Albania

About Albania as a tourist region is known very little. This small country, having been along with the former Yugoslavia the «Balkan outpost of Communist bloc», presents itself on the world tourist market quite modestly. Perhaps the reason for this is the relatively youth of this nation. The borders of Albania finally took its shape in the early 20 century. It will be more correctly to say not «took its shape», but «were shaped», because the decision on the current borders of the country had been made not by the Albanian government but by the major European powers, which in 1913 agreed on the question of the Albanian borders.

Today Albania is surrounded by several famous tourist states of Europe. They are: Montenegro and Serbia in the north, Greece in the southeast, Macedonia in the east and the maritime border with Italy in the west. Advantageous tourist location of the country a long time has not been used efficiently. The rule of the dictator Khodji is the second reason of the Albanian « obscurity» which had completely isolated the country from the contacts with the outside world. Albania has no relations even with the USSR. For a long time the country was considered to be one of the poorest nations in the world.

Often poverty, which deters the aggressively approaching progress, plays in favor of the attractions. Authenticity is the best suiting word for Albania. Many local attractions preserved the look that they gained at the moment of its creation. The resorts of the country, Durres, Saranda, Berat, Vlera, Drilon, Pogradec, offer the tourists to see not polished forgery but the true, though sometimes dilapidated, Albania.

Each of these cities interesting in their own way. Durres is famous for the largest in the Balkans ancient amphitheater and superb sandy beaches; Berat is called «the city of a thousand windows» (here in houses the number of windows is at least three times bigger than on average throughout the country); the city of Saranda in one version is considered to be a colony founded even by the masters of Troy. The capital of Albania, Tirana, is mainly administrative and economic center of the country. There are few sights here: the Mosque of Etem-Mei, the watch tower, several museums and the Preza castle (15 century).

Modest fame of Albania, under certain conditions, can be considered as a plus: few tourists, low prices, absence of bustle. Now the country is increasingly promoting its tourist product to the world market. Perhaps, after ten years the rest here will be as fashionable as in the Italian Riviera on the opposite side of the Strait of Otranto. Meanwhile, the Albanian Adriatic for the majority of tourists is still terra incognita.