Albania

21 – 28 September 2026

Albania was the last country in the Ottoman Empire to gain her independence and was recognised by the Great Powers in 1914. It is one of the most ancient in Europe – Illyria – the Romans recognised Albania’s importance in trade and began the Via Egnatia from her coast to Constantinople.

However, it must be one of the least known countries in Europe and one of the most exciting and unexplored, described so in the 19th century and so too in the 20th, isolated by its communist ruler Enver Hoxha. Less so today but it offers visual richness, friendly people, delicious food wine and a real sense of the extraordinary, which Europe has largely lost.

Our journey starts in the capital, Tirana, where we spend two nights exploring the city and the nearby great castle town of Kruje, the scene of a great battle between the Ottomans and the Albanians in the 14th century and from there south via Elbasan and the beautiful city of Berat.

Berat, again fortified, but its Ottoman houses, churches and museums are one of the richest in Albania. From there we travel still further south to Gjirokastra where we will spend four nights. The city is the birthplace of Hoxha and perhaps because of that has retained its great towering fortified houses built, in tiers up the mountain side, of the very materials of the mountains themselves. There is a fine Bazaar, mosques, churches and tekes – home of the Dervishes.

From here we will visit Tepelene where Lord Byron was entertained by the despot Ali Pasha with mutual admiration. From there into the mountains to visit Bylis abandoned by the Byzantines but an ancient site. There will be other village visits not normally on a tourist route where we receive a real sense of the hospitality of the Albanians.

From Gjirokastra further south to Butrint where Lords Rothschild and Sainsbury set up the Butrint Foundation in the early nineties to help restore this extraordinary site inhabited by various peoples from the Illyrians to the Venetians. It is of great beauty and complexity. We then leave this wonderful country for the crossing at Saranda to Corfu where we will spend one night with further visits in the town including the spectacular archaeological museum.

Albania is a land that has always attracted real travellers as Byron, Edward Lear, Edith Durham and the Lawrence of Albania, Baron Nopcsa. Come and join us!

Hevjola (Viola) Sherifi

Viola is an experienced project manager based in Albania with more than 15 years of experience in the public sector, combined with work to support NGOs on projects to improve local governance.
In 2004, she won a scholarship to Oxford Brookes University in the UK, awarded by Gjirokastra Conservation Office to study for a MSc. Viola has a track record of working successfully in community development and cultural heritage management projects funded by UNESCO in Albania. She also directed the Albanian Cultural Heritage Center – an NGO established by her – providing services for different donors. She has participated as an Albanian Partner in several European projects in Greece and Bulgaria. Most recently, Viola had been working to develop sustainable tourism in the region Gjirokastra, Albania, as a coordinator of a destination management organisation. In 2025 she established the Bizant House Boutique Hotel, a hospitality hub.