Day 1: TIRANA-SHKODRA
Arrival at Tirana International Airport and direct transfer by bus to the city of Shkodra.
Visit of Shkoder will be on the Lake of Shkodra, bordering Montenegro and one of the oldest cities of Albania. It retains the powerful walls of the fortress of Rozafa, the Lead Mosque of Shkoder, the clock tower and the Catholic cathedral that was converted in a sports hall at the time of Enver Hoxha.
Transfer to the hotel in Shkodra and dinner in a restaurant.
Day 2: KRUJE - DURRES
After breakfast, depart for Kruja. Visit of Kruja which was the capital of the Albanian national hero Gjergj of Kastrioti Skanderbeg museum dedicated to him and the ethnographic museum and the local bazaar with women in full local carpet "the Albanian kilim."
Lunch at a traditional restaurant Kruja in the citadel.
After lunch, depart to Durres (Durazzo): Stop in Durres (Durazzo) in the morning: the country's main port today, was it the bridgehead for the crossing of the Adriatic during the Roman Empire times. Durres was the starting point of the famous route "Via Egnatia", the crossing point of leaving ways to the East; it was Cicero’s land of exile and the theater of the civil war between Caesar, Pompey, Octavian and Marc- Antoine. Visit at the archaeological museum and the well preserved amphitheater.
Back in Tirana followed by a dinner at a local restaurant, overnight in Tirana.
Day 3: BERAT
Early start in the morning after breakfast for Berat. Visit to Berat, known as the "city of a thousand windows", city museums and heritage of UNESCO. Visit the museum Onufri (Byzantine art), cathedral, Trinity Church, district of Gorica and Mangalem.
Lunch at a traditional restaurant inside the fortress.
Visit of Albanian wine production company and tasting of the wines.
Day 4: ARDENICA - APOLLONIA - SARANDA
After breakfast, depart for the Monastery of Ardenica, the only Orthodox monastery in operating in Albania.
Then drive to Apollonia. Visit to the archaeological site of Apollonia (famous ancient city founded around 600 BC by colons from Corinth and Corfu. The remains of this ancient site remain impressive: walls (fifth and sixth centuries prior to our era), gates, temples, Odeon, Library, triumphal arch, monument or bouleuterion Agonothetes, gym, home, tavern, fountain, theater ...)
Drive to Saranda and stop at the neck of Llogara, located at 1027 m altitude at the bottom of Mountain Cike (2018 m). The view on the Ionian coast, from the cervix, is striking. Lunch on the way at a local restaurant.
Arrival during the evening in Saranda, a coastal city where one can see the island of Corfu.
Discovery of the early Christian basilica and of the city and its walls.
Transfer to hotel and dinner in a traditional restaurant.
Day 5: Butrint
After breakfast, exploration of the archaeological park of Butrint which houses the remains remarkably well preserved in a magnificent natural setting.
Inhabited since the tenth century BC, the site of Butrint was founded by Aeneas, while, according to Racine, Pyrrhus would have met Andromache. In a lush vegetation, you can admire the imposing walls of the fifth century BC, drilled beautiful doors as the Gate of SCEE and the Lion Gate, the sanctuary of Asclepius, a magnificent theater of the third century BC, and perhaps the most beautiful monument of ancient Albania, baths, a sixth-century baptistery, with 64 beautiful mosaics of animals, a basilica of the same period, a nymphaeum fountain, a fort built by Ali Pasha in the early Tepelena nineteenth century. The ruins of Butrint are listed as World Heritage by UNESCO since 1992.
Lunch at a traditional restaurant followed by departure to Gjirokastra.
Visit the Blue Eye (Syri i Kalter), underground source whose depth reaches 45m. It is named after the color of a bright blue-green.
Arrival in Gjirokastra and visit of the city.
Gjirokastra is a rare example of a perfectly preserved Ottoman town. Birthplace of the writer Ismail Kadare, an ancient village, now one of the most important cities of southern Albania, Gjrokaster is one of the most beautiful and typical of the region, with its fortress-houses with two floors the Kulas, covered by slate gray that were mostly built during the seventeenth century. The town also includes a bazaar, a mosque of the eighteenth century and two churches of the same period. Museum town is still inhabited. The heritage of Gjirokastra is very rich: the Castle of Argjiro, the National Museum of Arms, the Ethnographic Museum, which was the home of former dictator Enver Hoxha.
Dinner at a traditional restaurant and overnight in Gjirokastra.
Day 6: Gjirokastra - Voskopoja
After breakfast depart to Korca. Lunch on the road to Permet. Dinner at local restaurant and overnight at the hotel Voskopoja.
Day 7: KORCA - TIRANA
After breakfast, visit to the vlach village of Voskopoja, one of the fastest growing cities in the Balkans in the seventeenth century. The city has many adorned churches reflecting a sophisticated decorative sense, Hispanic-Italian influence. Road to Korca.
Korca: This Albanian city experienced many vicissitudes, around the First World War it was captured by the Greeks before being occupied by the Austro-Hungarian and again by the Greeks and finally by the French who controlled it in 1916- 1920. It is an ancient city with a rich culture: Museum of Medieval Art, the Archaeological Museum, the Orthodox Cathedral, the Mosque of Iljaz Bej Mirahorit and the Museum of Education.
Lunch during the visit.
Departure to Tirana.
Overnight at hotel in Tirana
Day 8: RETURN
Breakfast and city tour in Tirana, capital of Albania since 1920 founded by the Ottoman general Suleyman Pasha, in the early seventeenth century. Visit Skanderbeg Square, Ethem Bey Mosque, the National History Museum.
Transfer to airport return flight.
OUR SERVICES INCLUDE:
- Transfer from airport to hotel and back
- Accommodation in a 3 * or 4 *
- Full board
- Entrance fees for museums and all visits program
- All transportation with driver
- Local guide
Excludes:
-International flights
Tips-use (allow € 4 per day per person)
-Drinks
Idea of the budget:
From 760 Euros per person (based on a price band of 10. Albania and its wonders Steps
