Albania and Montenegro - Small Group - From £1,775

Albania Europe
OVERVIEW
Across three Balkan countries, you hear cafe chatter in Tirana and trace tiers of white façades, wooden balconies and windows climbing above the Osum River in Berat. Along the Albanian Riviera, you’ll follow mountain roads curling above the Ionian Sea, passing rocky coves and villages tucked into the slopes. In Montenegro, you’ll enter Kotor’s deep natural harbour with stone walls beside the water and mountains rising sharply behind them. In Croatia, you’ll continue towards Mlini, where terracotta roofs sit between green hills and the deep blue of Župa Bay.
EXPERIENCES
Berat: Meet Gladiola in her 250-year-old Ottoman-era home in UNESCO-listed Berat. As you sample rose juice, rakija and Turkish Delight, hear how she’s part of a growing movement of women in heritage tourism. By sourcing from local female producers, Gladiola helps create economic opportunities for women in rural Albania and preserves traditional skills through community support and storytelling. Your visit directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.

Budva: Spend the day exploring the picturesque town of Budva. 

Kotor: Enjoy some time in the morning discovering the wonders of Kotor. 

Through Krujë’s old town, stone-paved lanes lead past timber-fronted shops displaying woven textiles and traditional crafts. Look up to Krujë Castle on its rocky hillside, a stronghold associated with Skanderbeg, before browsing the historic bazaar and taking in views across the surrounding landscape.

Tirana: Colourful façades and broad boulevards define Tirana’s cityscape, alongside reminders of Albania’s complex past. Cross the expansive Skanderbeg Square, notice the city’s mix of Ottoman and modern architecture, then see the angular Pyramid of Tirana, now transformed into a public cultural space.
DEPARTURE DATES AND PRICES
Tour
Departs		 Tour
Returns		 Starting From
(price per person)		 Definite Departure
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03/04/2027 12/04/2027 £1,775   Book
17/04/2027 26/04/2027 £1,825   Book
01/05/2027 10/05/2027 £1,850   Book
15/05/2027 24/05/2027 £1,850   Book
29/05/2027 07/06/2027 £1,925   Book
12/06/2027 21/06/2027 £1,950   Book
26/06/2027 05/07/2027 £1,995   Book
10/07/2027 19/07/2027 £2,050   Book
24/07/2027 02/08/2027 £2,050   Book
07/08/2027 16/08/2027 £2,050   Book
21/08/2027 30/08/2027 £2,025   Book
04/09/2027 13/09/2027 £1,950   Book
18/09/2027 27/09/2027 £1,925   Book
02/10/2027 11/10/2027 £1,825   Book
16/10/2027 25/10/2027 £1,825   Book
30/10/2027 08/11/2027 £1,825   Book
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ITINERARY

Arrive in Tirana and make your own way to the hotel, where you can drop your bags and settle in. Later, meet your Travel Director and fellow small group travellers for an orientation of the local area, passing façades painted in saffron, lime, burgundy and blue beside older villas. Plane trees spread their branches across many of Tirana’s streets, while Mount Dajti climbs beyond the city to the east. Tonight, you may choose to head out for dinner with your fellow travellers and trade first impressions of Albania’s capital over the table.

With your Travel Director, explore Tirana on foot, crossing the pale stone sweep of Skanderbeg Square and following Bulevardi Dëshmorët e Kombit through the heart of the capital. At the Pyramid of Tirana, you’ll trace its broad concrete slopes, scattered with small rooms in bright red, blue, yellow and green. Your free time might be spent over the warmth of an Albanian coffee, or underground at Bunk’Art 2, where the city noise fades away behind heavy concrete doors and narrow corridors lead through rooms once built to shelter Albania’s political elite from nuclear attack. Tonight, you can explore independently or join an Optional Experience dinner and taste the flavours of Albanian cooking.

Leaving Tirana with your Travel Director, you’ll travel through central Albania, vineyards and farmland spreading across the hills on the road to Berat. Here, meet Gladiola in her 250-year-old Ottoman-era home for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, sipping fragrant rose juice and fiery rakija with soft Turkish delight as she shares the customs passed through her family. You’ll also hear how she works with female producers, helping women earn through heritage tourism while traditional skills continue in the hands of the people who practise them. In UNESCO-listed Berat, follow the Osum River beneath the arches of Gorica Bridge and wander Mangalem, where rows of white Ottoman houses and dark timber windows spread across the hillside. In Gjirokastër, you’ll follow the sloping cobbles of its old bazaar past small workshops, carved wooden shopfronts and slate-roofed houses.

Along the Albanian Riviera, you’ll follow the coast towards Porto Palermo, with the Ionian Sea stretching below the road and olive-covered slopes folding towards the water. Perhaps explore the fortress of Ali Pasha on its rocky peninsula, passing through thick walls and vaulted chambers. In Himarë, your free time is yours to spend along the seafront, with fishing boats bobbing offshore and the scent of grilled seafood drifting from nearby tavernas. Continue to Vlorë, set between the Adriatic and Ionian seas, with the Karaburun Peninsula reaching into the water and mountains sweeping inland behind the city.

Vlorë is yours to enjoy as you please, whether that means staying close to the city or heading out across the water. You might choose a speedboat trip into Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park towards Haxhi Ali Cave, where light shimmers across the water inside a limestone chamber carved by the sea. On Sazan Island, Mediterranean vegetation curls around abandoned buildings and tunnels from its years as a restricted military base. Back in Vlorë, you can join an Optional Experience at a local farm and vineyard, tasting Albanian food and wine among the fields where they’re produced.

Leaving Vlorë, you’ll travel north towards Krujë, watching the land lift towards the slopes of Mount Kruja. With your Travel Director, wander through its 17th-century bazaar, brushing past woven carpets, polished copper and carved wood as filigree jewellery and hand-worked crafts fill the narrow shops. Follow the old lanes towards the fortress, once Skanderbeg’s stronghold against the Ottoman Empire, and pause where the land falls away towards the plains and the distant deep blue Adriatic. With free time in Krujë, you can return to the bazaar, step inside one of the fortress museums or keep wandering through a town of timber balconies, weathered walls and mountain air.

Cross into Montenegro and arrive in Budva on the Adriatic coast, where you’ll follow your Travel Director through narrow lanes enclosed by medieval walls, passing red-tiled roofs, small squares and glimpses of the shimmering Adriatic between the buildings. In your free time, choose a table for lunch, browse the old town or slip into the sea for a swim. Travel on to the Bay of Kotor, where steep green slopes descend towards deep blue water and small settlements trace the shoreline.

With your Travel Director, you’ll weave through Kotor’s UNESCO-listed old town, moving along narrow lanes that open into tucked-away courtyards framed by palaces, churches and shuttered buildings. Pause beneath the twin towers of St Tryphon Cathedral, one of the Romanesque churches that has stood here for centuries, and trace the fortified walls as they zigzag high above the town towards the fortress. In your free time, you can drift between church doors and shaded passageways, or head higher along the old defences as Kotor’s rooftops and the blue sweep of the bay spread out below.

From Kotor, you’ll follow the Serpentine Road through a succession of hairpin bends, watching the water fall farther below as the road coils into the mountains. In Cetinje, Montenegro’s former royal capital, you can walk beneath linden trees past grand former embassy buildings. Your free time might take you inside King Nikola’s Palace, where furnished rooms, portraits and personal belongings offer a more intimate look at Montenegro’s royal family. Crossing into Croatia, continue towards Mlini on the Adriatic coast, where terracotta roofs and cypress-covered hills frame Župa Bay. You may choose to round off your trip over dinner with your fellow travellers at a local restaurant.

After breakfast in Mlini, it’s time to say goodbye to your Travel Director and fellow small group travellers. Ten days have carried you from Albania through Montenegro and into Croatia, with mountain roads, old towns and the Adriatic woven through the journey.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
  • An expert Travel Director and professional Driver
  • Audio headsets are provided throughout your holiday to enhance your included sightseeing experiences
  • Cherry-picked hotels, all tried and trusted
  • City orientation tours
  • Extensive variety of Choice Experiences
  • Luxury air-conditioned coach with Wi-Fi in most countries
  • Many meals and daily breakfasts included
  • On occasion, hotels of similar standard and location may be utilised.
ACCOMMODATION
DAY 1: Doro City - Meals:
DAY 2: Doro City - Meals: Breakfast
DAY 3: Palorto Inn - Meals: Breakfast
DAY 4: Kraal Hotel - Meals: Breakfast
DAY 5: Kraal Hotel - Meals: Breakfast
DAY 6: Albergo Diffuso Kruja - Meals: Breakfast
DAY 7: Hotel Splendido Kotor - Meals: Breakfast
DAY 8: Hotel Splendido Kotor - Meals: Breakfast
DAY 9: Villas Plat - Meals: Breakfast
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