Duration:  5 nights / 6 days

Summary of the tour

Tour Description:

The 6-day tour takes you to explore the Albania & Montenegro Highlights Trail through its culture, history, traditions and gastronomy. The visitor can count on visiting representative main cities, which through their history allow interpretation and understanding of the way in which the inhabitants lived and live. The diversity, the richness of the history, the amazing and breathtaking nature, the gastronomy and the hospitality of these two small countries, make your trip unforgettable and well worthy revisiting the region again.

Highlights

In this trip you will discover Albania & Montenegro, in its more representative sites, historical cities, museums, cultural places and traditional restaurants. There are a lot attractive, unique and authentically thing from the undiscovered Albania & Montenegro. We will visit the UNESCO sites of Berat in Albania and Kotor in Montenegro; we will enjoy the traditional food and will taste the delicious wines produced with a lot of love from our wine producers. We will meet with locals, visit hand-crafts markets and experience the lifestyle of the country.

Along the whole itinerary the Balkan gastronomy, delicious dishes, wines and spirits will give a full taste of this colorful and exotic piece of land in Europe and will make this trip unforgettable.

Day 1:   Airport of Tirana – Shiroke – Sveti Stefan – Kotor

After arrival meet and greet in the airport of Tirana and depart to Montenegro. We will have lunch at Shiroka, to have a traditional lunch of the area with the specialties of the lake fish. After the lunch we will continue toward the border with Montenegro. The first stop will be in the panoramic spot of Sveti Stefan to make some picture and continue to Kotor, an UNESCO world heritage. The accommodation will be in the heart of the Old City. After accommodation we will have dinner and after dinner free time.

Day 2:  Kotor – Perast – Lovcen National Park – Cetinje – Podgorica

After breakfast, we depart to visit Perast, which is an old town in the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometers northwest of Kotor and is noted for its proximity to the islets of St. George and Our Lady of the Rocks. We turn back to Kotor, where we will have the lunch and after the lunch, we will depart to Podgorica through Lovcen National Park, to enjoy the panoramic view above the Boka Kotorska. On the way to Podgorica we will have a short stop to Cetinje, the old Royal capital. The trip will start strolling through the main street Njegoševa ulica. This street, partly a pedestrian zone, is very cute and gives to the visitors a glimpse of Cetinje’s history. Passing under an arch of linden trees, you will see well-preserved pastel-colored houses, which are quite different from the Venetian style on the coast.

Day 3: Podgorica – Rijeka Crnojevića – Shkoder – Tirana    

After breakfast, on this day, we will go to visit the south part of Montenegro. We will go to Skadar Lake National Park, visit Rijeka Crnojevica, where we will enjoy a coffee in the lake side.  We continue to Albania. The lunch will be in a traditional restaurant in Shkodra, and after the lunch we will have a short walk in the pedestrian area, in the old city. We will continue our trip to Tirana. Check-in in the hotel, Dinner in a traditional restaurant in Tirana.

Day 4: Tirana – Berat – Apolonia – Tirana

After breakfast we will continue our trip to Berati. We will have a short stop to Gorica bridge the symbol of the city, which connect the two oldest neighborhoods, the orthodox one of Gorica, with the muslim part called Mangalem.  We will have a walk in the neighborhood called “Mangalem” and visit the ethnographic museum. We continue our tour to the Castle and Onufri museum, People are still living within the walls of the castle just like their ancestors did and this neighborhood is called “Kala” (Castle), which is the third main neighborhood of Berati. The lunch will be in a winery where we will have wine tasting and traditional food of the area. After the lunch we depart toward Apollonia. The evocative ruins of the ancient Illyrian city of Apollonia sit on a windswept hilltop some 12km west of the city of Fier. While a large part of the ruins remains buried under the ground, what has been excavated within the 4km of city walls is pure poetry. The highlights include the theatre and the elegant pillars of the restored facade of the city ‘s 2nd-century-AD administrative center. Apollonia had municipal status and it was the place where Emperor Augustus had studied philosophy there before he became emperor. After Apolonia we will turn back to Tirana. The dinner will be in a very fancy restaurant where the group will have a combination gourmet cook with traditional one of Albania.

Day 5: 30th Jun’2023 Tirana – Kruje – Durres(optional) – Tirana

After breakfast, the group will depart to the native city of Skanderbeg, Kruja, the ancient Albanian capital, only 32 km from Tirana, and the city symbol of the anti-Ottoman resistance, as well as the city of the national hero Scanderbeg. Here it will be a visit to the National Museum of Kruja and Ethnographic Museum. After the visits in the museums, the group could do some shopping in Old Baazar.

We will continue to Durres, a versatile port city with both a modern and ancient appeal. If fun in the sun is in order look no further than the waterfront, where Albania’s largest and liveliest beach buzzes with activity in summer. Durres is also replete with Roman and Byzantine heritage – you can discover the remnants of Albania’s biggest amphitheater here, while both the city defenses and forum date back 1500 years. We will visit the National Archaeological Museum, a museum rich in artifacts and data on antiquity.

On the afternoon, depending by the schedule meeting with the prime minister, the group will have a short city tour of Tirana,  including the Skanderbeg Square, the main square of Tirana; National Museum – the biggest and the most important museum in Albania ( visit included), Opera – the home of Albania’s cultural home showing national and international productions in song and dance, National bank on Albania, Orthodox cathedral & Taiwan, The Block – is Tirana’s most stylish area – used under the Communist regime to give friends and families of the ruling party a place to live and relax.  A outside visit of the house of the ex-dictator Enver Hoxha, and the dictature symbols in the main boulevard; Boulevard Deshmoret e Kombit –Tirana’s great boulevards built by the Italians; The Pyramid –built during communism times with white marble walls honoring the ex-dictator Enver Hoxha, now on turned into an inno Mosque – the central mosque is known as Mosque of Et’hem Beu is an old mosque in the center of the city; Clock Tower – behind the mosque is the tall clock tower and the symbol of the city; New Bazaar, a multifunctional area with almost all services, divided into five areas: Fish Marks, Green Marks (Fruits), mainly products coming from the outskirts of Tirana, the Neutral Zone, the shops residential areas around the area, which have been converted into service areas, creative areas, entertainment venues, mainly concerts, street art, animators, fairs, open cinemas, open exhibitions, etc; Castle of Tirana – The newest touristic place where we will have a stop for some shoping.

Day 6:  Tirana – Airport 

This trip comes to the end. With the hope you had a beautiful and a great week, we hope you come back again. Have a nice and safe flight back home.

Price from 1050 Euro/Person 

In this price is included:

• Assistance and transfers during arrival and departure
• Tours and excursions as for the itinerary
• Transportation with air-conditioned deluxe private coach
• English speaking guide during the tour
• Accommodation at 3/4 stars hotels
• Meals in AI concepts including 1 drink + 2 wine tasting session
• All taxes & entrance tickets to museums, castles, etc

Services does not include:

• Flight tickets
• All kind of tips
• Personal phone calls in hotel and laundry
• Anything which is not mentioned in the given itinerary and services include

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