1. Out of Schengen

This will be the main incentive for most cruisers who come to Albania. If your boat is non-EU VAT paid, you can reset the 18 month clock with a stop in Albania. If you are non-Schengen passport holders, you can use Albania as a base to extend your time outside the Schengen zone. Albania is the closest non-Schengen country to Greece and southern Italy which means you can quickly hop back to continue cruising those regions.

2. People

We arrived with virtually no expectations and a few popular misconceptions as it turns out. Much was coloured by its stalinist communist history and a dose of too many narco/cartel articles. Albanians tend to go out of their way to welcome foreign guests partly because of the low number of visitors. Our first contacts were with formal and friendly police officials with an uncomplicated procedure to follow. People we met throughout our travels were first reserved and polite becoming open and helpful with every encounter. More so than in ANY of the European countries we’ve spent time cruising in cruising so far. There, I’ve said it.

3. Affordable

Your travel budget will go a long way here. The food (particularly in south Albania) is similar to that in Greece however at half to a third of the price, even in the touristic Riviera towns. There are no cruising fees, no charged moorings (in the few places you’ll even find a mooring buoy). Should you want to dock at a port the fee is probably well below 20 Euros. We did not hold back in Albania, eating out almost every night we could, cocktails at bars, went on day-trips with a private driver, treated myself to a haircuts and pedicures, got laundry done. Hell, we even bought a whole live lamb and had it slow-roasted at a beachside restaurant for a party of friends! Our monthly spend? Euro 1300. And that was splurging.

4. Beaches & Nature

We drove past mountain fields and hilly roadsides covered entirely in wild flowers of all colours, bees flitting from flower to hive. These are the fields I remember from 1970’s in Austria, before pesticides killed off the wildflowers in most of Europe. In Albania it’s still here. Sheep and goats graze between houses, cows stroll onto the beach. Nature is phenomenal! Fresh water springs, lakes, rivers, wetland landscapes, mountains, forests and beaches. Ideally you’ll leave your boat safely and do some overnight travel. That’s what we plan to do next time.

5. UNESCO and other amazing sites

Your head spins trying to get a grasp on Butrint. It was an ancient Greek city, then a Roman one and the seat of a late Roman bishop. After a period of abandonment it was occupied by the Byzantines, the Angevins and the Venetians. It was finally abandoned in the late Middle Ages. Prominent archeological sites include a Greek theater, a late-antique baptistery, a ninth-century basilica, and fortifications from the period of the Greek colony to the Middle Ages. Keep up.

Then there are the historic cities of Gjirokaster and Berat. Both are inscribed as rare examples of an architecture typical of the Ottoman period. Berat bears witness to the coexistence of various religious and cultural communities down the centuries. It features a castle, most of which was built in the 13th century, although its origins date back to the 4th century BC. The citadel area has many Byzantine churches, mainly from the 13th century, as well as several mosques built in the 15th century. Gjirokastër features a series of two-storey houses which were built in the 17th century. The town also retains a bazaar, an 18th-century mosque, and two churches of the same period.

Apart from these, as you sail northwards from Sarande, you’ll be able to visit the abandoned 16th C St Mary’s Monastery off Kakome bay and the well-preserved ancient castle at Porto Palermo. That’s just a fraction of what there is to see.

6. Novelty-factor

Albania is that rare jewel, safe, developed enough and yet still mostly undiscovered by international or western tourists. When I describe a town as touristic, it’s tourism on a mini-scale. Wherever we went we were mostly sharing spots with locals. The south is a holiday destination for Albanians (especially those who have emigrated and return in the summer to visit family) and also most popular with visitors from neighbouring countries like Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Italy and increasingly Germany. For us, that was part of the appeal. We’re far less accustomed to hearing Balkan languages, sharing beaches with Bulgarians and Poles or experiencing a destination that appeals to non-western European tastes and expectations.

One of the reasons is that Albania is less accessible than many other destinations. Flights are more expensive, fewer routes are available and there’s only one international airport in Albania. The majority of visitors arrive by land/car or fly to Corfu and take the ferry. Visitor numbers are about 2.5 million a year, peaking in the summer months of July and August. Compare that to neighbouring Greece that welcomes about 33 million tourists a year or Croatia’s 19 million.

All in all, you’ll have enough space to appreciate the sites and sights without crowds. As for the anchorages? Be prepared for the choice to anchor wherever you want. And more often than not, be the only sail boat. (Check out post with our 6 recommended anchorages)

7. Slow pace

Our motto is ‘travel slow, experience the journey’. Hasn’t always felt that way….until we came to Albania. ‘Avash avash’ is Albania’s lifestyle motto. It translates as slowly slowly. It’s present in the afternoon pushim (siesta) when all the stores close down from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. It’s present in the evening xhiro (stroll) when everyone gathers to amble up and down the promenade, stopping to chat with friends and acquaintances along the way. And it’s present in the long coffee breaks throughout the day when people take time to reconnect over shots of espresso.

Police in Saranda seem just as relaxed, choosing to wave a pointing finger at traffic violations rather than issue a ticket. Blowing their whistle for owners to return to double-parked cars rather than give a fine. This easy going slower pace of life combined with the nature views feels like going back in time.

8. No official religion

For some reason I believed Albania to be a muslim country but in fact, the state is neutral. The Albanian constitution stipulates that there is no official religion, guaranteeing the equality of religious communities and freedom of their expression in public life.

Although about 60% of Albanians are muslim, they are mostly moderate and non-practising. We were in Saranda during Ramadan and the Eid festivities, neither were apparent. The most popular souvlaki in the street-side grill restaurants is pork and we saw fewer women in hijab than in Switzerland!

I loved being on anchor in Saranda and hearing the mosque call to prayer followed by the chime of the orthodox church bells. Religious tolerance is one of the most important and widely accepted values of the Albanian people. Albania happens to be one of the rare lands in Europe today where religious prejudice and hate do not exist.

9. Great food

Our experience relates to southern Albania, so that’s all I will write about here. No doubt the capital city of Tirana caters to wider tastes and foodies raves about the blossoming slow food movement across the country. I’m assuming you’re cruisers and will spend most of your time near coastal towns.

Saranda, Ksamil and Himare have small supermarkets with a good, wide range of products. There’s a very simple farmers market in Sarande where produce is local and seasonal, orchard fruits are small and full of flavour (apart from the Colombian bananas ;-). In seaside restaurants, food is very similar to that of Greece, plenty of country salads, grilled vegetables, tsatsiki, saganaki and grilled fish, lamb, pork or goat. Plenty of pizza and pasta dishes if that’s your thing. That’s it.

What a pleasure it was to eat fresh, local produce everyday. No **** Chinese-run, Gen Z—appealing ‘sushi’ bars. And not a single McDonalds in the whole country (at time of writing…)!

10. Better Espresso than in Italy

The coffee culture is a reflection of the slower pace of life in Albania. Having been under Ottoman rule for over 500 years and Italian influence in the first half of the 20th century, it’s natural that Albanian has a strong coffee culture. You’ll find coffee roasteries along the main road and even the simplest cafés have excellent espresso machines. There are connoisseurs who claim an espresso or macchiato in Albania is better than in Italy, and we can attest that this is mostly true!