from Sarande and an impressive showcase of Albania’s ancient history.

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The three UNESCO sites in Albania—Berat, Gjirokastra and Butrint— were the last stops on our Balkan itinerary. Had we had more time in the country, I would have loved to dedicate a few days to Albania’s dramatic coastline.

Aside from an afternoon in Ksamil, I didn’t spend much time along Albania’s Riviera. I did, however, catch a glimpse of the country’s winding shores while enroute from Sarande to Tirana.

While wizzing down hairpin turns on the Riviera Bus, I soaked in Albania’s dramatic coastal scenery as best I could—catching fleeting views of some of the best beaches in the Mediterranean.

Albania is an enchanting destination that is just now opening its doors to travelers. Once a communist country that was closed off to the rest of the world, this majority-Muslim nation defies categorization. Albania is at once lively, yet serene. It is colorful, yet drab. It is ancient, yet hurling through the 21st century at breakneck speed.

With unbeatable prices, a wealth of history, remarkable UNESCO sites, an intriguing past, and friendly locals, Albania is a well-kept secret that will soon go viral.

The post Visiting the UNESCO Sites in Albania appeared first on Erika's Travels .

Once a mysterious and closed-off land, Albania is now a burgeoning tourist destination that boasts some of Europe’s most intriguing  gems.

The formerly insular country has long been a Mediterranean enigma—its unspoiled nature and rich history all but erased from itineraries of even the most intrepid explorers.

But today, Albania is beginning to receive some of the credit it deserves.

The country boasts pristine beaches, ancient ruins, and

And in northern Albania, the Accursed Mountains conceal incredible hiking opportunities, including the epic trail from Valbona to Theth.

NORTHERN ALBANIA’S ACCURSED MOUNTAINS

While it still has a long way to go before it attracts the same volume of tourists as nearby Croatia or Greece, the country is beginning to lure nature enthusiasts and lovers of off-the-beaten-path travel.

Along Albania’s beaches and UNESCO sites, the Accursed Mountains have been largely responsible for putting Albania on the map.

The Accursed Mountains, also known as the Albanian Alps, extend from the northern reaches of the country into southern Kosovo. They form the southern portion of the Dinaric Alps.

For hikers and outdoor-lovers, the Accursed Mountains offer a wealth of stunning scenery.

There are a number of hiking trails that criss-cross Albania’s Accursed Mountains. The most popular route, the spellbinding path from Valbona to Theth, showcases some of the most dramatic alpine scenery in the Balkans.

For hikers seeking a longer foray into the Albanian wilderness, the 192km Peaks of the Balkans trail traverses parts of Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro.

SHKODER: GATEWAY TO THE ALBANIAN ALPS

Shkoder is the gateway to northern Albania. Located just over the Montenegrin border, the town—famous for being the birthplace of Mother Theresa—is worth exploring for a day or two.

I’d driven through Shkoder briefly in 2007, during a Balkan road trip with my family. Our brief visit was so long ago, that I have few memories of the town. The only images that remain imprinted in my mind are of concrete buildings and bicycles.

More than a decade later, however, the city is completely different from the fragmented images I’d stored away in my head. Bikes are still everywhere. The castle still looms over town. The Mother Theresa statue is still standing.

KOMANI LAKE FERRY IN NORTHERN ALBANIA

Lake Koman was formed in 1978 by the damming of the Drina River. It is a spectacular area, with towering rocky cliffs and mountains that are peppered with green vegetation. Along the waterway, small villages have remained cut off from the rest of the world.

Komani Lake is both a tourist attraction and a transportation corridor.

Since there are no roads that connect larger towns to some of the small communities along the lake, the boat we took across Lake Koman was meant for ferrying locals to and from their remote villages.

Along the way, we picked people up and dropped them off–watching them haul a week’s worth of food and supplies to their lakeside homes.

The upside to traveling through such a remote area with no road access, is that nature truly prevails due to lack of development.

The downside, is that there are no trash collection systems that service the lakeside communities.

As a result, plastic litter is a common sight in this otherwise pristine environment.

Aside from the unfortunate prevalence of plastic bottles littering the mirror-like water, however, the boat ride across Koman Lake is a spectacular gateway into the spellbinding Accursed Mountains.

HIKING IN THE ALBANIAN ALPS

The hike between Valbona and Theth is one of the most popular activities in northern Albania. Part of the six day ‘Peaks of the Balkans’ trek, the trail leads hikers through virgin forest, along dried out riverbeds and past jaw-dropping vistas.

• VALBONA VALLEY

The small town of Valbona lies within the Valbona Valley National Park—an alpine wonderland that spans 8,000 hectares about half an hour northeast of Bajram Curri.

The Valbona Valley has become a popular destination for hikers and nature lovers due to its towering mountains that rival the Alps of western Europe.

The peaks of northern Albania certainly wouldn’t look out of place in Switzerland or Austria.

• THE VALBONA-THETH HIKE

The path from Valbona to Theth was once an old mule trail that traversed the heart of the Accursed Mountains.  There are still no roads between the two towns, making the hiking trail the only link between the country’s two most popular mountain villages.

The hike from Valbona to Theth is a whole day affair that takes 6-10 hours to complete, depending on hiking speed, starting point and number of stops.

The first bit of the hike follows the paved main road that runs through Valbona. The paved section of road ends at Llomi. Many hikers choose to begin their hike at this point, though some hire 4X4 vehicles to take them along the relatively flat riverbed, to Rragam.

Following a level walk along a scree-filled riverbed, the path climbs through Alpine forest, before opening up with spectacular panoramic views of the valley. Along the way, three cafes offer exhausted hikers light refreshments and refills of fresh spring water.

From the summit of the hike, the 360 degree views of the Valbona and Theth valleys are simply spellbinding.

• THETH ALBANIA

After a quick break at the top of the mountain, we continued onward, to the picturesque village of Theth. The forest became denser as we approached the Theth Valley, covering the stone massifs in a blanket of greenery.

Surrounded by towering mountains and only accessible by hiking trail or dirt road, the little mountain town of Theth is an idyllic and untouched slice of heaven.

Had we not been planning to travel on to Prizren Kosovo the following morning, I would have loved to spend a few extra days reveling in Theth’s stunning surroundings.

TIRANA: ALBANIA’S COLORFUL CAPITAL

Unless you are traveling overland from a nearby country, your trip to Albania will likely begin and end in Tirana.

Lively and colorful, Tirana is a whirlwind of pulsing nightlife and eclectic architecture. The city has undergone a transformation of epic proportions since the fall of the Enver Hoxha’s iron-fisted regime.

And everywhere, splashes of color have brightened up the drab grey apartment blocks that once characterized the city.

Former mayor of Tirana, Edi Rama, was a painter before he became a politician. Whisking his brush across many of Tirana’s old apartment buildings and communist-style high rises, Rama added color everywhere—ensuring that the Albania’s visual transformation mirrored the country’s newfound optimism.

Tirana’s architecture blends Illyrian, Roman and Ottoman influences. The city is a study of contrasts, where reminders of the country’s communist legacy stand seamlessly juxtaposed with trendy bars, outdoor cafes and pedestrian promenades.

From delicate minarets to offbeat murals, and from the trendy Blloku neighborhood to a particularly hideous concrete pyramid that was designed by Hoxha’s daughter to memorialize her father’s legacy, Tirana’s architectural landscape is unique, unpredictable and full of surprises.

We spent nearly two days in Tirana, before heading into the mountains of northern Albania. Our first stop was Bunk’Art 2—a museum housed in one of the 750,000 bunkers that are scattered about the country. A walk through the museum is at once sobering and highly informative. It is one of the top things to do in Tirana.

There are two Bunk’Art museums in Tirana (named 1 and 2). If you’re looking t0 gain more insight into Albania’s dark history, visiting one of the museums is essential.

WHERE TO STAY IN NORTHERN ALBANIA

Albania’s accommodations are of exceptional value when compared to the rest of Europe.

If you’re planning on hiking from Valbona to Theth, you’ll likely need accommodation in each of the Albanian villages.

• VALBONA

We stayed at Villa Dini in Valbona and found the lodge to be of exceptional value. It was clean, well-located, and fairly priced. The downside to Villa Dini is that it lies about 3km from the Valb0na-Theth trailhead. If you want something a bit closer to the start of the hike, you might want to consider the highly-rated Hyrmet Demushi B&B in Lomi.

• THETH

Theth is full of wonderful accommodation options as well. Guesthouse Rrashkadoli offers cheap yet highly-rated rooms. If you want something slightly more upscale, the Guesthouse Marashi appears to be a fantastic option.

• SHKODER

The Cocja Boutique Hotel in Shkoder boasts exceptional reviews. We stayed at Open Doors B&B and were quite happy with the experience—especially because they were so accommodating with our bags and helped us plan our northern Albania itinerary.

• TIRANA

While in Tirana, we stayed at the Prime Hotel, positioned just a stone’s throw away from Skanderberg Square. The Prime Hotel is centrally located, exceptionally clean and affordably priced.

SHKODER-VALBONA-THETH TRIANGLE TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS

From our bed and breakfast in Shkoder, we organized transport into the Valbona Valley via Lake Koman.

Our transport picked us up at our hotel and brought us to the Koman ferry terminal, where we caught a local boat to Fierze.

Once we reached Fierze, a minibus brought us the rest of the way to our guesthouse in the Valbona Valley.

On our return trip, we asked our guesthouse to arrange transport back to Shkoder from Theth. They arranged a shared taxi for us, though there is also bus scheduled service between the two locations.

Regular buses also connect Tirana and Shkoder.

Since we planned to do the Valbona-Theth hike as part of a three day loop from Shkoder, we chose to bring a small bag of essentials and leave our large backpacks at the Open Doors Bed and Breakfast. Traveling with only a day pack proved to be a good idea, as the hike from Valbona to Theth was far more challenging than we had imagined.

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Until recently, Albania’s rugged mountains, historic towns, and UNESCO World Heritage Sites were merely mysterious rumors on most travel maps.

But, following the dissolution of its brutal communist regime in 1991, the small Balkan country swung open its doors.

And now, a quarter of a century after throwing off the shackles of its insular past, Albania’s stunning mountain scenery, crumbling castles and chaotic cities, continue to enchant.

The post Exploring Northern Albania’s Accursed Mountains appeared first on Erika's Travels .