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I spent a week in Albania last year and my experience couldn't be more opposite (obviously there's no civil war on at the moment). I love the place and it's mo

I spent a week in Albania last year and my experience couldn't be more opposite (obviously there's no civil war on at the moment). I love the place and it's mostly because of the people. Never have I met more friendly laid back and helpful people. For example, my airbnb host that I stayed with, for all of 2 nights, kept my large suitcase so I could spend the week in the south with just my carry-on bag. When I got back to Tirana not only did his brother come and meet me with it, he also dropped me off at my next airbnb across town and carried it in for me. Somewhere I wouldn't hesitate to recommend others visiting. I'll be going back when I can and for longer this time.

EForEndeavour 6y ago
It's pretty comical to compare your tourist visit to Albania last year against a Special Air Service operation during a civil war 23 years ago.
- C19is20 6y ago
  I was in Albania and Kosovo in '99. Been back since, can't wait to go again. Op's observations still hold true. For info, back then, the 17km (sounds easy) from airport to Tirana was a bunker nightmare. A real coup would have not let even the SAS pass quite so easily. However, SAS? I bet they had each bunker mapped.
- aunty_helen 6y ago
  mm I get what you mean, but it was more like: Today Albania is a great country to explore and you'd be missing out if you were in the region and skipped over it. Another thing is their reputation within Europe is... well to put it as one Albanian said to me laughingly: "They're scared of us. They think we're all gangsters" Most people don't know a lot about the country so if they just read the article or go from what they have heard a European say, they might have an impression that doesn't truly represent it.
  - zokier 6y ago
    > Another thing is their reputation within Europe is... well to put it as one Albanian said to me laughingly: "They're scared of us. They think we're all gangsters" As an fellow European, I think most people around here would just lump it together with the rest of Balkans; so nothing personal against Albania specifically :) And having couple of (internal-ish) wars does tend to leave memory, especially if they happen on your back yard (from global viewpoint)
- danlugo92 6y ago
  He did say "obviously theres no civil war at the moment". Why do you feel the need to argue bro? On albanian geopolitics nonetheless, go drink a beer or something.
AdrianB1 6y ago
I was in Albania in 2002-2007 several times and I was told it is very different today. At that time it was very peaceful and quiet compared to Kosovo (where we traveled in convoys guarded by armored carriers and helicopter gunships), Sarajevo (when landing on the Sarajevo airport, Apache helicopters were deploying flares to protect the civilian aircraft) or Belgrade (big holes visible in building walls from bombs). The biggest problem 20 years ago was almost nobody was speaking any foreign language in the eastern part of the country and some were understanding Italian on the coast (they watched Italian TV a lot). I was not able to eat anything from Skopje, Macedonia, to the restaurant in Tirana were I went with some Albanian colleagues. I confirm the people were friendly and the country was strangely nice, the eastern part reminded me of Jordan (quite arid) and Tirana was a mess of driving too many cars with very inexperienced drivers on tiny roads and back alleys where you had inches on each side of the car. Their language sounds similar to mine, but it just sounds (not many common words), so the atmosphere in the restaurants was familiar and friendly, I felt like in a smaller city in Romania. At the Macedonian-Albanian border crossing I had a fantastic chance of meeting a guy who was speaking Romanian, we used to be a guard at the Albanian embassy in Bucharest and this is how I was able to cross the border, otherwise I was not able to communicate with anyone else in English, French, Italian or hand gestures.
- jacobush 6y ago
  I was in Kosovo in 2010 as a tourist and I felt very safe, but it depends on who you are and with who you stay with, I'm sure.

EForEndeavour 6y ago

It's pretty comical to compare your tourist visit to Albania last year against a Special Air Service operation during a civil war 23 years ago.

C19is20 6y ago
I was in Albania and Kosovo in '99. Been back since, can't wait to go again. Op's observations still hold true. For info, back then, the 17km (sounds easy) from airport to Tirana was a bunker nightmare. A real coup would have not let even the SAS pass quite so easily. However, SAS? I bet they had each bunker mapped.
aunty_helen 6y ago
mm I get what you mean, but it was more like: Today Albania is a great country to explore and you'd be missing out if you were in the region and skipped over it. Another thing is their reputation within Europe is... well to put it as one Albanian said to me laughingly: "They're scared of us. They think we're all gangsters" Most people don't know a lot about the country so if they just read the article or go from what they have heard a European say, they might have an impression that doesn't truly represent it.
- zokier 6y ago
  > Another thing is their reputation within Europe is... well to put it as one Albanian said to me laughingly: "They're scared of us. They think we're all gangsters" As an fellow European, I think most people around here would just lump it together with the rest of Balkans; so nothing personal against Albania specifically :) And having couple of (internal-ish) wars does tend to leave memory, especially if they happen on your back yard (from global viewpoint)
danlugo92 6y ago
He did say "obviously theres no civil war at the moment". Why do you feel the need to argue bro? On albanian geopolitics nonetheless, go drink a beer or something.

AdrianB1 6y ago

I was in Albania in 2002-2007 several times and I was told it is very different today. At that time it was very peaceful and quiet compared to Kosovo (where we traveled in convoys guarded by armored carriers and helicopter gunships), Sarajevo (when landing on the Sarajevo airport, Apache helicopters were deploying flares to protect the civilian aircraft) or Belgrade (big holes visible in building walls from bombs). The biggest problem 20 years ago was almost nobody was speaking any foreign language in the eastern part of the country and some were understanding Italian on the coast (they watched Italian TV a lot). I was not able to eat anything from Skopje, Macedonia, to the restaurant in Tirana were I went with some Albanian colleagues. I confirm the people were friendly and the country was strangely nice, the eastern part reminded me of Jordan (quite arid) and Tirana was a mess of driving too many cars with very inexperienced drivers on tiny roads and back alleys where you had inches on each side of the car. Their language sounds similar to mine, but it just sounds (not many common words), so the atmosphere in the restaurants was familiar and friendly, I felt like in a smaller city in Romania. At the Macedonian-Albanian border crossing I had a fantastic chance of meeting a guy who was speaking Romanian, we used to be a guard at the Albanian embassy in Bucharest and this is how I was able to cross the border, otherwise I was not able to communicate with anyone else in English, French, Italian or hand gestures.

jacobush 6y ago
I was in Kosovo in 2010 as a tourist and I felt very safe, but it depends on who you are and with who you stay with, I'm sure.