20 hours in northern Albania

The thought of 2025 being the most difficult year of my life still lingers in the back of my mind. Still, we wanted to travel, even if for shorter periods. What to do, then, with a cliff diving competition in Mostar we wanted to attend and a meeting with a dear friend we hadn’t seen in over 4 years?

Plus 4 days on the road – and only 6 days altogether to spare.

One stop needed to be in Albania, still one of my favourite 3 countries in the world.

 

Rati drove 3 hours (from Berat) to meet us

He came with his friend Giuliano. We had dinner, laughed, talked about our water memories, his family, our projects… it felt good to see each other again!

 

I chose Baks-Rrjoll as our base

And I heard it was the best choice in the area. :-)

 

è Where to sleep? Vila Horizont offered the perfect sea view, with one of the best breakfasts we’ve had [the dinner was also delicious!], and extraordinary hospitality. I also loved my time with the orange tabby.

è Where to swim? Plazhi i Rrjollit is 4 minutes away by car. It has a very interesting backdrop. I had my September wild swim there.

è If you need anything, Shëngjin is a large resort [it was packed when we were there]; you can reach it in 15-20 minutes by car.

è On the way there, an interesting and electric blue stop is the Panoramic Balcony ‘Rana e Hedhun’, a Mediterranean view I’ve dreamed of the whole summer.

 

And I finally managed to explore Shkodër for a bit

è We managed to find a (paid) parking spot on the way to Rozafa Castle – and then we walked. Carry cash, as you may need to pay for parking and the entrance fee, too. The view from the top of the fortress is fascinating; it overlooks the confluence of the Buna, Drin, and Kiri rivers.

è I had my doubts about mentioning it here, but the trileqe I had there was one of the best of my life, even though the service was not (unlike most of Albania, where people are tremendously kind). You can find it at Pastiçeri Akullore Beqoja. The prices displayed are per kilo.

è For a quick round of shopping before heading to Mostar via Podgorica, we wanted to find a local store, and ended up at Supermarket Xhedis. It has many imported products, but you can find excellent Albanian olives and traditional kataifi.

 

When we entered Albania, I thanked Marcel for bringing me back. I still can’t wait to return there. Albania is never a bad idea, not even if your stop there is shorter than a day.