Alighting the bus in the centre of Shkodër, our feet had barely touched the pavement before a swarm of taxi drivers was upon us, all shouting the same thing. “Montenegro taxi? Montenegro taxi?” Shkodër is a transiting point for many travellers heading north from [Tirana]( GHOST_URL/welcome-to-tirana/" target="_blank)

“Shkodër! Shkodër! Shkodër!” The row of drivers yelled out their destinations in staccato bursts, eyeing us hopefully as we walked hesitantly towards where their minibuses were parked, along the edge of the sprawling Zogu i Zi roundabout. “Durrës! Durrës! Durrës!” We were looking for a ride to Krujë, a town

It’s probably fair to say that most people arrive in Tirana with low expectations. Dismissed by many guidebooks as dusty and dilapidated, with little in the way of tourist sights, the Albanian capital still struggles with something of an image problem. The chaotic mishmash of communist-era apartment blocks, rusting

Albania is a fascinating place, quite unlike anywhere else I’ve been in Europe. Having suffered years of isolation and hardship under a particularly harsh dictatorship, nowadays this friendly country is rapidly developing and can often feel like a nation struggling to keep up with its own progress. The tourist