Facebook memories in the time of COVID 19 can be brutal, especially during the time of the year that you choose to take your holidays. Traditionally, I usually take a week-long holiday with my Prague gang plus a couple of other friends during one of the last weeks of September. We usually go to a place in the Balkans, but we did Georgia last year and they went to Spain the year I had to sit the annual holiday out. It’s usually the only time of the year when I elect to go anywhere with more than maybe one other person. Well according to Facebook memories, we were in Southern Albania this exact time last year. I also took an extra week there to do some mini road trips with a close friend.
Southern Albania is just a place you should completely skip, especially in September.
It’s so empty! Don’t you want to go to Italy and Greece in July like everyone else? I don’t know about you, but I would trade this eyesore for a crowded place full of pasty Germans, entitled Dutch people, clueless Americans, and drunk Brits and their equally entitled and loud offspring.
This German tourist is wishing he went to Corfu instead. He is clearly having a bad time .
Get me out of here!
There is no culture!
There is nothing to see!
There! I hope I have intimidated you all into just avoiding Albania in September. Just kidding! Visit this beautiful country, particularly towards the end of summer and the beginning of fall. You will get all the benefits of a summer vacation in Europe but without the crowds. I was pretty bummed out when I arrived at Corfu to catch my flight. All of the things I dread about summer in Southern Europe popped up in my face again.
The only real shortcoming is that the infrastructure is weaker in Albania than most places in Europe. Some places are likely to be closed due to the lack of people at this time. Neither of these issues mattered too much to me. I do pity the locals though because they really could use a surge in tourism. While I not so secretly like having places less crowded and to myself, I am not going to be a snob about it. I know people in Albania can benefit greatly by having more people visit this highly underrated country. It will take a while before tourism in Albania reaches to the level of its other Mediterranean counterparts.
Stay tuned next time to read about a few specific places in Southern Albania that I highly recommend!