Albania is a country that is gaining more attention and consideration from interested tourists. However, many people are still skeptical about whether it is a safe and tourist-ready destination. In this video, travel vloggers Olivia and Nathan give an honest take on the ground, visiting the 3 most popular cities in Albania for tourists.
They compare the infrastructure and tourist experience in Albania to its more popular neighbors like Croatia, Greece, and Montenegro. They explore the stunning beaches along the Albanian Riviera, showcasing its beauty and potential as a tourist destination.
The video also addresses Albania’s turbulent history, from the Communist dictatorship era to its active rebuilding and innovation since the fall of Communism. Despite its dark past, Albania has made significant progress in transforming itself into a viable tourist destination.
They highlight the stunning beaches and the development and modernization in cities like Saranda and Tirana. They also discuss the high number of coffee shops per capita and the unique feature of Albania being the most bunkered country in the world.
Through their experiences on the ground, Olivia and Nathan provide a transparent and real look at what tourists can expect when visiting Albania. From the construction and development in some neighborhoods to the stunning locations and affordable vacation options, they provide valuable insights into what the country has to offer for travelers.
Overall, the video aims to answer the big question of whether it’s worth traveling to Albania now and if its tourist infrastructure can hold up compared to its more established neighbors. It’s a helpful and informative guide for anyone considering Albania as their next travel destination.
Watch the video by ON World Travel
All right that was our driver he pretty much abandoned us this is just absolute chaos now oh my God that the craziest the water’s ever been no I think it was yesterday yesterday oh my God oh my God land land guys ever been to Albania to most people
The small Balkan country of Albania might not be the most obvious destination for travel check this out its more popular neighbors like Croatia Montenegro and Greece seem to get most of the Limelight while they share the same Adriatic Waters as these neighbors we’re eager to find out whether they
Keep their beaches and cities as well maintained and their infrastructure navigation up to par compared to their bordering Nations that receive far more tourists they must have a decent infrastructure for that here total construction there’s a lot of trash this dock is a little dodgy half of it just went
Underwater Albania’s bad reputation as a crime R nation is hard to shake over the past decade Albanian crime groups have overtaken all rivals to become some of the most crucial players in global drug trafficking today the Communist dictatorship will still considered one of the most repressive and bloodiest regimes of contemporary history ruled
For 40 years by a wicked and paranoid dictator and ver hoja it’s had a very dramatic past to say the least traces of this dark period can be found everywhere the representation in Hollywood films hasn’t helped either we’re shipping a large quantity of Amun from Albania to Afghanistan this brutal authoritarian
Communist Regime lasted almost 40 years and closed off Albania from the rest of the world literally nobody was allowed to leave and no one internally trusted each other so just imagine the level of paranoia and fear in people’s hearts thousands of microphones were hidden across the country in order to detect
Any activity viewed as unlawful but ever since the fall of Communism and death of Enver hoja Albania has been actively rebuilding and innovating itself from new big City developments even down to our small airbn be in Toronto but it looks like we’ve made it to Middle Earth yo what welcome to the Sh the realm of the Middle Earth what is happening with a population of just under 3 million there were a few shocking facts about Albania that immediately stood out to us one it has the highest number of coffee shops per capita in the world there’s literally a
Coffee shop on every corner two Albania is the most bunkered country in the world world what is it in like in there dude I’m currently inside an Albanian bunker in the city of Toronto what having over 173,000 bunkers due to their fear of invasion post World War II all
In preparation for a massive war that never came this bunker was built as a refuge for dictator en vja and his Entourage in the event of a nuclear attack and three who knew the Albanian Riviera had so many stunning beaches we had no idea oh no so in this this video we’re
Going to be answering the big question we had and one you may be asking yourself is it worth traveling to Albania now does their tourist infrastructure hold up compared to their more established neighbors oh we’re getting our sea this is the trash situation right outside of our apartment we’ll be taking
You through S flora and ton and sharing our raw sentiments on the ground who would have thought that Italian would get you so far in Albania Yeah buddy we’ve made it to the Albanian Riviera dude pretty nice before coming to Albania I didn’t really know much about it I still don’t I guess we’re learning we just got here but I would say it wasn’t known as like the safest place to come and be I will look for you
I will find you and I will kill you so I think the tourism wasn’t super high well in the last 5 to 10 years that’s changed you know good old Instagram these great reals and Tik toks that you see that are just making this place look like pristine seriously what
Is this place this is heaven we’re excited to kind of see what it’s about especially coming from Corfu Greece it’s very similar Waters and it’s literally a 30 minute fairy ride away wait no way this is what we’re about to get on it looks more like a submarine than it does a Boat it’s interesting we’re in a very local neighborhood that’s definitely under extreme development like construction everywhere wow this is all around the neighborhoods that we’re staying in see you can see these lines going some places I don’t know if it’s necessarily safe to walk but it’s also bizarre cuz
Like our apartment are where we’re staying is like super modern kind of luxurious yeah my God more yay oh my God we made it are you dying luxury this is luxury nice mod oh wow you all for working big TV yeah nice bathroom oh yeah bedroom’s
Nice it’s a place for sure that you can come and have maybe a an affordable vacation we’re in a really good location though we’re right down the street from this took us literally 2 minutes to walk here and we have a great gym you found us a great gymm
Nathan that like has this ocean view and again I think we’re paying like 12 or 14 for a week pass which is like unheard of so far on our trip this year that’s like the cheapest membership we’ve paid for we have a great little coffee shop down the street called Magic blue they
Actually nobody here really makes flat whites but if you ask for a double cappuccino is pretty damn close and we have a Spar near us so I think we’re really well situated but look you can see this little little like cement staircase that these kids are jumping
Off of and again we’re back to Stone beaches which I actually have been loving because sand just gets in all the crevices you know you get dirtier all right so we’ve been going hard on the Albanian food damn is it delicious but also pretty heavy and Rich my inner
Stomach is W some vitamins okay juice cleanse all I’m doing I’m drinking juices for a week straight just Ginger lime diarrhea like waterfall sometimes when we’re TR it’s hard to find balanced meals and nutrient-dense Foods we do our best to work out regularly in most cities we do invest in a gym membership
But sometimes we feel like we’re not getting a proper diet that’s when we’ll mix in ag1 ag1 is a daily foundational nutrition supplement that supports whole body Health I’ll be honest we’re typically not supplement people we’re big on eating Whole Foods but if we’re moving a lot which is all the time and
We need extra help we love this stuff it’s actually insane how many nutrient boxes this little bag of powder checks and how we feel after a week of taking it the big factor that convinced us to try ag1 was how committed they are to the science and understanding how our
Bodies actually absorb these nutrients ag1 is committed to sourcing high quality ingredients and continuously optimizing their formula which they’ve already done over 52 times since 2010 and hey if Tim Ferris and Andrew huberman give their stamp of approval that’s a pretty legit end M so if you
Want to try out ag1 click the link in our description below and you’ll get a free one-year supply of AG vitamin D3 K2 plus five ag1 travel packs with your first purchase of ag1 found ourselves a little private Beach water is pretty clear I must say I saw one fish water temperature is
Perfect and I feel like this little beach that’s hidden in between two restaurants is you know a lot less people I will say the water actually it’s like perfect temperature but is all dirty fish yeah I mean being on this main strip I think you’re going to find
A little bit more trash and debris and things from like having such a volume of tourist what is also interesting is like the type of people here are different than the type of people in Corfu feel like there’s different tourists here there’s definitely there’s a lot of Italians like there’s so many Italians
Here there was a lot of Italians with G Fu though too that’s true there’s like mostly Italians and I say there’s some I hear German I hear a little bit of French we have yet to try a good restaurant here so we’ll have to do that
Tonight should I put a little chili on there what one little chili from me it is Albanian food he meet skias I don’t know yet we’ll find out but what you can see unfortunately is the trash and like just like not cleaned very well that’s one thing you know eventually maybe they’ll
Make a lot of money and tourism and they’ll dedicate a little bit more money to cleaning the city you know so this is one thing you do see kind of often throughout the city is there’s a lot of trash and this smells absolutely putrid good portions and a good view
Look at that yeah yogurt cheese and garlic combination it’s fire it is so so good perfectly charred one in that shut up dude mustard sauce huh and I love the tentacles these are my fav these little guys right here my God these Spooky Little Critters keeping it simple was a killer
Meal and I think this is going to run us about maybe 40 40 bucks that was one of the things I was a little bit nervous about if my honest coming to alvania was actually traveling around this country see you dude that was the most challenging car all ride
I’ve had in a long time crazy turns and he was driving like a bad out of hell like no we made it D we made it dud for us to get from Sur to VOR we it was going to be a nightmare bus we read all these reviews all these
Blogs about people taking these buses we had been traveling around Albania by a coach and buses but we’ve had some really horrible experiences on the coaches so the main issue is they don’t put the AC on and it’s absolutely scorching right now like 35° so we’ve
Been on four coaches and all four were the same yeah you’re basically in like a sauna and that’s why we decided to get a car and because they make stops along the way and so many stops you don’t really know how long it’s going to take and we have experienced that once in
Montenegro and it was definitely I wouldn’t like to do that again if I have the choice we did end up booking a private car and luckily they were able to find another couple which seems to be such the norm here like it’ll be much more yeah affordable and by the way
We’re actually doing that when we leave here to then go to Tian that’s Lor all right this is our first little glimpse into their Beach first thing we noticed they got sand so no more little Stones another thing we noticed is walking up the water here is definitely not as blue and really as clean for the most part and there in some spots
There’s a little bit of a smell but it’s mainly on the outskirts of the beach like first walking up yeah I mean today’s a Friday and there’s a lot of locals here like I think majority of these people are locals or at least Albanian maybe coming from other cities
This kind of feels like Miami a little bit we got the ocean it’s nice little Boardwalk area to walk some nice restaurants this city for me has such a different vibe from Sande now I feel like Sande kind of felt like a place that blew up really really fast and is
Definitely more catered to like a tourist where here it feels like a much more livable City it’s much bigger it’s more population here as well yeah um and it also feels like the infrastructure of getting around is a lot better like S Felt how do I say this almost like it
Was a front like what you see up on the surface looks nice but it once you dig a Little Deeper there’s not much depth or substance there and honestly there was a part of me and maybe I’m reading into this too much that thought that locals
Are a little bit fed up with the tourist I don’t know oh no way look at this they got courts right next to the ocean basketball courts tennis and then soccer down there all right we found our beach I think here’s good this feels great wow the further
Down you go the more beautiful it’s gotten so our Airbnb host recommended we come to this beach I approve yes this place at night is probably lit dude it’s lit dude it’s popping this is Albania what they like to rage out here let it rip let it
Rip pretty much every summer every year they do these fairs you got the ferris wheel you got the the ship that goes back and forth and they be screaming like crazy these albanians looks fun this is the trash situation right outside of our apartment just
Wild it stinks a major reason we came to Albania was to enjoy the water and to get a little more bang for our buck well that’s exactly what we got on this bow tour what we thought would be the chillest most relaxing day the water today is the flattest it’s been and it’s
So blue basically turned out to be one of the most insane we’ve had all year all right we’re on our boat this is so wild it is so choppy out here this boat company is the highest rated in Vora €40 for an all day trip on the beautiful
Blue water with free drinks and beer included but the water conditions paired with the blasting house music oh my God is that the craziest the water’s ever been no it was yesterday yeah that sort of scared the out of me we got unlucky with the waves but we
Also weren’t given a heads up all of the boat companies were out in it and actually none of the passengers were told I I don’t think any Boat Company in the US would have run on a day like this oh my God we made it that was a rough
Journey my God you have to worry about any okay I’ve almost myself three times but who’s counting but once our expectations were set straight the day was framed as an adventure and we had a good time we got to see this beautiful cave a very strange island with
Abandoned Soviet building so this place is called saen Island Thousand Island dressing one cares wow just like totally abandoned there’s not much other than these like abandoned buildings like these communist Flats you’re not seeing really anything like the guy said you can’t buy food here so if you’re hungry you got to wait
I don’t think you can get water or anything but there are a lot of stray dogs roaming around yeah and the highlight of the entire day with one more challenge to get to it see you later four this island where the water was perfect thank You the Pain go ahead we survived I told you we were going to dance oh we did dance on on the waves that is true I didn’t realize it it came with the Chiropractic adjustment good morning CH that’s where we’re headed that back corner we got a Walking t this morning I love these walking tours I just love learning about a city properly not reading a Blog but being here in person and having a local that I can ask all these questions we got a tourist group
Here we got a tourist group there we got a tourist group everywhere which one do we belong to do let’s learn about the big te all right just wrapped up our walking tour and I got to say I learned a ton because I was was you know I I don’t
Want to say I didn’t know anything going in but I I knew very little so heing about their Decades of stalinist rule was really eye opening and on top of that you know being only three decades removed from that brutal Communist Regime it feels kind of strange and and
Interesting to be here as a tourist because I feel like they haven’t been open to tourism for that long and so walking around the city and seeing sort of a lot of the remains and the statues and the things that are paying sort of tribute to the history just shedding
Insight for people that are visiting to know more about it is is just yeah I I thought it was awesome and I learned a lot and I feel like I got to say something about their flag like their flag just looks badass it’s just all red
Got these like two is it a two-headed eagle or some kind but it just looks like something out of like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones or something it just has this really cool look to it it’s just been so fascinating us doing this whole tour like starting in
Helsinki making our way through the baltics and now to the Balkans I I didn’t know that there was such a history of Communism and a lot of them being a part of like the Soviet Union in school I wasn’t a big history buff I actually hated history it was my most
Hated class but now like when you travel to these places and you get to meet actual locals who are showing you the real thing it’s definitely more fascinating and I definitely don’t take it for granted feel like I could live here for 3 months it feels very safe
There’s a ton of options of food and cafes and parks and it’s clean and yeah the people are charming and friendly yeah i’ say that Al hospitality is what stands out the most and obviously like any major city this is a capital city there’s always a few Shady characters
But you know what going to Paris going to Budapest same Thing where are we going this morning Nathan Scopia North macadonia and this is our bus looks pretty run down very tight there’s not a lot of leg room but I don’t think there should be many people so far on his list he’s got six people on this whole bus I think
We’re going to probably have more but yeah it’s kind of a weird man bus stations and train stations you always find interesting characters man it’s just like a little bit especially when you’re in a foreign place like Albania where not many people speak English I’d
Say it’s kind of a little bit of a you always track down I just track down the young guy cuz the younger generation speaks a lot more English and the older generation a lot more Italian so hopefully we get to our destination we will no but I will say it’s this bus
This is probably the nastiest Buzz I’ve ever been on but that’s okay you got this has maybe been cleaned once in its life these seats are looking a little run down okay but we’re going to make it I’m just happy it’s a big bus cuz like I
Feel for like the people that travel in these smaller buses where they don’t have AC and stuff yeah we have AC Hopefully we made it to Macedonia bye all right that was our driver he pretty much abandoned us at a random other bus station about an hour away but he was kind enough to buy us all three yes fresh tickets pretty sure he was supposed to take us the whole way
But according to you he has another trip to Turkey he has a personal trip he’s taking to Turkey and he’s more important than us so hey it’s fine freak 30 minutes 30 minute wait and then it’s only an hour to scope you where are you going to put the
Luggage I don’t know dude you might have to grab your own I don’t know Okay no
Video “THE GOOD & THE BAD OF ALBANIA (An Honest Guide To What You Can Expect)” was uploaded on 01/14/2024. Watch all the latest Videos by ON World Travel on Gretopia