In order to give you a more comfortable and interesting trip, we recommend bringing:
Comfortable waterproof walking shoes
Sandals
Raincoat or waterproof jacket
Sunscreen
Bathing suit
Sunglasses
Car sickness medicine (note that if you suffer from getting car sick, Albania and the region are linked with very curvy and windy roads)
Torch or lamp for the nights in the countryside or some of the visited areas
Mosquito repellent
Some cash (for the areas where there are no ATMs – especially in the mountains.)
Definitely read Ismail Kadare books before coming. Start with “The General of the Dead Army,” “Chronicle in Stone” and “Broken April.”
Absolutely recommended: the very recently published “Free” by Lea Ypi. Lea took the words out of our mouths. So many of the stories she tells about, are a great tragicomic way of telling the truth about our life in the end of Stalinism and the very first moments after it collapsed. It is a lovely way of illustrating a country that lived in a paradox atmosphere. Thank God, that is all history now. We are trying to make the best out of our earlier sufferings at Albanian Trip.
If you’d like professional insight into Albanian history, culture, literature and tradition. read the works of emblematic Robert Elsie, who left this world at a young age in October 2017. His website is: http://www.albanianhistory.net/
If you’re interested in the very charismatic and eccentric Albanian traditions of the North, you should definitely check out the early-1900s journeys of a young British traveler named Edith Durham (she and her “High Albania” https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/durham/albania/albania.html is a must)!
See if you can watch “Slogans” and “Dear Enemy” by Gjergj Xhuvani.
Listen to Saze Permeti by different usta (as maestros are called in the jargon of this tradition), various polyphonic singing bands, Eda Zari, Elina Duni and Shkelzen Doli! Ask us for more advice on traditional and modern Albanian music – the tradition goes on, and a great source of information regarding that can be found through the best musicologist in the Land of the Eagles right now, Vaso Tole: http://www.vasiltole.com/English/Index-EN.html
Please don’t leave batteries in Albania. We are not good at recycling them. Please bring them back home and put them in specialized disposal.
Please contact@albaniantrip.com in case you need more specialized info relating to your trip to Albania and the Balkans. If you want to pop in and say hi, we’re about a five minute walk from Skanderbeg Square, just past the junction where Rruga Siri Kodra meets Rruga e Dibres (there’s a huge tree and a very shiny mobile phone store.) Nr 261/1 is the brown door with a golden star above. Best is to send a message or email with the time of your visit. If not, please knock at the door or ring!
albanian trip sh.a. 2023