Albania: Local Food & UNESCO Heritage - 6 Days

What a trip! First, compared to most similar small group tours I've taken (where 4-5* Western hotels & buffets are not the norm), I was pleasantly surprised by the hotels. They were all small boutique hotels (except one) and very centrally located. Two hotels weren't the usual ones due to construction right in the center (very thoughtful of them to move us) and a massive car/bike rally that exceptionally had most hotels in one town fully booked WAY in advance. That was the only night where accommodations were just OK, but on par with what I'm used to from tour hotels. Our driver/organizer, Rando, was a character! He has a ton of energy and, because there were only 5 people, we made extra stops. His love of his country and sheer joy in sharing as many places as possible with us made for long, busy days, but you'll really feel like you know the Southern region of the country at the end! He also ordered us so many amazing local dishes for lunch (many veggie-friendly) that our group barely ate dinner, despite a good level of activity! Our local tours were great, with the Alpeta winery being a highlight! Good Albania really went out of their way to accommodate transportation at the end (one pair arranged an extra day to Greece! Another to the ferry from Durrës, etc). There was generally great communication before also. Nothing to do with the company, which was great; however, if you're not keen on being out in high heat (90+F or 33+C), come before June or after August! It was above the normal averages this week, so the hillside hikes (in limited shade) would have been more enjoyable in lower temperatures. Rando did shuffle the schedule a little so the main city tours and 2nd hike were earlier or later in the day, which helped to avoid peak heat and sun.

We did the Local Food and Unesco Heritage Tour. We found this most interesting and comprehensive of the Central and Southern areas of Albania. Andy, our Guide and Migert, our driver worked well together and made a great team, making this tour so much more interesing. The organisation for the trip was well done and many interesting sights covered. Our day with a local family was just great and they were so welcoming. We learnt so much about Albania, its history and its culture. We would recommend this tour to others.

Albania is such a wonderful country to visit. Definitely a hidden gem, this country is rich with history and culture and this tour introduces it to you. If anyone is looking for something more relaxing, this is the perfect tour for you! Good Albania was awesome, my friend and I joined a group tour and were lucky enough to end up having a private tour with our amazing tour guide Rando! People are great, service is amazing and it's such a safe country. Visit Albania before it's overrun by tourists! Thanks Rando, and all the local guides/hosts we met on the trip. We had a lovely time in Albania. Looking forward to come back in 10 yrs or so!

This tour was AMAZING beyond expectations — highly recommend this company — they communicate and consider all comments and requests!! You will be so amazed at them — personal, knowledgeable, great ideas for tourists — we got a real feel for this beautiful country, people, food and history...we will be back for the northern tour!!!!

In early November 2017, my wife and I took the 8-day tour of Southern Albania (Local Food and Unesco Heritage tour). We loved every minute and can highly recommend it. We covered an immense amount of geographic, cultural, and culinary ground in this trip. Even though the week contained a seemingly impossible amount of places, people, meals, and other activities, the pace was ideal. There was a perfect balance of scheduled events and alone time for exploring or relaxing on our own. Our guides were consummate professionals with incredible attention to detail. They are obviously very experienced because everything went so smoothly, but never did things feel routine or scripted. The level of interest and enthusiasm they maintained kept it from feeling like a canned experience. We felt like a group of friends on an adventure together. We were initially on the fence about a guided tour because it seemed so unlike the way we normally like to travel. But Albania from the outside appeared to be more opaque a place than we normally visit. Not much information is available online, and quite a bit of what we did find turned out to be out of date (this country is changing really fast). We’re so happy we chose to go with GoodAlbania. No amount of planning or exploring on our own could have given us as exciting, as honest, or as memorable a trip to this amazing country.