My husband, myself and a group of friends were blessed to travel through Albania, Macedonia, and Kosovo with Pearls of Albania tour. The shining light of this tour was our... read more guide (and now friend) Gjolek (Leko)! His knowledge of the Balkan region and the history he lived made this trip unforgettable and really a must for anyone interested in Albania. I do not even know how many languages he speaks, but he is as interesting as the countries we toured, more knowledgeable than we could have asked for and very intelligent.
We began the trip in Tirana at the Boka hotel, a boutique hotel in an excellent location near shops and food. We met the tour operators who treated us to an evening of Raki (their liquor of choice from this region). We toured old costose, beautiful towns, churches and “bunk art” (an absolute must to learn of their survival from the communist era.
The food is delicious a mix of Italian, Mediterranean and their own Albanian style.
There was a lot of eating,a day to hike, a, beach day, eating, rafting, thermal springs, cave exploring, shopping, and eating. A truly busy adventure that everyone should take advantage of before the rest of the world finds out about this gem of a country and this fantastic tour company.
The hosts of this company, Alban, Sirma and the others were in constant contact with us, always checking in to ensure our needs were being met and that we were truly enjoying ourselves.
