Things you need to know about the Albanian Riviera
We spent a week in the Albanian Riviera, based in Dhermi but exploring many of the towns along the coast, in late September. The weather was great, and we spent a lot of time at the beach, eating in traditional restaurants and bars, and wandering the old villages.
I’d wanted to go to Albania for a long time and had seen and heard great things about the Riviera. And I did love our holiday. But there were a few niggling aspects that kept arising over and over again. To be clear, I’m not saying don’t go! I’ve not written a blog like this before and definitely don’t make a habit of picking apart the negative aspects of my travels. But I think these things are something that travellers should be aware of when investing in a holiday to the Albanian Riviera.
1. It’s so expensive
I was surprised how expensive the Albanian Riviera is. From what I’ve heard, the rest of Albania is far cheaper. But when it comes to the Riviera, you could go to Greece for much less and Ibiza for close to the same amount. Food and drink and groceries are especially expensive, and there are hardly any large supermarkets around. We had to do our food shopping in little local stores where everything was incredibly overpriced.
I’ve read that the tourism industry in Albania has made the strange decision to aim for luxury pricing rather than undercutting other nearby destinations. I’m not sure it’s working for them, as they don’t offer the infrastructure or the service to back up the price.
The quality of everything, from the beach beds to the cocktails to the roads you drive on, just aren’t up to the same standard as Greek or Spanish islands so if you have the money to go somewhere more expensive on holiday, I’m not sure why you’d spend it on this experience.
My advice: head to Kefalonia or Santorini instead!
2. There’s a lot of development underway
This is similar to my previous point, but in a bid to capture more tourism, they are building an insane amount of luxury hotels and villas along the Riviera. Again, I’m not sure how the rest of the infrastructure is planning to support the influx of tourism that they’re clearly hoping for. We were there at the very end of the season/the start of the off season and it was still busy, especially on the roads and beaches and in car parks. We were told that, in Dhermi, it’s not uncommon to have to queue for over an hour to get a taxi or a seat in a restaurant in the middle of summer, so the infrastructure is really going to need to improve if they’re hoping to fill all these hotels with new tourists in the next few years.
3. The people aren’t that friendly
Look, I get it. I live in central London and tourists are annoying. English tourists are even more annoying. I understand our reputation in the rest of Europe! But a lot of the people we interacted with in Albania we totally hostile and didn’t seem at all interested in helping us.
To be fair, we had some incredible service (especially at Luciano’s and Amarea) as well as on our boat trip in Himare. But a lot of people (especially in the beach bars) were unfriendly and actually very leery towards women.
I know that we aren’t owed a warm reception in the countries we visit, but the truth is it makes a difference to your experience. Especially when you can’t order drinks from a beach bar without covering up your bikini because the servers are so creepy. I’ve been to a lot of countries where men have this reputation, and Albania is definitely the worst in my experience.
While we’re on the topic, check out my packing list for a week in Albania here.
4. The whole Riviera is not a paradise
We were lucky to have stayed in Dhermi as we found this to be by far the nicest town in the Albanian Riviera, followed by Himare which still has a more traditional feel to it. Saranda and Vlore felt completely crowded and a bit dirty and, in my opinion, would not be worth a visit. And we avoided Ksamil since we’d heard it’s even more expensive than Dhermi. The town has a reputation of being “The Maldives of Europe” but going by everything else we’d experienced in Albania I think that’s likely to be a huge exaggeration!
5. The infrastructure is lacking in all areas
Okay, this is similar to points 1 and 2, but there’s more to it.
Throughout our week in Albania, there were so many issues that weren’t major, but did impact our holiday to some extent. There are loads of little issues with our Airbnb, which was actually very nice, but the building standards are noticeably not good in the Albanian Riviera.
Examples: the doors fell off cabinets, the internet didn’t work, you couldn’t have aircon on in all bedrooms at once or the electrics went out, the water stopped working twice, if the oven and two hobs were on it tripped the fuse for the whole house, the lock covers on almost all the doors were broken, the sliding door to the kitchen was broken, the door frame on our bedroom somehow broke, trapping us inside…
These aren’t big issues, I know. But they remove you from the holiday vibe if you’re constantly texting with the Airbnb host. Then, when you drive to a car park and struggle to find a space without a pot hole, or you’re driving down the motorway trying not to hit people (or reversing cars… yes, really), or you have to wait 30 minutes for one coffee in an empty cafe, it all just adds up to a frustrating experience!
6. The service and quality of the restaurants do not back up the price
Again, maybe this is connected to previous points I’ve made.. But I realised at some point in the week that I hadn’t made a single food order that came exactly as it was specified on the menu. Every single time, regardless of the restaurant I was in, the dish that came was lacking something that it was supposed to include.
At no point was this an issue worth complaining about, but some examples include:
Seabass that was meant to come with potatoes and vegetables but came with one floret of broccoli.
Saffron risotto that was almost identical to the seafood risotto and didn’t contain saffron.
Multiple salads that listed 6-8 ingredients on the menu but came with about three.
Seafood pasta that listed 4 types of seafood on the menu but came with one: prawns.
My main issue with this is that it’s so expensive to eat out in Albania. I’ve eaten amazing meals in nicer restaurants around the world, including notoriously expensive Ibiza, that have been cheaper and better quality than the food in Albania so the fact that what you receive is often not even what you’ve ordered is extra annoying!
7. The nightlife isn’t there
Okay, this is an entirely personal issue. But, if you’re thinking of heading to Dhermi because the summer festivals make out like the nightlife is great, think again. There are a few good bars, and that’s it! This wasn’t a huge issue for our holiday, but if you’re considering a trip to the Albanian Riviera over other party hotspots, then you’d be making the wrong decision.
Despite my complaints, I loved my week in Albania. You can read my full Albanian Riviera itinerary here.