Journal
Albania travel guides and tips
First-hand notes from Albania — tested routes, honest advice, and the details that actually help you travel well.
From the journal
Culture
CultureAlbanian Customs and Culture: What to Know Before You Visit
Besa, bottomless coffee, a raki you probably shouldn't refuse, and why nobody here is actually confused about religion — a first-hand guide to the customs that shape daily life in Albania.
CultureShkodra and Its Lake: What to Visit in Northern Albania
A castle built on a legend, a lake shared with Montenegro, and a museum holding half a million glass-plate photographs — a first-hand walk through Albania's bicycle-loving northern gateway.
CultureGjirokastra: A Guide to the "Stone City"
A first-hand walk through Gjirokastra, Albania's UNESCO-listed "stone city" — the hilltop castle with a captured Cold War jet inside it, the Zekate House, the Old Bazaar, and the town that produced both a dictator and a Nobel-nominated novelist.
CultureLocal Customs & Etiquette in Albania: Do's and Don'ts for Tourists
The specific mistakes I watch first-time visitors make here — from haggling where you shouldn't to a toilet-paper habit that genuinely breaks the plumbing — and the handful of rules that carry real fines, not just dirty looks.
CultureComplete Tirana Travel Guide: What to Do in the Capital
One long day in Tirana, start to finish — coffee, a mosque that survived a dictatorship, a pyramid turned tech school, and a neighborhood that only wakes up after dark.
CultureBerat, the "City of a Thousand Windows" — What to See
A first-hand walk through Berat, Albania's UNESCO-listed "city of a thousand windows" — the castle where people still live, the Onufri icons, the two river quarters, and the local wine worth staying an extra night for.