Thinking about travelling to Albania
You are making your plans for this year’s vacation and during your search, a small country in Southeastern Europe pops up on Google. You never heard of it or maybe something. Or you are a European, have heard about Albania but are not sure if you should travel there or not. And the other ones, Albanians and Albanian Diaspora for which I think they know very well the answer to the question: Is it safe to travel to Albania?
Below I am writing about key points to give a better answer to the question.
Is it safe to travel to Albania?
For all the travellers that are asking themself if Albania is safe to travel to or not, I want to point out that, ALBANIA IS A VERY SAFE COUNTRY TO TRAVEL. Since we moved to Germany, almost 3 years ago, we have noticed that a part of the people here, still don’t do the right research about safety in Albania and they think the country has problems so better avoid it. I believe that many other Europeans or travellers from other continents think the same. Well, think again. You are passing one of the most beautiful countries in Europe and as a bonus a very convenient place to visit. Apart from that is super easy to go to Albania, around a 2-3 hour flight from the main airports in Europe like London, Paris, Frankfurt, Rome etc.
History of the country after WW2
To understand the safety in Albania, we should first look back in time, at the history of the country. After WW2, Albania was part of the Eastern Bloc, under a communist regime and it was an isolated country. Visiting Albania at that time was almost impossible unless you were with a special permit and were an East European citizen. West European citizens couldn’t visit the small country in the Balkans. The communist era ended in 1991 and a democratic system was declared which opened the borders of Albania. In 1997, failures of the pyramid scheme led to civil unrest till August of that year. It’s hard for a country after half a century in communism, to minimize corruption and poverty.
Nowadays Albania, after a hard transition in the 90`, is an open and safe country to travel to.
The situation in the Balkans
There is a big misunderstanding about the situation in the Balkans. Albania gained its independence in 1912 and is a free country since then. In the region, after WWI a new country with many ethnicities was formed, Yugoslavia. This caused many wars in the Balkans, especially in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo, during the 90´ as Serbia tried to still keep this artificial state. We helped as much as we could Albanians of Kosovo during that time but the country was not at war. Albania is a welcoming country and open to anyone that wants to travel and know about it.
Global Peace Index 2023
In the Global Peace Index for 2023 Report, Albania is ranked 40th country in the world. This is a pretty good position and shows a good situation in the country. The ranking of Albania is close to Italy, 34th on the list, while the USA is ranked the 131st. The official data is shown to tourists that want to visit but are in doubt, you don’t have to think twice to go there. When travelling, safety is very important and is a good thing for you to be aware of but in Albania, you are good to go. Book that ticket and have a nice stay!
Albania is an intriguing adventure for anyone trying to visit because the country is relatively new in the industry of travelling and has a very bright future. It’s hard to find a place blessed so much by nature as Albania. First, the country is in the Mediterranean, the best region in Europe, why not in the world? The west side of the country has a beautiful coast, with the Adriatic Sea in the North and the Ionian in the South. The North of the country has a wild beauty with plenty of National Parks, part of the Balkan Alps. The Albanian Riviera is a gorgeous part not to miss. Lakes, Rivers, Canyons, Old Towns, the country has truly all.
In the last 10 years, with the growth of social media, Albania has started to be noticed by foreigners and has an exponential growth of tourists. The first tourists are the Albanian Diaspora (including all co-nationals from all our neighbouring countries) that come for holidays, mainly during summer or at the end of the year. Then other nationalities are Italians, Polish, Czechs, Germans and many others.
Hospitality, a trait of Albanian culture
If you know any Albanian or have been at least once at their homes, you should be familiar with one typical tradition of ours, hospitality (mikpritja). We are really welcoming people with our guests and try to show it in many ways. For example, is offensive to us if a guest comes to our home and does not stay for lunch or dinner, because it is well prepared, even before the guest (miku) has arrived. The door is always open at Albanian homes. All those before, now most of them, had a free room, especially for the guest to sleep over. The best food was served also, as a sign of respect and generosity.
Hospitality is part of our culture and it is a sign that shows that is safe to visit Albania.
After reading this blog post and doing your own research on the internet, I think that is very clear the fact, that visiting Albania is super safe and you can save the country on your bucket list. We have written a detailed travel guide on the blog, Albania itinerary- 2 weeks road trip, to help you plan the trip to the best parts of Albania. Tell us in the comments below how was your trip. Happy Travelling!
