‘You look like a movie star … I’m not sure which one,’ the charming hotel receptionist says, while examining my passport at check-in.
I definitely don’t, but if this is the famous Albanian hospitality I’ve heard about, I’m all for it.
We’re overnighting here in the capital, Tirana, before a whistle-stop tour of some of the country’s increasingly renowned beach resorts – recently dubbed ‘Europe’s Maldives’ for their splendid sands and turquoise waters. Quite a label.
Albania is Europe’s fastest-growing holiday hotspot (and second, after Qatar, worldwide). Last year an astonishing 120,000 Brits visited, a year-on-year rise of 61 per cent. It’s sandwiched between Montenegro to the north and Greece to the south, with nearly 300 miles of coastline facing the Adriatic Sea towards Italy, while sharing the Ionian Sea with Corfu.
Having been hidden from view under decades of communist rule, which ended in 1991, what is it really like?
First, the capital. We’re staying at the Tirana Marriott, which opened in 2023, acting as a harbinger of the tourist stampede to come. It’s vast, sumptuous, central, and the tallest building in the city, close to a neighbourhood of restaurants with enticingly lit courtyards and directly north of the 700-acre Lake Park, ideally placed for a ‘xhiro’ (the Albanian’s beloved sunset stroll).
Relax on the Albanian Riviera’s Ksamil Beach, with views of the Ionian Sea
We dine on grilled red peppers with feta, a spinach pie that’s first cousin to the Greek spanakopita, fresh pasta bowls and a bottle of wine. The price? Less than £50 (Euros preferred to the local Lek). And as we pay the bill we ask our cheery waiter what we should definitely see in Tirana.
He replies without hesitation: ‘The communist mosaic and Skanderbeg Square.’ The next morning, we do as we’ve been told.
Skanderberg Square is milling with people, yet strangely empty of traditional signs of tourism, not lined with cafes with holidaymaker prices or souvenir shops selling tat. On one side is an imposing horseback statue of national hero Skanderberg, who led the resistance to a 15th-century Ottoman invasion.
Meanwhile, our waiter’s ‘communist mosaic’ adorns the facade of the National History Museum. It was created by local artists, depicting Albanians from the ancients to the communist era led by a fearless woman in a white dress thrusting aloft a rifle.
Inside the museum are priceless figurines from the 4th century, ancient vases, models of Albanian villages from the Middle Ages and information on struggles against the Ottomans, independence from 1912-1939, occupation by the Nazis in World War II and the period of communist ‘terror’ from 1945. You can also learn about the life of the country’s beloved Mother Teresa, the famous Catholic nun and saint (1910-1997).
But we’ve come to see what Europe’s Maldives is all about. So we’re soon off to the beaches. A four-hour drive south – a second airport, Vlora International, is set to open in Akërni to better serve the coastal resorts – is Himarë, once a small fishing village with a sand-and-pebble beach that has grown to tourist destination. Yet, backdropped by undulating mountains, it’s not lost any of its laid-back loveliness.
It reminds me of the Cyclades, back when I first visited decades ago. We’re staying at the charming family-run Rea Boutique hotel on the water’s edge at the north of the glorious bay. This is close enough to saunter along the promenade for dinner, but far enough away for seclusion. Having opened in 1999, the owners are husband and wife team Nestoras and Arta, who took it over when Nestoras’ father died in 2002.
Fresh breakfasts (and dinner) are made to order by Arta and there are nine rooms, most overlooking the beach. The lower floors have private decks built over the water, and ours has a huge terrace with retractable roof and a hot tub. You fall asleep to the sound of the sea.
Nestoras says that until 2015 their guests were mostly Albanians, then came a slow trickle of Europeans, particularly the Spanish, then the French, and in recent years Americans and Brits too. UK guests account for about a quarter of the hotel’s total. Along the shorefront, I hear a multi-generational table of Australian accents, German, and plenty of British chatter. I speak to a trio of lads from back home, who are staying in a ‘surprisingly nice’ hostel. They have explored other parts of the Balkans and are intrigued by Albania.
Albania’s sandy beaches and blue waters, like these in Ksamil, are a magnet for tourists
Byrek cheese pie is a delicious Albanian speciality
The seafront is nothing flashy. There’s a run of open-fronted casual restaurants, bars and cafes. We gravitate to one named Himarë 28. Here, the waiters wear starched white shirts, speak excellent English (one says he picked up the language watching films) and are genuinely welcoming. Whole fresh-grilled seabass is about £10. A half-litre of ‘home made wine’ is £5 – and, honestly, it’s delicious.
Himarë is made for slowing down. My partner walks the length of it up to the edge of the promontory, but alas he can’t get me out of the sea to join him. The water is ridiculously seductive – bright aquamarine green, flat as a bath, warm, and no matter how far out you swim, clear to the bottom.
This is true luxury, and it would easily hold its own with the Maldives’ Indian Ocean. For a late summer/autumn budget break, however, Himarë is the winner. Temperatures touched 23c in Albania this week, though daily highs of 18c are more common at this time of year.
Last stop is the resort of Ksamil, 40 miles south. This is quieter than neighbouring Sarandë, but it’s much buzzier and more developed than Himarë, though still with the gorgeous Ionian Sea waters.
There are no high-rise hotels – yet – but there’s plenty of building going on, and the ribbons of roads that follow the bay are jam-packed with bars and restaurants. The crowd is noticeably younger, too.
Many are gathered by a huge beachside statue of an upturned, open hand. We watch as influencer-types queue in pairs – one to pose, one to take the photo – as they step up and stand in the palm, sure of a fabulous backdrop of blue skies meeting azure seas.
Pop star Dua Lipa is proud of her Albanian heritage. She was given Albanian citizenship thanks to her promotion of the country
Enjoy a bite to eat overlooking the Ionian Sea when visiting the Albanian Riviera
I wonder how many are here thanks to the Dua Lipa effect. The award-winning pop star is an Albanian citizen as well as an ambassador for this endless stretch of coastline, known as the Albanian Riviera. She’s talked of her great love for this country, and regularly posts impossibly glamorous photos to her 88 million social media followers of her holidays here, enjoying perfect sunsets, posing poolside and sunbathing on a yacht.
Beach clubs here cost a reasonable £10 a day, with sun-loungers in neat rows and pop music playing at regular intervals on the beaches.
We’re staying at the Manta Resort, which has simple, modern rooms, all with balconies. Its selling point is its prime position by the sea with a huge deck flanked by sands. This is the ideal spot to watch beachside life unfold.
As I do so, my mind casts back to childhood holidays on Corfu, when we’d see from the sunny shores the distant mountains of Albania on the horizon.
How things have moved on in this south-eastern European nation. These days it’s all change, change, change. Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner are even investing around £745 million for the right to a long-term concession to develop a luxury resort on the island of Sazan.
Albania’s dark communist days are long gone. It’s a new Albania now, a new European Maldives, say many. A whole world away.
TRAVEL FACTS
Doubles at the Tirana Marriott from £199 B&B (marriott.com). Rooms at the Rea Boutique Hotel start from £65 B&B (reaboutiquehotel.com); the Manta Resort has rooms from £112 B&B (mantahotel.com). Gatwick-Tirana return flights from £75 (wizzair.com); Stansted or Manchester-Tirana return flights from £73 (ryanair.com); Heathrow-Tirana return flights from £129 (ba.com)
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