I first travelled to Albania at the unruly age of 20. With no plans or money, and the long university holidays stretched ahead of me, my mum sensibly suggested I work abroad. Desperate to go somewhere parties took precedence over work, I swerved the farms, hotels, cruises, and schools and, rather predictably, typed “backpackers hostel” into Google. Before I knew it, I was headed to Albania on a ferry from Corfu.
Work in Berat Backpackers Hostel, which I did in exchange for free accommodation and some meals, predominantly revolved around reaching into the fridge and cracking open ice-cold bottles of beers for guests, rearranging pillows on sofas and drinking copious amounts of the national drink, raki. Dubbed the ‘city of a thousand windows’ and listed as a Unesco World Heritage site, the stunning but sleepy Ottoman-era mountainous city of Berat is well worth a visit.
The month I spent in Albania back in 2012 – three weeks in Berat followed by a week travelling around the country on my own – had a dreamlike quality. Fast forward 12 years and my recent trip to Albania was worlds apart but just as magical. Stamped with generic cliches like “hidden gem”, “off the beaten track” and the more geographically specific moniker of “jewel of the Balkans”, Albania thoroughly deserves these platitudes – and its burgeoning status as Europe’s hot new go-to destination.
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Ask many Britons what images Albania conjures up for them, and they will probably mention its Communist history, or perhaps the Albanian mafia’s dominance in the European cocaine market, or maybe even pop megastar Dua Lipa’s heritage. Of course, there is far more to Albania than this. Sit, squirm or snooze on a plane for just under three hours from London and you will be transported to a country of striking natural beauty, where the sun shines around 300 days a year and there is not a single Starbucks or McDonalds to be found.
This summer I was drawn to Albania for similar reasons to my initial trip: to party. I was there for Kala Festival – a dance music festival in the arresting seaside town of Dhermi on the Albanian Riviera. A place lapped by crystal-clear…
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