Why is everyone raving about this country…

Why is everyone raving about this country…

Over the last few years, Albania has gone 
from Europe’s bestkept secret to a headline, Europe’s most underrated country. Stunning 
turquoise beaches, dramatic alpine landscapes, and prices that make you wonder 
if you’ll ever leave. Since 2013, tourism has grown five-fold. And with a 
brand new international airport on the way, it’s clear Albania is gearing up for something 
big. We’re spending the next 10 days exploring three completely different corners of the 
country, from the coast to the mountains. to ask one simple question. Is Albania Europe’s 
next big destination? After flying into Torana International Airport, we begun our trip renting 
a car and heading south to the Albanian Riviera, the most popular region of the country and 
the first place on our list. Good morning. So, after arriving yesterday, we are about to start 
our first full day here on the coast of Albania in Himare Town. We are just driving through the 
town right now and hopefully going to one of the best rated spots here. But because we’re going 
early, it’s only like 7:30 a.m. We’re hoping it’s not going to be too busy. I think there’s a 
heat wave raging through Europe right now because it is so hot and it’s not even 8:00 a.m. And 
there I’m going to be sweating in no time. He’s already got his top off. It’s too hot. 
Oh, we’re in the road. Get run over. [Music] We’re heading down to this beach where you kind of 
have to scale down and it’s a lot less busy than the other beaches because the actual south of the 
country here in Albania is very busy or does get very busy especially cuz it’s now July whereas 
the north of the country where we’re heading later in this trip will hopefully be a lot less 
busy. What are you doing? I’m stamping because I heard there’s possibly snakes here and I learned 
in Australia if you stamp that like warns them to go away. You don’t need to fit. Okay, here comes 
the sketchy part. Are you ready for this? This is quite a drop. Look at this. We got a scale down 
this straight to the beach. Although it looks like there’s a rope down there. All right. Righty. Be 
careful. Like this is it’s actually a bit slippy. You need to wear trainers if you’re coming 
down to this beach. Yeah, Amelia always sits on a B when she goes down. So, now we have this 
rope. This makes it a lot easier, I think. Kind of be lay yourself down. Not sure how strong the 
rope is. It feels pretty strong. It’s only tied onto a tiny tree. So, it is so sketchy this part. 
Yeah. Just find a little grip again. So, here we are. We have finally made it down to the beach. 
I believe this is called Filikuri Beach. And my watch said it took us about 32 minutes to get 
down here. It’s about 8:30 in the morning now. So, the sun hasn’t quite hit here yet, but it already 
looks beautiful. The sun is only on this part of the beach, but it looks beautiful. So clear. It’s 
a little bit cold in the shade, though. Not going to lie. It is so nice in here. So refreshing. The 
water is definitely maybe a little bit colder than I was expecting, but when it’s so hot outside, 
especially after that hike, it is so nice. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Now that we’re 
climbing back up, the beach is actually starting to go in the sun a little bit 
more now, and it’s about 11:00 a.m. So, if you do want some sun, go a bit later in the 
day. Oh, we’ve got in the wrong side. Not in the UK. I genuinely thought I was getting in the 
wrong side. That was not for camera. Blimey me, it’s hot. Oh, it’s roasting. Can’t 
even touch my bum to the seat. This afternoon, we’re just about to go 
on a boat tour with the company Himare sees the day. It was like €30 each, 
which is very good. Got our ticket. [Music] We headed up the coast, passing the rugged 
mountain landscapes, spotting caves in the cliffs, and enjoying refreshing dips in the sea. 
[Music] The mermaid cave. Emilia is going to turn into a mermaid just like the one on 
H2O. It actually looks insane. So pretty. [Music] We then headed to a rocky beach 
only accessible by boat. We have just pulled up to this beach and it is absolutely 
beautiful, but it is so hot and it’s so busy considering you can only get to this beach 
by boat. There is a lot of people here. This water is so refreshing. It was a little 
bit cold earlier, but now we’re in here after the sun. It feels amazing. Makes me feel like got 
to be honest, Albania so far has been absolutely beautiful. I guess it makes sense cuz it’s 
right next to like Greece and Italy. [Music] The next day, it was time to leave the coastal 
town of Himare and begin our road trip up the coast. Bye, Himari. Bye, Himari. We’re going 
to keep on heading north, but we’re actually going to try and head to another beach because 
we haven’t had enough of the beaches here in Albania. [Music] Is this a two-way road? I hope 
not. This is supposedly a two-way road, I believe, but it is barely bigger than a single track. Like, 
oh my gosh, there’s nowhere to pull in either. If something comes, I actually don’t know what to 
do. Okay, there’s one pull in. One pull in. But here we are. Barking. We’re just walking down 
to Ge. I think it’s about a half an hour walk. And we’re now about 20 minutes away from Himaru 
town, but it still seems like quite a popular beach because we’ve seen quite a few people 
walking down already. And it’s not even 10:00 a.m. yet. We’re just walking along this coast of 
the beach, and there is no wind. The water looks incredibly flat and glassy down there, doesn’t 
it? It looks insane. You can see so far today as well. You need to keep your eyes out because 
I think we could actually see dolphins out there. We have just seen this beach. It looks beautiful. 
There’s also this massive canyon which kind of leads you down. Maybe in the winter there’s 
a river flowing down it because it just seems like it’s been carved out the mountain. It’s 
beautiful, but I’m honestly I’m not so keen on just like beaches full of sunbeds. I just 
prefer like natural beaches. But I do get it because it’s so like rocky and pebbly and 
it’s hot that you need shade. You do need shade. So I do get it. I feel like it would 
be cool to see what it looked like naturally. This area is actually so beautiful. Just look at 
the clarity of the water. I’m on these little like bolard polard. Anyway, we’re on these little 
wooden things. And look at this. After cooling off and relaxing in the sea, it was time to hike 
back up to the car to continue our journey north through the country. So, we now have to go up this 
oneway road. You can’t even see around the corner. Oh, okay. All right. That one was all right cuz I 
was very close to a passing place. Oh, blind me. This is so tight. Woo. We have made it off the oneway road. That 
was that was mental. Like, why didn’t they put more passing places or something? So hot. Just 
arrived in the little town of Dhermi, which is supposed to be one of the prettiest little towns 
here. And it does look stunning. All the buildings are like white with kind of orangey tiled roofs. 
It looks very European. A couple hundred km later, we made it to our second region. Ready to see 
a different side of the country. And finally, we have almost reached our next destination. It 
looks like we’re going to the middle of nowhere, but I’m hoping our guest house is down here 
somewhere. Looks kind of abandoned. It does. Here we are. The other piece of my heart moves 
slow somewhere in the great unknown. We’re just driving 10 minutes into the city of Scoda, 
which is supposed to be the cultural capital of Albania. Just arrived in Scoda, parked up, 
and look at this thing. It’s like a massive moth. That is crazy. [Music] We’re just exploring 
the old town and there’s actually this beautiful big mosque in the middle. And I was surprised to 
find out that it’s actually 50% Islam here. That is like one of the main religions as well as like 
Christianity. Um, but you wouldn’t tell that when you walk around. Like no one’s super covered up 
or anything. But then also right next door to the mosque behind me, you have a church over here. So, 
it’s obviously a very diverse place. I’m amazed how beautiful these streets are. I don’t think 
I was expecting this when we came to Albania. It almost looks like we’re walking through the 
streets of Italy or somewhere. And of course, one thing they have in common with Italy is good 
coffee. So, that’s what we’re going to get now. And here we have our proper Italian style coffee. 
Let’s give it a test. Good old cappuccino. So good. There’s actually a big Italian 
influence in Albania. Apparently, a lot of Albanians watch Italian TV, so they 
get influenced by coffee and the food. And even apparently a lot of Albanians 
actually speak some Italian as well, which is pretty cool. It’s not a bad culture to 
absorb. Good coffee. And it’s good coffee. [Music] It is so hot outside, but we have 
just reached Shkoder Lake. Now, this lake is actually split into two. Half of 
it’s in Montenegro and half it’s in Albania. Look at this place. It’s absolutely beautiful. 
Stood just over there about 3 milesi that way is Montenegro. We’re very close to the border. It is 
37° today. If you are coming to Albania, I think I’d recommend coming in maybe May or June, not 
July, because it is roasting hot. Life is good. This is stunning. What you got? You got a Fanta 
lemon. Got a Fanta lemon. Perfect Euro summer drink. Just seen a snake in the water. A snake? 
Oh, wow. Out. They’re not poisonous, are they? I’ve heard they’re not. And apparently they’re 
not dangerous, but like it’s still a snake. Well, I hope they’re not dangerous 
cuz we’re about to go swimming and there’s no way I am not swimming 
in this lake right now. [Music] It’s really cold in areas this lake and then also 
really hot at the same time. It’s very patchy, but I feel refreshed. Fancy a swim? I’m good. 
I’m not a fan of snakes. I don’t blame you. We’ve arrived back at our place now because we want 
to show you this place. It is so good and also super affordable. It’s only costing us, I think, 
€40 a night. Welcome to our room. It’s actually huge. And the one thing we didn’t realize when we 
actually booked it is it has You’re not going to believe what’s in here. Like, this is insane. It 
shocked us, but we have a massive jacuzzi bath. Look how small I look in this thing. It is huge. 
We’re definitely going to have to use that. Yeah, we haven’t used it yet. And we also have a balcony 
with an amazing view. Look at this. And of course, it is time we go down there and have a 
good old swim cuz it’s so hot out here today. Boiling. It’s like 38° and 
I’m dying. If you are interested at staying at this incredible property, I will 
leave a link in the description. [Music] It’s the early afternoon and there’s literally 
nothing else you can do because it’s like 38° right now but just lays in this pool and in the 
shade. Yeah, it’s way too hot to be in the sun unless you’re in the pool. The pool’s nice. It was 
a short stay, but I’m really going to miss that place. Beautiful. Beautiful pool. Very peaceful. 
Bye-bye. Let’s hit the road. Let’s hit the road. The way they’ve like built it on these rocks, 
apparently it is in danger of actually cracking and falling down. But when we first landed in 
Albania, everyone was queuing at the kiosk to seen this photo on Instagram quite a bit. Wo, look 
at the water. Looks beautiful. I’ll be honest, the bridge looks quite new for the 18th century. Like, 
it looks well made. They must have maintained it because that is that is amazing. Because it’s the 
peak of summer, there’s not a lot of water, but when it’s like rushing, apparently it’s all super 
blue. I mean, it’s such a stunning bridge. Right, let’s get in the car because we’ve got a next spot 
to go to, which I’ve been very excited for. It’s going to be a good one. This is a spot Amelia 
found. So, I’m quite excited for this. Yeah, it should be good. We’ve got two donkeys ahead. 
The farmer’s here, but he doesn’t seem to care. He really doesn’t seem to care. 
That’s quite funny. All right, I’ll go around. Hey guys. Hey. Hey. I’m not 
even sure if those are donkeys or horses, but this is like a main road. This 
isn’t like a little lane. Crazy. We have just arrived in this rural little 
valley because we’ve seen that there’s a beautiful like canyon here which you 
can swim in. Because it’s so hot, we thought why not? It feels like we’ve 
arrived in some sort of moonscape here. It’s almost like that place in Sro we went to 
with the really white canyon. Looks like that. This is so pretty. And literally no one’s 
here. It looks so cool. It looks so pretty. cold. How is it down there? It’s beautiful. Like, it 
feels amazing, especially like to cool down in this hot weather. I can’t believe we had it all to 
ourselves. There is like no one else around here. What we did is there is a couple other spots, 
but we just kept driving because this was the one mentioned on Google Maps and there’s no one 
here. We’ve been here for like two hours. So, I think it’s time to get out of the sun and 
leave this place, which I don’t want to do cuz it’s so beautiful. I think it’s about 30 40 
minutes outside the city of Scoda. But, I totally recommend checking this place out. It’s obviously 
not that touristy and it is so worth it. Such a beautiful spot and you do feel like you’re on on 
the moon a little bit. After a couple of days in and around the city of Scoda, it was time to drive 
on to the part of the trip we were looking forward to the most, the Albanian Alps. We are now making 
our way up through the mountains, also known as the Albanian Alps, and they look stunning, but 
this road is a little dodgy. is super narrow like a lot of the roads here in Albania, but 
these mountains look insane. I think these are the tallest peaks right in front of us in the 
whole of Albania. It looks like the Doommites in Italy. In about 45 minutes or so, we should be 
arriving to a little mountain town. There are so many hairpin turns here. We must be climbing up so 
much. You just never know when someone’s coming. [Music] Welcome to our beautiful room. We are staying at 
Theft Paradise Hotel and it’s a little bit out of the main town, but the view is insane. 
So, we have pretty good decent room, bed, everything you need. But the main thing is out 
here. Look at this. There’s literally mountains all around us. And because we have like the 
end room, you can see mountains all around us that way as well. Surrounded by mountains. So 
cool. Compared to other places we’ve stayed, this is definitely more expensive. I think 
it’s costing about €7 a night. And I do look a bit like a rhino right now, but I think 
I’ve just got a big spot on my head. Sorry, guys. We all get them sometimes, don’t we? 
It’s possibly a cyst. We are looking into it, but just just let me know if you’re 
a medic cuz it’s getting big. [Music] So pretty. These mountains are just 
so large. It feels like we’re in the in the Alps in France or Switzerland or Italy. This 
place is insane. Think we’ve got ourselves our first bridge. Wow. Actually feels a little 
bit sketchy to be honest. It looks cool. We’ve just come across this like little house in 
the middle of nowhere. It looks kind of ruined, but it’s so beautiful. Looks like a little 
fairy tale house. Like Goldilocks in the Three Beds lives here. There’s like multiple ways 
we can go and there’s been arrows sometimes, but never at the points we need it. So, which 
way do we go? This way or this way? Actually, I have no idea. Let’s go this way. Oh, we’re 
picking this one. Yeah. Okay. This is definitely the path. It says, well, it Well, it used to 
say waterfall. Cuz now it kind of says wala pal. I think we’ve nearly reached the top. 
I’m blowing after that steep climb. I’m a bit out of breath. I didn’t realize 
that this last bit would be so steep. [Music] You like the waterfall? Yeah, but I don’t 
want to swim in it. It’s too cold. It’s too cold. It’s too much. It is freezing. We’re 
going to definitely wait and go in the place we’re going to tomorrow because this the 
place we’re going tomorrow looks insane. I got a spiky plant. Exploring 
the mountains. [Applause] We’ve come a bit off track now, kind of away 
from the tourist path because we’re hoping we can get down to the bottom of the waterfall 
down here. And it’s in the sun in the morning, which is nice. Yeah, I want some sun cuz 
it’s actually cold standing up there. Oh, this bit is glistening. Must be melted snow 
because I have seen patches of snow up here and it is honestly this might be built colder 
than Shetland. Ow. It’s like compressing pain. All right, I can do it. Ready? I’m going 
to do it. Yeah. Three, two, one. Sit down. Oh my god. Okay, hold hands. And 
now we’re going to pretend it’s really nice. Relaxing. This is 
so nice. I really like this. Feel [Applause] refreshed after that swim. 
Refreshed. I feel freezing. You’re actually shaking. I’m shaking still. My fingers are 
a bit numb to be fair. [Applause] [Music] We have just stopped at this restaurant to cool 
down because it’s almost midday now and it’s getting so hot here. Also ordered some local food 
which should be coming soon. But in the meantime, Joel has got a draft beer. How much 
was this? £150 which is like £120. £120. And it’s so good. So refreshing. Our 
food has just come and we’ve got this kofa meatball casserole and it looks so good. 
Look at that. I think we use this bread to kind of dip in it. I can’t wait to dig in 
cuz I’m so hungry after that hike. Starring. Is it good? That’s yummy. That is a happy face. 
Wow. That meal was so tasty. And apparently the dish we had, the meatball dish, was actually 
a traditional dish in this part of Albania cuz it’s like oven baked. Honestly, can’t recommend 
it enough. Oh, this is so pretty. We’ve just arrived at Theft Church and it’s stunning with the 
mountains behind. This church actually looks like it’s been renovated. I think the original one here 
is quite old, but this one looks like it’s been renovated. But it’s very pretty in this incredible 
valley. That’s so pretty. Feels like we’re in Switzerland. We made it. We made it. It’s a bit 
cheaper than Switzerland there, isn’t it? [Music] Good morning from the Albanian Alps. This morning 
we are walking towards supposedly one of the best swim spots in this country and I’m quite excited, 
but I’ve heard that it’s going to be freezing. We’ve arrived extremely early to try and avoid 
the crowds and we’re going to wait around and just see how busy it gets to help you guys if 
you end up coming here. We have seen another couple already in front of us, so it might 
get quite pretty busy later. They did have a camera as well, so maybe they’re filming. 
Who knows? Maybe we can make some friends. We found a dog. He’s coming with us. Here’s our 
dog. He’s come with us everywhere. I’m not sure he likes the bridge. Bit scary for him. Wow, this 
is so cool. We don’t really know which way we’re going, but we’ve just crossed the bridge and now 
we’ve got this other bridge here. Looks a little bit more old rickety, though. I’m sure they would 
have shut it off if it wasn’t safe. It’s kind of scary. Our dog Peter looks like he’s taken us 
all the way. Look at him. Is this the right way, buddy? Okay. What’s his name? Peter. Why have you 
named him Peter? He looks like a Peter. All right. Peter has just told me here he actually charges 
500 le which is about £450 for his guiding but at least we’re going to go the right d direction 
because there’s no one else coming. It’s kind of hard to know which way to go. But Peter’s going to 
save us. This way. Okay. Okay, buddy. Peter just informed us it is about a 45minute walk from the 
car park to the spot he’s taking us to. Isn’t that right, Peter? As he gallops away. Look at him. 
There’s some steep sections coming up here. Be warned, it’s not super easy, but we’re starting 
to get an incredible view of the valley. Wow. Now, it’s time to talk you what we actually 
come to see. We’ve come to see the blue eye. And there are actually two blue 
eyes here in Albania. And basically, it’s like super blue water. It looks like 
a magical little pool. But we come to Te which is supposed to be the less touristy one but 
obviously it’s still going to be busy hence we’re here early but I think we are very much closing 
in on it now. Welcome to the blue eye. Are you ready? Yeah. Are you ready Peter? Oh yeah buddy. 
I’m ready to see it once again like every day. I think we have reached the official point 
of the blue eye. And just a big shout out to Peter and say in the comments, 
“Thank you, Peter.” Just to, you know, give him some thank yous because he’s led us 
all this way. Oh, he’s having a drink. Oh, Peter, he must be very hot and thirsty. This 
is insane. It’s so beautiful. And there’s no one else here right now. We escaped the 
crowds. Thank you, Peter. Thank you, Peter. Look at that. It looks so blue right now, but I 
think once the water goes in the sun like here, it’s going to absolutely glow. Blimey. It’s 
going to be super cold once again. But we’ve just got to go for it. We’re only here once, 
aren’t we? Yeah. You going for a swim, buddy? Beautiful. We did it. Go. This is 
so hard to control the breathing, right? I’ve got to get out. We did 
it. Woo! That is the most painful compressing thing. My whole body hurts. Does 
yours? That was actually not nice. Oh. Ow. [Music] We just walked up and around to try and get 
to the top of the pools pools to look down them cuz I think you can get a pretty good 
view of it. Oh yeah, look at this rickety bridge. That looks a little bit sketchy. Wa! It 
looks insane. Look at the pools from this angle. That is glowing. Looks so pretty. A 
quick reminder, do not forget to use So that is the end of our time in Albania. 
And unfortunately, we leave tomorrow. we leave the country. I’m sad to leave. It’s been 
an amazing what, 10 days? I can’t believe like how many different things we’ve seen. After 10 days 
exploring this country, from mountain villages to the coastline, one thing became clear. The 
hype around Albania is real. The incredible value combined with a wild variety of landscapes 
makes it a dream for every kind of traveler, backpackers, holiday makers, and hikers alike. 
More and more tourists are showing up every year. And while it’s definitely on the rise, it’s 
still not your typical mainstream getaway. So, is Albania Europe’s next big destination? 
It’s hard to say for sure, but if I were you, I’d get here sooner rather than later. 
Thank you so much for watching the video. I hope you enjoyed it, and we’ll see 
you in the next one. Bye. Bye-bye.

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Why is everyone raving about this country, a place which has is very up and coming in Europe, we flew out to Albania to see what the country is like spending 10 days from the beaches in the south in Himare to the mountains in Theth in the North of Albania. Watch as we visit the country for the time and see whether or not you have to pay a visit to this New European hotspot!

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