A country · 76 places · 8 regions
Albania, all of it.
76 curated places across 8 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.
The 4 biggest regions — Tirana County, Vlorë County, Gjirokastër County and Shkodër County — read below as chapters, with 4 more waiting past them.
Chapter I · Tirana County · 19 places
Tirana County
This equestrian statue dominates the vast Skanderbeg Square at the centre of Tirana and honours the 15th-century national hero Gjergj Kastrioti, known as Skanderbeg, who led resistance against Ottoman expansion. Unveiled in 1968 to mark the anniversary of his death, the bronze figure shows the warrior on horseback wearing his distinctive goat-horned helmet. The work was created by a group of Albanian sculptors and became a focal point for national identity.
via Wikimedia CommonsChapter II · Vlorë County · 16 places
Vlorë County
Ksamil is a small village and beach resort on the southern Albanian Riviera near the Greek border, situated within the Butrint National Park buffer zone. Its beaches are sandy and the shallow water offshore is sheltered by three small uninhabited islands accessible by short boat ride or swim. The combination of clear Ionian water, relatively undeveloped shoreline, and proximity to the archaeological ruins of Butrint gives Ksamil a character distinct from more developed Mediterranean resorts.
✦ June to September · $
Chapter III · Gjirokastër County · 6 places
Gjirokastër County
Gjirokastra is a UNESCO-listed Ottoman city built on the slopes of a steep hill in the Drino River valley, its characteristic stone houses with high slate roofs and projecting upper stories forming a distinctive vernacular architecture known as the Gjirokastër type. The castle at the summit has been a military stronghold since the fourth century and now houses a weapons museum and the remnants of an American military aircraft captured during the Cold War. The novelist Ismail Kadare was born here and depicted the city in several of his works.
via Wikimedia CommonsChapter IV · Shkodër County · 6 places
Shkodër County
Theth is a remote village in the Albanian Alps accessed by a mountain road through the Shala River valley, surrounded by peaks that rise well above 2,000 metres on all sides. The valley retains traditional stone-built kulla tower houses associated with the old Albanian customary law, and the church dating from 1892 is one of the few surviving pre-communist religious structures in the region. The hiking trail over the Valbona Pass to the adjacent Valbona valley is one of the most celebrated mountain walks in the western Balkans.
✦ June to September · $
Regions of Albania
Every place in Albania
