CLASSIC ALBANIA TOUR 2023

Breakfast,drive to Shkodra the most important town of north Albania and
the Illyrian capital, in the 3rd century BC.
• Visit Rozafa Castle from where spectacular views all around can be
admired.
• Experience the supremacy the Illyrians would have feel over their
enemies standing in such an imposing castle
• Marubi Photographic Museum with a selection of prints of negatives
taken in starting from the second half of the 19th century till the 1900-s,
illustrating the life of the population of the area in that period.
• Proceed to Kruja - the centre of Albanian resistance against the Turks
under our national hero Scanderbeg.
• He kept them from crossing into Western Europe for 25 years, thus
earning the title “Champion of Christ” given by the Pope of the time.
• We visit the Skanderbeg Museum, a very rich Ethnographic Museum and
the Old Bazaar where the best handmade souvenirs can be purchased.
• Return and overnight in Tirana.

Depart to Vlora where Albanian Independence was proclaimed.
• On the way we stop at the Monastery of Ardenica, supposed to
have been built in the middle ages, as argued by a stone in
entrance dating back to the 1417.
• Today inside the church you can admire icon paintings of
1743-1745, by Albanian artists such as Konstandin and Athanos
Zografi, as well as Konstandin Shpataraku.
• Proceed to the ancient city of Apollonia situated on the famous
Via Egnatia - one of the most important cities in Roman times.
• Due to its fame and importance it was known as Apollonia
Prima out of 16 ancient cities built to honour Apollo.
• Caesar chose to send his nephew Augustus Octavian to study oratory in Apollonia revealing the
importance of this ancient city.
• Afterwards we continue to Vlora where we visit the Independence Museum, situated in the original
house where the first Independent Albanian Government had its head office.
• Overnight in Vlora.

After an early breakfast we depart for Saranda. Drive on the
spectacular Albanian Riviera looking down at the Ionian Sea.
• Breathtaking sceneries await us at the Llogara pass - 1000 m
above sea level.
• We continue on to Saranda, make a short stop at the fortress
of Ali Pasha a fortification used to control the sea trade routes.
• Then we continue past Saranda, to the ancient city of Butrint a
UNESCO world heritage site and the most important archaeological
discovery in Albania.
• Legend associates this city with Trojan settlers who fled Troy under the leadership of Aeneas.
• In fact the city was first settled by Greek colonists and was continuously inhabited for centuries
forming archaeological layers of several eras of civilization.
• Apart the beautiful antique ruins it has the added benefit of being situated in a beautiful peninsula,
rich in flora and fauna.
• After the visits we return to Saranda for overnight.

After early breakfast we drive to Berat. On our way lays Gjirokastra, a UNESCO site
and museum town with beautiful and very distinctive architecture.
• Visit the medieval Castle which used to be a political prison during the communist
dictatorship and the Ethnographic Museum which is also the house the Albanian
dictator was born in.
• We suggest the group should stop for lunch close to Tepelena at a traditional
restaurant (optional) among beautiful scenery.
• In Berat we check in at the hotel and the group is then left at leisure to explore
Berat.
• Overnight in Berat.

After breakfast we visit the Castle and the Onufri Museum.
• Berat castle is of particular interest as people still live within its walls in their
traditional houses, as have their ancestors for centuries.
• Onufri was an Albanian Icon master painter of the 16th century who painted
many orthodox churches in Albania and Greece.
• After this interesting experience we depart for Durres one of the oldest
(founded in 627 B.C.) where we have lunch by the sea (optional).
• After lunch we take a sightseeing tour of the Amphitheatre situated in the
middle of the modern city in an inhabited area, and the Archaeological museum
rich in arte facts found in the city and its suburbs.
• After the visits in Durres return to Tirana for overnight.

After breakfast we drive to the Airport.
End of our Service.