Travel guide Albanie
The best time to go en Albanie
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Practical information for travel en Albanie
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Edition 2024/2025
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Where to go en Albanie?
The most beautiful tourist sites
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Petit Futé's best addresses en Albanie
Discover the most beautiful addresses selected by the authors of Petit Futé.
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Featured articles d'Albanie
What to see and do in Gjirokastër, Albania The 11 must-sees in 2025
Published on 21/08/2025 Activities and experiences
In southern Albania, Gjirokastër - or Gjirokastra - is the best-preserved Ottoman town in the country. In fact, along with the famous historic center of Berat, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site....
What to do and see in Tirana in 2 or 3 days? Itinerary tips in 2025
Published on 21/08/2025 Activities and experiences
Two days in Tirana is a short time, but it's enough to feel the heartbeat of Albania. If you want to take your time, three days will be even better! What a delight to stroll through this colorful...
What to see and do in Berat, Albania 11 must-sees in 2025
Published on 19/06/2025 Activities and experiences
When traveling in Albania, discover Berat, the city of a thousand windows! Berat is best visited for its historic old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. Stroll through the tightly-packed...
How to travel en Albanie
How to go alone
Local tourists are in the majority and there are many accommodations, especially in rural and coastal areas. It is easy to organize a stay alone in Albania. Hiking is possible by following the paths of Via Dinarica through the Balkans, marked out. Local service providers. It is possible to book a hotel or a room in a private home from France. You can also stay on site directly. In town, your credit card is accepted, otherwise bring cash.
How to go on a tour
Tourism has been developing in Albania since the early 2000s. More and more tourist companies are putting it in their catalog, at affordable prices. You can choose between seaside stays, trekking and tours to discover archaeological sites and heritage.
How to get around
Gasoline and car rentals are similar in price to those in France. Same price for a 4 x 4 rental with driver. The cities are connected by buses at very affordable prices. Large buses are generally a little more expensive than minibuses, but are also more comfortable. As for the train, whose network is limited, it costs almost nothing, but is extremely slow.
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Travel en Albanie
Ideas for holidays and week-end breaks en Albanie
Although Albania is a relatively small country in terms of geography - the size of Brittany - you should not forget that it is also an extremely mountainous country where any journey takes time, especially if you are dependent on public transport. In addition to its rugged relief, you have to add the state of the roads, which often do not allow you to drive very fast, and certainly not at night, if you are motorised. In short, you can't expect to cover the whole country in a single week. On the other hand, a trip of two to three weeks will allow you to discover the main regions of the country in depth. But in one week you will also be able to choose from its rich and varied heritage: Butrint the ancient city, Berat the Ottoman wonder, Gjirokastra the fascinating stone city of Ismail Kadaré, or of course the "big blue" of the "Albanian Riviera".
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Discover l'Albanie
What comes to mind when you hear its name? The "land of eagles" often fascinates as much as it worries. Between the illustrious writer Ismaïl Kadaré and the infamous Communist dictator Enver Hoxha, who closed the country in on itself for thirty years, today images of beautiful beaches, picturesque mountains and sublime landscapes emerge. Long inward-looking, Albania is finally opening up and revealing itself, despite a still difficult economic situation. Yet the country has many other little-known treasures. Situated on one of the routes linking the West and the East, the country has attracted the covetousness of the various Mediterranean powers since Antiquity. It's an ancient nation, with its own language, culture and more than 2,000 years of history. With its heritage, its landscapes and its hospitality, this country will never cease to surprise you.
The 12 keywords en Albanie
#Eagle
You won't be able to miss it: the Albanian national flag is red with a black double-headed eagle spreading its wings in the center. This double-headed bird of prey is a legacy of the banner of the Byzantine Empire, which is also found on the Serbian and Russian flags... In Albania, the double-headed eagle was the symbol of the hero Skanderbeg in the 15th century.
#Bektashism
Founded in the 15th century, this Muslim brotherhood, renowned for its great tolerance of other religions, is recognized as a religion in its own right in Albania. It was instrumental in the creation of the Albanian state in 1912, and continues to influence a large part of the population.
#Bunkers
Estimated at more than 700,000 in the 1980s, they are scattered throughout the country, mainly on the coasts and borders. Most of these remnants of the communist era were built in the 1970s, after Albania withdrew from the Warsaw Pact, to protect the country from possible invasion.
#Burek
It's a delicious minced meat or vegetable pie with phyllo dough eaten on the go. Restaurants serve it practically non-stop, and it's generally possible to eat it at any time of day. All towns and villages abound in stalls where you can eat it at ridiculously low prices.
#Gëzuar
It literally means "here's to your happiness". This expression, which is very common in everyday life, is often used during a raki break or any other consumption of beverages, alcoholic or otherwise. In short, it's a word to remember if you're invited to share a moment of conviviality with locals.
#Illyria
The propaganda of the Zog and Hoxha dictatorships has left its mark: many Albanians are convinced that they are the direct descendants of the Illyrians. In fact, this little-known civilization, present in the western Balkans until the Roman conquest, is a bit like the Gauls to the French, i.e. very old cousins ..
#Kadaré
Born in 1936 in Gjirokastra, the poet, short-story writer and novelist Ismaïl Kadaré is considered one of the greatest contemporary writers. He is, without doubt, the most widely read Albanian author abroad. In recent decades, it is mainly through his works that Westerners have discovered - or not completely forgotten - Albania.
#Kanun
For centuries, much of Albania has been governed by this customary law. According to the Kanun, the loss of life can only be redeemed by another life: this is the vendetta, in Albanian gjakmarrja, literally the "taking of blood". It has become something of a custom, and is still followed in the northern regions of the Albanian-speaking area.
#Mercedes
From the 1990s to 2010, the Mercedes was the Albanian car par excellence. They come in all shapes and sizes, from antique 200Ds to the latest 4 x 4s, as well as numerous vans converted into minibuses and sedans used as driving schools. The old 200Ds, simple and robust, are particularly popular.
#Mountains
Albania is a mountainous country. The average altitude here is 708 m and the highest point in the country, Mount Korab, is 2,751 m. The Albanian mountains are relatively young and are part of the Dinaric Alps, an extension of the great chain of the Alps. Compact and often difficult to access, they delight all hikers.
#Raki
Rakia is one of the country's most widely consumed spirits, along with wine and beer. Generally distilled from grape juice, this brandy is drunk as an aperitif, digestif or sometimes even in the morning, with coffee. The Albanians also make it from blackberries or plums. Raki is on sale in most stores.
#Skanderbeg
He is THE national hero of the Albanians. After being trained by the Ottomans, he fought them for almost twenty-five years, with such heroism that his fame spread beyond their borders. Antonio Vivaldi composed an opera in his honor, Scanderbeg, and Pierre de Ronsard dedicated a poem to him, as did the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
You are from here, if...
You say no ... with a shake of the head, sometimes leading to misunderstandings!
You're proud of your country and its riches, and can talk for hours about the differences between the Tosques and the Guègues, the two Albanian ethnic groups in the majority.
Ofcourse, you've already read a book by Ismaïl Kadaré, but you also appreciate other national writers such as Fatos Kongoli.
You're always pleasantly surprised and welcoming when a foreigner takes an interest in your country. You'll tell them, for example, how the dordolec and kukull, scarecrows, dolls and teddy bears hanging outside houses, ward off the "evil eye".
You have a cousin who most likely lives in Greece, Italy or the USA.
You're not too fond of the film Taken, starring Liam Neeson, which still portrays your compatriots as kidnappers and traffickers.
On the whole, if you're from here, you're not too fond of certain clichés..
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