Chapter 02
History
5 chapters
02·01 · 5 min
Illyria, Rome and Byzantium
From the Illyrians to Byzantium: two millennia in which Albania learned to survive borders.
Read the chapter → 02·02 · 6 min
Ottomans and Skanderbeg
Five Ottoman centuries, the hero Skanderbeg and the mark still visible in Berat and Gjirokastra.
02·03 · 4 min
Independence and interwar Albania
From the 1912 Vlorë declaration to Zog's kingdom and the Italian invasion of 1939.
02·04 · 5 min
Enver Hoxha and total isolation
Forty years of Albanian communism: from anti-Nazi resistance to the only officially atheist country in the world.
02·05 · 5 min
1997 and contemporary Albania
From the 1997 collapse of the state to EU candidacy: thirty years of unlikely reconstruction.
Chapter 03
Cities
7 chapters
03·01 · 12 min
Tirana
A capital reinventing itself with colour, bunker-museums and the Blloku as the country's thermometer.
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03·02 · 8 min
Durrës
The oldest port on the Adriatic: Greek Epidamnos, Roman Dyrrachium, today a seaside town 40 minutes from Tirana.
03·03 · 7 min
Krujë
Skanderbeg's citadel — where Albanian national identity is manufactured.
03·04 · 8 min
Shkodra
Gateway to the Catholic north: Rozafa castle, the Balkans' largest lake, and the antechamber to the Albanian Alps.
03·05 · 12 min
Theth & Valbona
The Albanian Alps and the trek everyone mentions — with the Koman ferry as an opening act.
03·06 · 10 min
Berat
The city of a thousand windows: Mangalem, Gorica, and a citadel where people still live.
03·07 · 10 min
Gjirokastra
Kadare's stone city — and where Enver Hoxha was born. Two Albanias on a single hillside.
Chapter 05
Practical information
5 chapters
05·01 · 4 min
When to go to Albania
North and south run different calendars. May for the Riviera, July for the Alps — and August, hardly ever.
Read the chapter → 05·02 · 6 min
Transport in Albania
Car, furgon, Bolt, the Koman ferry — which combination to use where, and when the rental car stops being optional.
05·03 · 5 min
Budget and money in Albania
Lek, euros, cards, ATMs and real prices — plus why the Albania-is-cheap rumour is no longer entirely true.
05·04 · 6 min
Safety, health and daily life in Albania
Real safety, health, SIM and data, minimum language and local customs — plus the myth of dangerous Albania that the traveler finds false.
05·05 · 4 min
Visa and entry to Albania
Passport, land borders, rental cars and why Albania is still one of Europe's easiest entries.
Chapter 06
Itineraries
3 chapters
06·01 · 10 min
North and the Albanian Alps · 7 days
Tirana, Shkodra and the Theth-Valbona crossing
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