Stories, history, and travel guides from one of Europe's most overlooked destinations
Deep dives into Albania's extraordinary history, culture, and places
Two cities, one country, and a story stretching back over two thousand years. Berat's tower of white Ottoman houses and Gjirokastër's fortress city of grey stone represent Albania's most dazzling contribution to world heritage, yet most travellers have never heard of either.
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Albania packs an extraordinary density of history into a country smaller than Maryland. From Illyrian ruins to Ottoman bazaars to Cold War bunkers, this two-week itinerary links Albania's greatest historic sites in a logical, scenic loop you can drive or bus.
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Buried inside a subtropical nature reserve on Albania's Riviera coast lies one of the ancient world's most complete cities: Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian layers stacked on top of each other like sediment. Butrint is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that few outside the region know even exists.
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Albania is home to the global headquarters of the Bektashi Order, a Sufi Muslim sect whose shrines and lodges blend mysticism, poetry, and philosophy in a way that has no equivalent elsewhere in the Islamic world. Visiting a tekke in Albania is unlike any religious experience you have had before.
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Between 1967 and 1986, Albania's communist dictator Enver Hoxha ordered the construction of over 173,000 concrete bunkers across every inch of the country: one for every four citizens. The result is one of the strangest military legacies in European history, and they are everywhere you look.
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The SH8 road from Sarandë north through the Albanian Riviera to Gjirokastër is one of the most dramatic drives in the Balkans: sea cliffs, Butrint lagoon, Blue Eye spring, and a UNESCO stone city at the end. Here is how to do it in two days and make the most of every stop.
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From UNESCO-listed ancient cities to Illyrian royal tombs and Early Christian mosaics, Albania's historic sites are among the most remarkable, and least visited, in Europe. Here are the ten that every history lover should know.
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Albania is part of four UNESCO World Heritage inscriptions: from an ancient Greek city buried in jungle to twin Ottoman towns, a three-million-year-old lake, and primeval beech forests untouched since before the Ice Age. Here is everything you need to know.
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