Albania Travel Agents

We had a great trip to Albania. The country is beautiful and it being a small country it was very easy to get around and driving distances were very reasonable. Traveling in August is hot and dry, and seeing all the dry river beds makes us want to return in June, when I'm sure the country is lush and beautiful. This being said, we loved all of the fruit dripping from the trees, figs, pomegranates, grapes, nectarines, plums, and all of the other fresh produce was exactly what we were hoping for.

The hotels we visited had the most impressive views including Kerculla and Arameras pools were just magical. Kerculla was a beautiful hotel, breakfast was lovely and the view during breakfast at both hotels was incredible. Service at all the hotels was just okay. Service overall in Albania and attention to detail is not quite up to western standards but it was fine.

Our river hiking and rafting trips were fun but with dry weather, the water was limited. But still was ok. Service with the rafting company was ok. They don't explain much of anything but I think they are still learning how to do these tours!

Berat and Gjirkaster were fun to explore - driving was challenging but that was part of the fun!

The donkey experience was great because it was just our family. The boy and mom were really good and they did a good job - as a farmer I felt proud of them starting this aspect of their farm and I think their signage was fun along the donkey walk, their presentation at the table was great and we stayed until dark! This was an unexpected highlight of the trip. Really got an authentic experience with a local family.

On the other hand Bote Farms was totally the opposite. It was an ok experience, the food was good, but the pool is a algae filled not great experience, their was not enough space for all the guests to lay in chairs around the "pool", and there was just not much to do. It is not something, as a farmer, I felt was authentic. It would have been better to call it a light cooking class with a meal and skip the part hanging out by the pool. The animals were not great, kinda dirty and hot. The owners were nice and all, but if we are travelling to be in Albania I don't want to visit a place not run by Albanians. And they called it a farm to table event. but there was not really a farm. Just some gardens.

Glamping in Nivica was fun, but hot during the day. Tents were nice, but there was nothing to do during the day, and it was just hot. No one really welcomed us much at all to say where we were and about the place. It is a great spot and fun to get there in the trucks, but it lacked a little cohesiveness. Food was good, the guide was nice, and the hike was fun, and lunch at the local restaurant and a walk through the town were great.

We enjoyed the restaurant suggestions and overall they were good, but food did vary from place to place and was sometimes quite bland at the hotels and a bit overpriced. We would have enjoyed more local, out of the way, true local restaurants that locals eat at as other options for us vs tourist restaurants.

Not sure what else to write about! Thermal baths were a little bit of a let down since they are not hot, more like warm and they were a bit full of algae. Cool place though! We didn't stay long...

Tomaz’ staff was amazing and responsive. Appreciated the contact with us during the trip.

Hotel Reviews

Envy Hotel Durres 4*

Durrës

Authenticity & Character

Location

Central

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Alpeta Agrotourism & Winery - Roshnik , Berat 3*

Roshnik

Authenticity & Character

Staff contact was pretty basic. One staff member very helpful arranging last minute excision.

Location

Just a bit out of the way for Berat and other excursions

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

PARADISE BEACH HOTEL

Vlore

Great restaurant and rooms. Liked the beach bar and great reason

Authenticity & Character

Nothing but no real character

Location

Good for that town

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Colosseo Tirana 4*

Tirana

Ok hotel for what it was location could be a bit more central. Staff weren’t responsive to a maintenance issue in our room.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sharm Hotel Luxury 4*

Gjirokastër

Everything great but just too far from Old Town.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mrizi i Zanave Agroturizëm

Lezhë

Room was fun for one night. Tour of the farm was amazing. Restaurant good food but it’s large size meant no charm.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Logu i Harushave

Theth

Staff very helpful. Biggest complaint was the heat was not on in the restaurant at all and it was cold. Room heat only on late afternoon. Limited menu available. Rooms basic.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Historic Boutique Hotel Cattaro

Kotor

Amazing in every respect

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided tour of Gjirokastra

Gjirokastra

Enthusiastic but way too much information and hard to follow. Did answer questions and insights on Albania which was great. Got us into the bunkers for free. 😊

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Not applicable

Guided tour Durres

Durres

Great guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Not applicable

Guided tour of Berat

Albania

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Not applicable

Wine tasting

Albania

This was a trip highlight and amazing

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Insights into life in Albania pre and post communism. His English was perfect.

Transport

Not applicable

City & Food Tour of Tirana

Tirana

Hard to understand guide. Didn’t understand our questions. Not a city food tour and we have done many. Did have tastings of several dishes in one restaurant.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guided tour of Kotor

Montenegro

Great guide. Lots of history and insights into Montenegro.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guided tour of Tirana

Tirana

Guide wasn’t prepared for city closure due to economic summit and things to do. We wanted to go to House of Leaves and he knew this the day before when it was open. Went to Bunker 2 at our initiative and he knew very little about it. We just read the signs in English. Well meaning person but Mickey Mouse and a bit of waste of our time as a guide for us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Speed boat tour - Boka bay, Our lady of the Rocks and Blue cave

Montenegro

Good company and safe boat in high winds. Adapted tour very well in high winds.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The planning and then putting the itinerary into action was perfect. A wonderful experience we had. After the first 48 hrs, we settled down and relaxed, went with the flow, and driving through the countries of Albania and North Macedonia was delightful. Superb roads like driving on a pool table at times compared to roads in Scotland. Loved our itinerary which was prepared by Ed beforehand taking into consideration our likes & dislikes. The places and accommodation we visited were ideal, beautiful and would never have considered these hidden gems.

From start to finish, our trip in Albania was absolutely phenomenal. Ed was very helpful with the planning of the trip, perfecting an amazing itinerary for my friends and I that consisted of a mix of the mountains and the beach which we wanted. Ed took away the stress of worrying about transfers and destinations, creating an incredible 7 day Albanian adventure.

Once in Albania, everything ran smoothly and Ed connected us to fabulous local tour guides who enabled fabulous experiences. I cannot reccomend Ed and KimKim as well as Albania as a travel destination enough. Thank you so much Ed (as well as Kreshnik and Kledis) for the most fabulous week and the absolute highlight of our European trip.

Ed was a great local guide! Our trip was a little unique because we had a bike accident on the first day resulting in a broken wrist and surgery. Ed and Nick were massively helpful, providing translation services and basically babysitting me in a coffee shop while my partner was in surgery and recovering. Ed rescheduled or swapped activities on the fly as necessary. He could not have been more accommodating or helpful.
Once we got on the road we found the itinerary to be exactly what we had asked for- lots of beautiful hiking, rafting, strolling through ancient cities, no tourist traps, accommodations all mom and pop operations run by the sweetest people you'll ever meet. Highlights were a cooking class in Gjirokaster, dinner at Lili's in Berat, the view from the glamping tents at Nivica. A day spent hiking up to Borsh castle, poking around the ruins and taking in the incredible views, then doing then same at upper Qeparo village are experiences we'll never forget. Ed clearly has great working relationships with his vendors and it shows when you show up somewhere and people are expecting to see you and already know who you are.
This was our second time using a local guide (kim kim both times) after 35 years of planning trips all over the world by ourselves. I'm not sure there is any going back because we had experiences that we never would have found on our own! Thanks Thanks Ed, Nick, and Elio! You are the best. We are looking forward to the next trip!

Hotel Reviews

Berati Castle Hotel

Berat

Our stay at the Berati Castle Hotel was fantastic. The hotel is in the old part of Berat, which gave us a real feel for the history and culture of the city. The ambiance was exactly what we were looking for, and the location made it easy to explore the beautiful “City of a Thousand Windows.

Camp Nivica

Staying at Camp Nivica was a really cool experience. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, and it was made even more interesting by the presence of a Swedish film crew shooting a documentary. The setup was like glamping, and it was a refreshing change from traditional hotel stays.

Activity Reviews

Berat - Exploring The "City Of A Thousand Windows"

Berat

We did get to explore Berat, and it was a lovely experience. The city is just beautiful, and the architecture is something you don’t see every day. The atmosphere in Berat was calm and relaxing, which was a nice change from the chaos of Tirana.

Mt Dajti MTB Experience

Tirana

This was a huge letdown. What we were expecting was an easy ride up to the foot of Mt. Dajti, take a cable car to the top, and then gently ride down winding country roads with a nice lunch break somewhere. Instead, we ended up riding through city traffic, which was a nightmare, and then up a steep, dirt road filled with heavy construction traffic. It was brutal and not at all what we signed up for. The guide didn't even mention the cable car anymore. My wife had a bad accident on this trip, which just added to the frustration.

Quality of Experience