Travelling to Albania: Step One

So, after giving my lovely companion a Lonely Planet Guide to Europe, but fairly restricted by crippling debt and the difficulty of maintaining $$ work in the final years of university, we have opted to travel to Albania! A quietly emerging country it seems to be, one of the Balkans, this place appears to be perfect for the more weathered traveller looking for a rugged, eu naturale vibe. Indeed, first glimpses have shown Albania to be a home to mountains, beautiful beaches along the Riviere, a wholly foreign composite of fauna and flora, and an intrinsically intriguing culture.
                             
This is not the first time I have planned and travelled independently, having previously wandered through Mozambique, Swaziland and both the northern/southern parts of India, and I have always kept a journal during my time there, but this time I've decided to start blogging my progress of planning this latest escapade. At the very least it will share my method of sewing together a plan for travelling that might help fine tune the hefty research of yourselves!

Now, we are thinking of going for two-four weeks tops (lovely friend having an adult-world job etc etc), which I've budget to be anywhere from £500-£1000, naturally increasing from one figure to the other with time extension.

I could rattle off flights etc etc., but really, the most important thing first is to clarify: what do you want to do?

For us?

A little bit of city, trekking, and finally beach. This is layout I've enjoyed before, because the trip is then more exploratory, and gradually winds down to a chill-out right at the end (BEACHBEACHBEACH, lassis on the beach).

This is where I get pretty split, because on the one hand the Islands of Tsamil, Borsh, Himara and Dhermi look to have fantastic beaches, right down in the south of the country. For us though, that would mean cutting out the Peaks of the Balkans, right in the north.

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So it turns out the Peaks of the Balkans are accessible, to a degree, in Korce,, 27 miles out from Berat! After a few hours of research I've devised a travel triangle from Tirana to Berat (3 hour bus), to Korce (27 miles minibus/2 day walk), Korce to Sarande (9 hour bus), Sarande to Gjirokaster (1 hour buss), Gjirokaster to Tirana (7 hours).


And this is step 1 of planning the journey done.