Just coming across your video, I was in Saranda for a few days and I was in Ksamil yesterday. I totally enjoyed my trips. The mountain route from Tirana to Saranda is scary but eventful.
Thanks for watching! I totally agree and we had so much fun and good times!!! I hope to come back for another road trip or hiking in the mountains! 🏔️🚗
Hi Marcin, Thanks for your interesting video. We are planning to go to Albania this July, and I can not find an answer to my question anywhere. Maybe you know, is there a possibility to leave the rented car in the other city? or it should be returned back to the Tirana office?
@@lauramelkonyan3924 hi Laura, we rented our car from Surprice via booking.com and decided to return it back to Tirana since my friend was flying back from there but I know they also have their office in Saranda so in theory it should be possible. To check your options I’d suggest a car rental search with your desired route through booking.con or Skyscanner.
Yes, there’s quite a fair bit of camping around Saranda & Ksamil but as with most things they are open seasonally, only during the warm months. Also the ones I’ve seen were just a bit out of town so it seems it’d good to have a car or a scooter (which you can rent). Otherwise there are buses too which can work as well.
@@STEPHMIGDALMUSIC-up1th as it was winter that’s the way out. The drive is around 4hrs from Saranda but there are also quite a few mini buses each day. During the summer (until early November) the easiest way in & out is via Corfu & a direct ferry to Saranda.
its not the city of thousends windows...its city of one window abouve the other...in albanian its nje mbi nje...which its confused with the word...nje mije e nje...which its the word for one thousend one window.
Please don’t make the mistake others do!!! Ottomans occupied parts of Albania but never conquered. Second of all, ottomans never built anything but destroyed all they could. Those castles you see and those cities existed long before any ottoman ever existed and those cities are still there today after ottomans are gone. Majority of those castles are since Illyrian times that means millennia before any ottoman. Those are cites built by Albanians and not ottomans. As a matter of fact there is not one historical record that ottomans built one village let alone lone a city. However, there is historical records that they committed genocide, looting, burning, deporting and all the other nasties. Ottomans were not in the business of building anything to help the people. They were in the business of looting and forcefully converting the native population to Islam and even at that they failed.
Thanks for the clarification and shining some light on the topic. Just like many, I was not aware of that at all and drew my info from general internet knowledge without digging too dip. In fact even on the albania.al site you can find sentences like "the ottoman-era white houses" [of Berat] or "[Gjirokaster] includes hundreds of houses - Ottoman-type towers with stone roofs..." which might lead one to believe a different narrative to what you wrote. Thanks again!
@@beyond_travel my comment has no ill intent towards you or anyone! I am grateful and appreciate that to visit a region of Europe probably with more history than anyone could imagine. The facts state for themselves. Linguistics and scientists around the world over a 10 year sturdy of indo-european languages it was determined that Albanian has been continuously been used since 6000 BC before and Armenian or Greek. Making one of the oldest languages in used in the world. As a matter of fact Hellenic or Ancient Greek is an illyarian dialect and basically it is the same people with Albanians today. There is not difference between and Ancient Greek and an Albanian. Illyrians and Helens are the same people. The DNA study also done in the geniology of the region and this done by Greek scientists showed that 75% of the Albanian population shows paternal continuity in their DNA going back 6000 BC or Illyrians/Pelasgian times. Also it not a coincidence that last year a settlement discovered by Swiss scientists/archeologists dates back 8000 year making the oldest settlement known in Europe. This is lake ohrid. The question is how would a culture and a people survive for 8000 years in the middle of Europe if they did not have an advanced langue, culture , traditions and overall an advanced society. Romans failed to conquer and assimilate, Byzantines failed to conquer and assimilate and so did the ottomans. Most Albanians still have their pagan names because neither monotheistic religion was able to take root into the Albanian culture. That is why the saying goes that the religion of an Albanian is albanianism! History has been manipulated, destroyed and altered to suit certain interest of the people of different nations for the purpose of invading and annexing land/territory. Slavs expanded west and used false information to justify their expansion west. The fact here is that almost every other group of people in Europe identified themselves with the religions they had or have and religion became first in their national interest and their national identity. Albanians never accepted religion as part of their national identity and it never become part of the cultural fabric as an identifying marker. The point here I am trying to make is that it is offensive and degrading knowing that my culture has at least 8000 years of continuous history and presence in that part of Europe making us more native to Europe that anyone else and then you hear ottoma architecture which they came to Europe in 1500’s and Albanians are there since 6000 BC. Now if you search and see how many Illyrian emperors did the Roman Empire you would be surprised. Berat, Gjirokaster, Durrë, Kruja, Shkoër, Prizren, and many other Illyrian cites existed long before any ottoman. As Albanians we do not have any historical records or folklore that ottomans ever built any cities, villages, roads, schools or anything that was for the benefit of the people or society. On the contrary, they destroyed everything that was in the benefit of the society, even outlawing Albanian langue, schools, education for 500 years and they still could not succeed. They built mosques 🕌 trying to convert people. As a matter of fact destroyed churches and built mosques with the same stone. As for architecture and cities they never built one ever. Thanks for your understanding.
Po mor po....,vend Islamik..ku cdo 200 m..nga nje xhami te Turkut..e ka pllakosur ate vend..! Gjirokaster,Berat..jane Qytete Turke.. arkitektura e tyre cfare shef sot..! Si kane qene para pushtimit Turk..askush se di..!
Thanks for bringing it up! I got some of my info from Albania.al which uses sentences like "the ottoman-era white houses" [of Berat] or "[Gjirokaster] includes hundreds of houses - Ottoman-type towers with stone roofs..."
@@beyond_travel it only says thats preserved since ottoman times. that doesnt mean its ottoman style architecture. sure also ottomans have build something like towers or bridges and mosques that where unknown in european architecture. but in general berat and gjirokaster are typical albanian architecture, because albanians have a deep tradition in building stone houses. ottomans on the other hand came from a nomadic tent culture and had no tradition in building stone structures. in fact there is no such thing as ottoman style architecture that you can find all over the former territory of ottoman empire. further there was a documentary about berst in albanian tv. in two hours they didnt mention ottoman empire a single time.
@@beyond_travel You are right, Albania was under the Ottomans for five centuries, architechture and religion "adjusted" to the occupier's ruling... most Albanians seem not to accept this reality nowadays, but yes, Ottoman style can be seen all over the Balkans, including Christian Orthodox Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece; Albania is not an exclusion. I was there last summer and the beaches were full with Polish, Check, Slovak tourists, without mentionng the Scandinavian, German and Dutch tourists. The country will be overrun by tourists during summer time in a few short years.
Super cool trip. Albania is beautiful. Great video Marcin!
Yeah man! We should do more of these kind of trips!
Hallo Marcin .
Danke dir dass du gute Worte für meine Land gesagt hast.
Meine Land ist ein schone Land.
Gute Reise und viel Spaß.
writing in German to a Polish guy, is similar to writing in serbian to an Albanian.
😍😍😍👏👏 Beautiful Albania ❤🇦🇱❤
You’re 💯 right, a beautiful and still relatively unknown for many ❤️❤️❤️
Really helpful. Just got back, stunning country.
We also loved Albania! 🇦🇱 ❤️ glad you enjoyed the video!
Beautiful! I have never seen Albania and never thought about it... but your video made me curious, I think now
I will considere it
Thanks! Albania is definitely a place worth checking out - it was such a pleasant surprise for us ❤️
Jeni ju qe e ngritet shqiperine nje bravo te madhe❤
It was a great experience staying in and travelling through Albania
Dziękuję, Marcin.video looks great. Well done
thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you enjoyed the video! What a great country!!
Amazing that you can view Corfu directly from Saranda.
I know, it’s pretty special, isn’t it? And you can get to Corfu via fast ferry aka “flying dolphin” in about 30 min.
Met vërtet Panaram 😍😍😍
Beautiful video Marcin Bilski…well done Dziekuie
Keep up the great work…Hope you enjoyed…come again 🇦🇱poland🇵🇱👏
We loved our time in Albania 🇦🇱❤️ thanks for visiting my channel and watching the video 🥳
What a cool video, beautiful pictures and so many useful tips! Wow! :)
Thanks Marta! Albania was such a treat and an unexpected discovery for us and we absolutely loved it!!!
Just coming across your video, I was in Saranda for a few days and I was in Ksamil yesterday. I totally enjoyed my trips. The mountain route from Tirana to Saranda is scary but eventful.
Thanks for stopping by here!
The landscape in Albania is so beautiful we were really amazed. I’m glad you also had a good time there!!!
Thank you for beautiful video ❤Albania is beautiful 😮
Thanks for watching! I totally agree and we had so much fun and good times!!! I hope to come back for another road trip or hiking in the mountains! 🏔️🚗
Albania is beautifull
Definitely YES!! 🇦🇱 🔝
Good Tips :)
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed them!
Looks like a great time.
indeed, I definitely recommend Albania as a great destination and just wish I discovered it earlier! So many things to do there!
Hi Marcin, Thanks for your interesting video. We are planning to go to Albania this July, and I can not find an answer to my question anywhere. Maybe you know, is there a possibility to leave the rented car in the other city? or it should be returned back to the Tirana office?
@@lauramelkonyan3924 hi Laura, we rented our car from Surprice via booking.com and decided to return it back to Tirana since my friend was flying back from there but I know they also have their office in Saranda so in theory it should be possible. To check your options I’d suggest a car rental search with your desired route through booking.con or Skyscanner.
@beyond_travel Thank you very much, will try to find information)))
Osumi Canyon
Such a beauty ❤️❤️❤️
Hallo wunderschönes Land die natyr ist schöne gute mensch leckeres essen dass meer ist schön kristall klar 👌👍🙏
Well said, totally agree :)
😀
Stay a month to enjoy slower. Do they have camping?
Yes, there’s quite a fair bit of camping around Saranda & Ksamil but as with most things they are open seasonally, only during the warm months. Also the ones I’ve seen were just a bit out of town so it seems it’d good to have a car or a scooter (which you can rent). Otherwise there are buses too which can work as well.
Scooter sounds like a great idea
Hey! whete to pak actually? Can we go up to the restaurant and leave our car there? Thnaks!
@@janfiala5920 which part of the trip do you refer to?
what are the off season in Albania?
I would probably say any months outside of summer time
My boy you Murder the beginning of Towns name Corovoda!😂.
we try, we fail, we learn :)
Did you travel back to Tirana to fly out of the country?
@@STEPHMIGDALMUSIC-up1th as it was winter that’s the way out. The drive is around 4hrs from Saranda but there are also quite a few mini buses each day. During the summer (until early November) the easiest way in & out is via Corfu & a direct ferry to Saranda.
its not the city of thousends windows...its city of one window abouve the other...in albanian its nje mbi nje...which its confused with the word...nje mije e nje...which its the word for one thousend one window.
Thanks for clarifying and sorry for the mistake 🙈😅
Please don’t make the mistake others do!!! Ottomans occupied parts of Albania but never conquered. Second of all, ottomans never built anything but destroyed all they could. Those castles you see and those cities existed long before any ottoman ever existed and those cities are still there today after ottomans are gone. Majority of those castles are since Illyrian times that means millennia before any ottoman. Those are cites built by Albanians and not ottomans. As a matter of fact there is not one historical record that ottomans built one village let alone lone a city. However, there is historical records that they committed genocide, looting, burning, deporting and all the other nasties. Ottomans were not in the business of building anything to help the people. They were in the business of looting and forcefully converting the native population to Islam and even at that they failed.
Thanks for the clarification and shining some light on the topic. Just like many, I was not aware of that at all and drew my info from general internet knowledge without digging too dip. In fact even on the albania.al site you can find sentences like "the ottoman-era white houses" [of Berat] or "[Gjirokaster] includes hundreds of houses - Ottoman-type towers with stone roofs..." which might lead one to believe a different narrative to what you wrote. Thanks again!
@@beyond_travel my comment has no ill intent towards you or anyone! I am grateful and appreciate that to visit a region of Europe probably with more history than anyone could imagine. The facts state for themselves. Linguistics and scientists around the world over a 10 year sturdy of indo-european languages it was determined that Albanian has been continuously been used since 6000 BC before and Armenian or Greek. Making one of the oldest languages in used in the world. As a matter of fact Hellenic or Ancient Greek is an illyarian dialect and basically it is the same people with Albanians today. There is not difference between and Ancient Greek and an Albanian. Illyrians and Helens are the same people. The DNA study also done in the geniology of the region and this done by Greek scientists showed that 75% of the Albanian population shows paternal continuity in their DNA going back 6000 BC or Illyrians/Pelasgian times. Also it not a coincidence that last year a settlement discovered by Swiss scientists/archeologists dates back 8000 year making the oldest settlement known in Europe. This is lake ohrid. The question is how would a culture and a people survive for 8000 years in the middle of Europe if they did not have an advanced langue, culture , traditions and overall an advanced society. Romans failed to conquer and assimilate, Byzantines failed to conquer and assimilate and so did the ottomans. Most Albanians still have their pagan names because neither monotheistic religion was able to take root into the Albanian culture. That is why the saying goes that the religion of an Albanian is albanianism! History has been manipulated, destroyed and altered to suit certain interest of the people of different nations for the purpose of invading and annexing land/territory. Slavs expanded west and used false information to justify their expansion west. The fact here is that almost every other group of people in Europe identified themselves with the religions they had or have and religion became first in their national interest and their national identity. Albanians never accepted religion as part of their national identity and it never become part of the cultural fabric as an identifying marker. The point here I am trying to make is that it is offensive and degrading knowing that my culture has at least 8000 years of continuous history and presence in that part of Europe making us more native to Europe that anyone else and then you hear ottoma architecture which they came to Europe in 1500’s and Albanians are there since 6000 BC. Now if you search and see how many Illyrian emperors did the Roman Empire you would be surprised. Berat, Gjirokaster, Durrë, Kruja, Shkoër, Prizren, and many other Illyrian cites existed long before any ottoman. As Albanians we do not have any historical records or folklore that ottomans ever built any cities, villages, roads, schools or anything that was for the benefit of the people or society. On the contrary, they destroyed everything that was in the benefit of the society, even outlawing Albanian langue, schools, education for 500 years and they still could not succeed. They built mosques 🕌 trying to convert people. As a matter of fact destroyed churches and built mosques with the same stone. As for architecture and cities they never built one ever. Thanks for your understanding.
I hope all the brainwashed Albanias who follow Islam read your comment and reflect and understand that the ottomans suffocated Albania for centuries.
Po mor po....,vend Islamik..ku cdo 200 m..nga nje xhami te Turkut..e ka pllakosur ate vend..! Gjirokaster,Berat..jane Qytete Turke.. arkitektura e tyre cfare shef sot..! Si kane qene para pushtimit Turk..askush se di..!
No korovode chorovode men😅
we try,, we fail, we learn 😅
and again. there is no such thing as ottoman style architecture.
Thanks for bringing it up! I got some of my info from Albania.al which uses sentences like "the ottoman-era white houses" [of Berat] or "[Gjirokaster] includes hundreds of houses - Ottoman-type towers with stone roofs..."
@@beyond_travel it only says thats preserved since ottoman times. that doesnt mean its ottoman style architecture.
sure also ottomans have build something like towers or bridges and mosques that where unknown in european architecture. but in general berat and gjirokaster are typical albanian architecture, because albanians have a deep tradition in building stone houses.
ottomans on the other hand came from a nomadic tent culture and had no tradition in building stone structures.
in fact there is no such thing as ottoman style architecture that you can find all over the former territory of ottoman empire.
further there was a documentary about berst in albanian tv.
in two hours they didnt mention ottoman empire a single time.
@@adrianog4148 Pavarsisht se qytetet jane ndertuar nga shqiptarete arkitektura eshte otomane . Nuk ka arkitetkure shqiptare mos ja fut kot .
Albania is such a dream. Such a beautiful place to be surrounded with lovely people. 🇦🇱
@@beyond_travel You are right, Albania was under the Ottomans for five centuries, architechture and religion "adjusted" to the occupier's ruling... most Albanians seem not to accept this reality nowadays, but yes, Ottoman style can be seen all over the Balkans, including Christian Orthodox Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece; Albania is not an exclusion.
I was there last summer and the beaches were full with Polish, Check, Slovak tourists, without mentionng the Scandinavian, German and Dutch tourists. The country will be overrun by tourists during summer time in a few short years.