• 9 Breakfast (B)

• Take in Skanderbeg Square, the Skanderbeg Monument, the striking Pyramid of Tirana and the historic Et’hem Bey Mosque on your orientation tour
• Visit this UNESCO-listed “City of a Thousand Windows”
• Wander the cobbled streets and atmospheric bazaar of UNESCO-listed Gjirokastër
• Discover the spectacular Albanian Riviera, including the coastal towns of Porto Palermo and Himarë
• Enjoy a two-night stay in one of Albania’s premier seaside destinations
• Home to Albania’s national hero, Skanderbeg. See the castle and visit the Bazaar
• Experience the medieval charm of this town
• Spend two nights on the spectacular Bay of Kotor, one of Europe’s most beautiful natural harbors
• Drive the breathtaking Serpentine Road to Montenegro’s historic first capital
• Enjoy an orientation with your Travel Director and explore the UNESCO-listed Old Town

• Selected hotel dinners, with optional meals to purchase
• 3-star stays
• Deluxe coach travel

• Tirana: Colorful facades 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Budva: Spend the day exploring the picturesque town of Budva. 
• Kotor: Enjoy some time in the morning discovering the wonders of Kotor. 

Visit a local farm and vineyard near Vlorë to taste Albanian food and wine among the fields where they are produced. The experience offers a countryside perspective on a stay otherwise framed by the Adriatic and Ionian coasts.

Sharing regional flavours at their source connects the tasting to the land and the people who work it. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; specific wines and dishes are not listed.

Costsaver

Explore Albania’s capital with your Travel Director, crossing Skanderbeg Square and following its broad central boulevard. See the Skanderbeg Monument, the historic Et’hem Bey Mosque and the Pyramid of Tirana, whose concrete slopes have been repurposed as a public cultural space.

Colorfully painted facades, older villas and tree-lined streets reveal a city continually reshaping itself. The walk offers an introduction to Tirana’s Ottoman heritage, twentieth-century history and contemporary street life.

Meet Gladiola in her 250-year-old Ottoman-era home in Berat and sample rose juice, rakija and Turkish delight while hearing about customs passed through her family. The setting offers a personal view of domestic life in Albania’s UNESCO-listed hillside town.

Gladiola works with local female producers, helping traditional skills generate income through heritage tourism. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience connects the flavours you taste with the women who produce and preserve them.

Walk through UNESCO-listed Berat, following the Osum River beneath the arches of Gorica Bridge and exploring Mangalem’s sloping lanes. Rows of white houses and dark timber windows climb the hillside, giving Berat its familiar name, the City of a Thousand Windows.

The neighbourhood’s Ottoman-era architecture reflects centuries of life beside the river. From the bridge and streets below, take in the layered facades that make this one of Albania’s most recognisable historic towns.

Wander the cobbled old bazaar of Gjirokastër, where sloping streets pass small workshops and carved wooden shopfronts. Slate-roofed houses rise above the lanes of this UNESCO-listed town in southern Albania.

Its stone-built streets and distinctive roofs preserve the character of an Ottoman-era trading centre. Look closely at the craft displays and weathered facades to see how the bazaar remains part of the town’s everyday life.

Discover the Albanian Riviera along a coastal route above the Ionian Sea, with olive-covered slopes descending towards rocky coves. Take in Porto Palermo’s peninsula and the seaside town of Himarë, where fishing boats gather offshore.

Mountain roads reveal the close relationship between this rugged coastline and its small settlements. Porto Palermo’s fortress recalls the region’s strategic past, while the waterfront in Himarë offers a glimpse of its fishing traditions.

Explore Krujë with your Travel Director, walking through its 17th-century bazaar past woven carpets, polished copper and carved wood. Follow the old lanes towards Krujë Castle and pause for views across the plains towards the Adriatic.

The hillside fortress is closely associated with Skanderbeg’s resistance to the Ottoman Empire. Together, the castle setting and narrow bazaar streets show why Krujë holds a prominent place in Albanian history and craft traditions.

Follow your Travel Director through Budva’s walled old town on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast. Narrow lanes open onto small squares, with red-tiled roofs overhead and occasional glimpses of the sea between stone buildings.

Budva’s compact historic centre reflects centuries of coastal trade and Mediterranean influence. Walking inside its medieval walls brings its layered architecture into focus, from the enclosed streets to the waterfront setting that shaped the town.

Explore Kotor’s UNESCO-listed old town with your Travel Director, weaving through narrow lanes into courtyards framed by palaces, churches and shuttered buildings. Pause outside St Tryphon Cathedral and look up at the fortified walls climbing the mountainside.

Kotor’s maritime past is written into its stone streets and defensive architecture. Its setting is equally striking: steep slopes rise almost directly from the Bay of Kotor, enclosing the town and its sheltered harbour.

Take in views over the Bay of Kotor as the Serpentine Road climbs through successive mountain hairpin bends. In Cetinje, walk beneath linden trees and see former embassy buildings in Montenegro’s historic royal capital.

The ascent reveals the dramatic geography surrounding Kotor’s sheltered harbour. Cetinje offers a contrasting perspective on the country: its civic streets and diplomatic buildings recall the period when this mountain town served as Montenegro’s political centre.

Join your fellow small-group travellers for an optional dinner in Tirana. Share first impressions of Albania’s capital around the table while experiencing its evening café and restaurant atmosphere.

This is a sociable alternative to dining independently, with time to get to know the people travelling alongside you. The dinner is at additional cost and bookable on tour; the restaurant and menu are not specified in the itinerary.

Taste the flavours of Albanian cooking at an optional dinner in Tirana. Dining together offers a way to experience the capital beyond its squares and boulevards, through the food served at a local table.

Albanian cuisine draws on Balkan and Mediterranean traditions, though the specific restaurant and dishes for this dinner are not listed. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Choose to explore the fortress of Ali Pasha on Porto Palermo’s rocky peninsula. Pass through thick stone walls and vaulted chambers while looking out towards the Ionian coast.

The fortress gives this sheltered bay a historic dimension beyond its coastal scenery. This is a suggested independent visit rather than a confirmed guided excursion; any admission or other costs are additional. Ask your Travel Director on tour about practical arrangements.

Choose a speedboat trip into Karaburun–Sazan Marine Park from Vlorë, travelling towards Haxhi Ali Cave. Inside its limestone chamber, light reflects across water beneath rock shaped by the sea.

The outing may also take in Sazan Island, where Mediterranean vegetation surrounds abandoned buildings and tunnels from its time as a restricted military base. This optional boat experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; the exact route may depend on local conditions.

Choose to share a group dinner at a local restaurant while staying near Mlini on Croatia’s Adriatic coast. The meal offers time around the table with fellow travellers in the coastal setting of Župa Bay.

Terracotta-roofed settlements and cypress-covered hills give this stretch of shoreline its character. The dinner is at additional cost and bookable on tour; the restaurant and menu are not specified in the itinerary.