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14 June 2023 - Gjirokastra to Himare, Albania
Before going to Albania we had read that the roads were bad, but so far they have been fairly good. The first part of today's journey was from Gjirokastra to Saranda on the coast. The road went through the mountains and it was an impressive new road with great scenery. Unfortunately there were very few places to stop for photos.
The mountainous coastal road from Saranda to Himare was in reasonable condition and had good sea views. It was only a 2.5 hour drive from Gjirokastra to our next accommodation in Himare.
See my blog "Driving through Albania: From Greece to Montenegro" for further information about driving in Albania.
Our apartment was a couple of kilometres away from Himare on a dirt road. On arrival we received a very warm welcome from the owner and she gave us coffee, liquor and cake. As we were the only people staying at the apartment building we looked at some of the other apartments.
We decided to upgrade to a deluxe penthouse apartment for an extra Eur 30 per night. It was definitely worth it as it had 2 large balconies with excellent sea views and the interior of the apartment was very nice. See my blog "UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 2" for further information about the apartment.
It was a steep 10 minute walk down to the excellent Livada beach. We had free use of a sun umbrella and sun loungers and the sea was warm and great for swimming in.
In the evening we drove to Himare for dinner. As we got there we saw a police car and realised that we didn't have the car papers or my driving license. It took the edge off our dinner as we didn't want a problem with the Albanian police.
We didn't particularly like Himare as it is a bit ramshackle and poorly developed. It has a beach, but Livada beach near our apartment is much nicer. We managed to drive back to the apartment without being caught by the police. Luckily there are quite a few foreign cars so our car doesn't stand out as much as in the Greek islands.
See my blog "Himare, Albania: Travel Guide" for information on visiting Himare.
15 June 2023 - Sightseeing around Himare, Albania
We drove half an hour southwards along the coast to Palermo Castle. On the way we stopped at a viewpoint from where we could see an old sea tunnel that the Soviet Union used for their submarines in the 1950's.
We were fortunate to obtain a parking spot. The parking was very limited unless you were willing to risk driving down a very bad track to the beach. The castle was only built in the early 19th century but we enjoyed wandering around it.
We drove to the hill behind Himare to see the remains of old Himare. They weren't very impressive but the views were nice.
We drove to Livada beach for a nice lunch of fish and a swim. We could see Corfu in the distance with storm clouds all around. It looked as if there would be a storm so we went back to the apartment and got there just before it rained.
16 June 2023 - Day Trip to Dhermi & Livada Beach
Today we drove northwards up the coast to the coastal resort of Dhermi. It was until recently a village, but upmarket hotels have now been built and even more are being constructed. However, it does look nice and has been developed much better than Himare.
We could have swam there but decided to go back to Livada beach instead for lunch and a swim. The weather clouded over so we returned to our apartment before the rain started again like yesterday.
17 June 2023 - Himare to Berat, Albania
We left Himare today to drive 4 hours northwards to the historic town of Berat. Unfortunately the weather forecast wasn't good and by the time we reached the top of the over 1,000 metre high Llogoraja pass we were driving through rain and cloud. The scenery is meant to be spectacular but we couldn't see much!
After the pass there is a new road known as the Vlore Bypass that has been cut through the hillsides. It is a good road, but there is rock fall as measures haven't been taken to stabilise the cut away hillsides. We could see the coastal town of Vlore from the road and it didn't look very nice.
As we reached Berat it started to pour with rain. I parked the car in yet another difficult underground car park and was happy that the apartment owner guided me.
Our Euro 45 per night penthouse apartment was fantastic and incredible value. We relaxed there for a couple of hours until the rain stopped. See my blog "UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 2" for further information about the apartment.
We then walked up to the interesting castle. It is spread over a large area and contains mosques, houses and shops.
The old town is on the river below the castle. It is much nicer, and more interesting, than Gjirokastra. There are 2 main historic areas in Berat. Mangalemi on the north side of the river is the Moslem area and Gorica on the south side is Christian area.
See my blog "Berat, Albania: Travel Guide" for more information on visiting Berat.
18 June 2023 - Berat, Albania to Kruje, Albania
I had enjoyed driving in Albania until we got closer to Berat yesterday afternoon. Until then we had mainly driven through the countryside, but then that changed and we drove through numerous uninteresting towns.
Unfortunately the drive from Berat to Kruje was just as unattractive and the police were out in force with radar guns. We were warned most of the time by oncoming drivers flashing their lights. I didn't do the same as so many Albanians drive too fast and dangerously that they deserve to be caught.
There were also quite a few pot holes in the roads which we hadn't come across before in Albania. However, before coming to Albania I had expected most of the roads would suffer from potholes!
We had booked the best hotel in Kruje as it was very good value, in the centre and had parking. We were fortunate to get a good room with a balcony facing the castle and bazaar. See my review of Hotel Panorama on my blog "UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 2".
It made all the difference having a good room as although Kruje is nice there isn't much to see. It is very frustrating that guide books and travel blogs too often give false positive images of places. See my blog "Kruje, Albania: Travel Guide" for information on visiting Kruje.
19 June 2023 - Kruje to Kotor, Montenegro
The road from Kruje to the border with Montenegro was in good condition and scenic. The Albanian passport control just waved us through and the Montenegro passport control was quick. We bought a green card from a very friendly guy at an office at the Montenegro border for only Eur 15 for a 2 week period. The cheapest green card for the entire trip.
It took us about 5 hours to drive to Kotor and our apartment was easy to locate. We went into Kotor in the evening for dinner. We walked along the promenade and had a look around the very interesting walled Venetian town.
20 June 2023 - Sightseeing in Kotor, Montenegro
Today we explored Kotor and swam in the estuary near our apartment. See my blog "Kotor, Montenegro: Travel Guide" for further details.
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