Photo. One of Albania`s historical wonders. Clock tower, castle and fortress in the city Gjirokastër in Albania - - UNESCO World Heritage site.
Explored the ancient ruins of Butrint, once a Greek colony, later a Roman city - its amphitheater, baths, and basilicas still standing amid lush wetlands.
As I experienced, Gjirokastër, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where cobblestone streets and fortress walls whisper stories from the Ottoman and communist eras.
Adventures the bunkers - thousands of Cold War concrete domes scattered across the land - offering a stark, surreal dive into Albania’s recent past.
Summer holidays offer a chance to truly unwind. For me and my son Sander (14), it’s a long-awaited breath of fresh air and sun - a welcome pause from the fast pace of everyday life. We wanted to fill our summer days with just as much adventure as beach time. And Albania turned out to be the perfect place us.
For my son Sander, it was "coming-of-age journey" - “an educational journey” insted of a traditional church confirmation or other types of marking for transition to the adult life. It was a journey where I wanted to grow him as a person, through experiences and encounters with new people, cultures, language and history. It was about more than travel - it's about transformation. When I took my son Sander to Albania, the intention wasn’t just to see a new country. It was to challenge him and open his eyes to a world beyond his own.
Albania is where explorers feel at home, and curiosity becomes adventures. Just take a break for the beaches for a while and diving into Albania’s wild side.
For many years, the country was closed off from the outside world. From the Second World War until his death in 1985, communist dictator Enver Hoxha ruled Albania with an iron grip. Since the fall of the regime in 1992, Albania has undergone dramatic changes.
While traces of the past still linger – in abandoned bunkers and statues of Hoxha – the country is clearly moving forward. Visiting places in Albania that has been isolated for so long were both fascinating and deeply eye-opening.
Until 1991, Albania was one of the most closed-off countries in Europe. Its beautiful beaches and majestic mountains were only spoken of in whispers. But today, this untouched country - tucked between Greece and Croatia - is finally being discovered. The Mediterranean’s best-kept secret is no longer a secret for long.
Our first to Albania was a never-ending, positive surprise. It offers the best of several worlds: the charm, food, and beaches of the Mediterranean, mixed with a truly unique kind of hospitality, wild nature and ancient wonders.
Dived deeper into Albania’s fascinating history - from its isolation during the Cold War to its transformation into a rising star on the European travel map. Combine cultural experiences (like exploring abandoned bunkers and ancient towns) with local encounters and off-the-beaten-path adventures.
There’s still a feeling that the place is untouched. Albania hasn’t yet been shaped by mass tourism like other destinations. That’s exactly what makes it so refreshing.
We come here to escape the crowds, and to find something real. And we leaved with memories of a place that still dared to be different.
Albania’s wonders don’t just impress - they confront. They ask you to reckon with a past shaped by both resilience and trauma. And hope! Something to learn from.
Stein Morten Lund, July 2025
Additional information
The bunkers (Albanian: bunkerët) were built during the Hoxhaist government led by Enver Hoxha from the 1960s to the 1980s, as the government fortified Albania by building more than 750,000 bunkers. Starting in 1967 and continuing until 1986, the Albanian government carried out a policy of "bunkerisation" that saw the construction of hundreds of thousands of bunkers across the country. Read our article about the Bunker mystery in Albania.
The Ottoman-era town of Gjirokaster in southern Albania has its own connection to the Hoxha legacy, being the dictator’s birthplace. Today, the building he was born in is officially known as the “Ethnographic Museum of Gjirokaster.” Only a lone marble slab on the floor of a sparsely decorated room commemorates Hoxha’s arrival into the world on 16th October 1908.
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