Not only the sea, already known from all over Europe, but also the capital, Tirana, offers a wide and delicious gastronomic range, writes the Italian subsidiary of “Vanity Fair” magazine.
The Land of Eagles is a treasure trove of cultural and natural jewelry that should be discovered and admired. A trip is the best way to get lost among the stone villages, historic towns and castles, where time seems to have stopped. Not forgetting to rest between natural springs and deep pools of water on the borders of Europe.
Palaces overlooking the sea, a long strip of sand, and restaurants one after another. These are the sights that Durres offers, leaving a good impression on visitors.
However, it is enough to go beyond the sea view and enter the city such as archeological sites.
Like the Roman Amphitheater, the largest in the region that can seat up to 20,000 spectators, built by Emperor Hadrian and discovered in the 1960s under the foundations of a residential neighborhood.
The Byzantine Forum, with its Roman baths and beautiful Corinthian columns, Venetian towers, part of the walls enclosing the historic center are a jewel that does not escape even the most distracted eye.
Berat
One hundred kilometers from Durres is Berat, a handful of white houses with numerous windows. The city is the best example of centuries-old religious coexistence in the Land of Eagles, a place where the muezzin’s voice mingles with the sound of bells and minarets.
A visit to the outskirts of Gorica and Mangalem, separated by the Osum River, with their traditional churches, mosques and houses, as well as the Solomon Museum, dedicated to the history of Jews rescued by Albanians during World War II, is advised.
Here is also the Onufri Museum, dedicated to the iconography of the Albanian painter of the same name, and the Church of the Holy Trinity, which offers a wide view of the valley below.
Girokastra Castle
About three hours drive from Tirana is Tepelena, famous for the best water sources in Albania, and associated with the birthplace of Ali Pasha, the Albanian governor during the Ottoman Empire who received in his court famous people, including the poet English Lord Byron.
Gjirokastra is also known as the birthplace of former dictator Enver Hoxha (whose family home has been turned into an interesting ethnographic museum can be visited), and is a stone jewel a few kilometers away from Greece.
A walk in its historic labyrinthine center, between 19th-century mansions, shopping malls where you can buy carpets before reaching the castle which offers unparalleled views over the historic center’s rooftops and surrounding mountains.
About 36 kilometers from Gjirokastra is the town of Permet which is famous for glycote, a compote made of fruit and sugar, and the thermal baths of Benje.
Benje thermal baths
To reach them, exit the small historic center, cross the Church of Our Lady of Leusa, an 18th-century Orthodox masterpiece built on the remains of a 6th-century building, until you reach your destination.
The natural baths flow near an old Ottoman-era bridge.
The layout of the road that connects Permet and Korca is challenging, but offers stunning views. The four-hour journey is interrupted by a stop for a taste in the village of Germenj, on the Sotira farm, a family-run farm, where the theme is bio.
Korca is the city of art and good food, a favorite destination of the locals for the winter holidays, thanks to the heavy snowfall and a lively summer destination when it hosts the beer festival, which every year in August enlivens the nights of the Bazaar. Old renovated a few years ago.
To the east, there is Pogradec with Lake Ohrid, Lini, Driloni and Tushemisht with their delicious Koran, a freshwater fish that lives only in this area.
