Still an insider tip!

Land of contrasts

Berat, the "city of a thousand windows"

(Bild: Elena_Alex - stock.adobe.com)

Not every trip necessarily has to take you to the coast of Greece or Italy. There is a great desire for variety away from mass tourism. Discover a (still) underrated vacation destination: Albania.

If you have a wanderlust for change, you shouldn't miss Albania as an alternative on the Mediterranean. The still largely unknown Balkan country is often overlooked when planning a vacation, even though it can be reached quickly and is much less crowded.

Sleepy villages and dream beaches
The unconventional destination has its charm - not least because of the reasonable prices for food, accommodation and sights. With an area of 28,748 km2, the small country offers beautiful sandy beaches, sleepy villages and unique flora and fauna. Vast undeveloped landscapes, home to bears and wolves, embedded in a picturesque mountain backdrop: the Albanian Alps in the north-east, which reach up to 2700 meters in height.

On the "Albanian Riviera", in the southwest of the country, where the Ionian Sea meets the Adriatic, there are dream beaches with a Caribbean flair.

Beautiful view: the pyramid in Tirana with its many steps: white marble, glass and red steel

(Bild: © All rights reserved. Always Wanderlust (Adonis VIllanueva))

There is a direct flight from Vienna to the capital in just under one and a half hours. Tirana is excitingly different: the cityscape is characterized by prefabricated buildings, skyscrapers, mosques and churches as well as colourful residential buildings. A unique mixture of Ottoman, communist and modern architecture. Sights include the Et'hem Bey Mosque, Skanderbeg Square (Skanderbeg is Albania's national hero and a central figure in Albanian history in the fight against the Ottomans) and the ruins of the old fortress, which can be visited.

Formerly a showpiece in honor of the dictator Enver Hoxha, today a cultural center: the pyramid in the center of the capital, made of white marble, glass and red steel.

Even more than 30 years after the fall of communism, Albania has not completely let go of its communist past: dictator Enver Hoxha ruled the country mercilessly for four decades until his death in 1985. Among the former communist dictatorships in Europe, the Albanian regime was considered the most restrictive: Albania was dependent on self-sufficiency and completely cut off from the outside world. Even Coca-Cola was unknown here - there was only local Aranxhata, whose posters still advertise on the highway today.

INFO

OFFERS:
Beach vacation: Hotel Epidamn White Sensation***** in a double room with sea view and breakfast from €899 (incl. flight, transfer)
Hiking tour: Culture & nature of the Albanian Alps from €1696 (22. 7.-29. 7. 2024) Bookable at all Ruefa travel agencies throughout Austria or via
info@rue fa.at
Ruefa online travel agency: 0800 200 400 (free of charge)

MUSEUM TIP:
Bunk'Art 2 in Albania's capital Tirana is an extremely positive example of dealing with the past in south-eastern Europe www.bunkart.al

Relics from the Cold War are scattered all over the country: Hundreds of thousands of bunkers were built between 1972 and 1983 - they stick out of the landscape like concrete mushrooms.

You can delve deeper into the past at the Bunk'Art-2 Museum in Tirana. In the former protective facility, you can learn all about terrible labor camps, prisons for politically persecuted people as well as wiretapping methods and torture practices.

By the way: Since the beginning of the year, NATO has been operating a former Soviet airbase south of Tirana in the town of Kuçova, where Ukrainian soldiers are now being trained. The town was called "Stalingrad" in communist times.

To the west of Tirana lies the beautiful port city of Durrës, a popular bathing paradise with 10 kilometers of the finest sandy beach.

Albanian shepherds wander over stony paths with their animals or cross busy roads. It is worth overlooking the peculiar driving style and the sometimes very poor road conditions and exploring the country by car: Berat, the "city of a thousand windows" is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and should not be missed on a trip to Albania! There is plenty to see culturally: The medieval castle district, numerous mosques, churches and the typical white houses with their red roofs.

Handicrafts at the souvenir market in Kruja

(Bild: Natalia - stock.adobe.com)

The small town of Kruja, where Skanderbeg had his fortress, is just as historically significant. The medieval town with its bazaar nestles picturesquely against the mighty rock face high above the plain. There is an opportunity to buy souvenirs: In addition to cheap junk, you can also find genuine antiques and beautiful handicrafts.

A magnificent view opens up at Cape Rodon, a rocky, 10-kilometer-long headland that juts steeply into the Adriatic, where lush green meets the blue of the sea - Albania's nature shows its wildest side.

Wild nature: the headland of Cape Rodon juts steeply into the Adriatic Sea

(Bild: BENEDETTA BARBANTI)

There is also an old ruin of the national hero's fortress here. Skanderbeg's sister had the small, Romanesque-Gothic church of St. Anthony built, which features one of the first depictions of the national coat of arms: the double-headed eagle.

Albania is different - but never boring.