Blue sky and blue sea, the hot sun, and a mix of cigarette smell, sunscreen, sweat, and pizza—always pizza. This was the impression I had throughout our 10-day journey through three Balkan countries.
This summer, Sam and I wanted to do more hiking. After two summers of hiking in Georgia (which was amazing—I can’t get over how much I love everything about that country), it felt like time to broaden our horizons and explore other hiking destinations. Albania has always been on my list, and since Sam was going to a conference in Bulgaria, we agreed to meet up in Albania for a week of hiking.
But first, I decided to explore more of the Balkans with my old friend Malin. As much as I enjoy hiking, I also love the beach and the sea. So does Malin. We agreed to meet in Dubrovnik and travel south to Albania over ten days. I’ve always been hesitant to travel in Europe during July due to the tourist high season. But it could also be interesting, I reasoned, since I’d never really experienced it (I usually travel as far outside tourist destinations as possible).
With a little flight hack, I managed to fly from Stockholm to Dubrovnik for 40€, with a few hours stopover in Poland. In Dubrovnik, I met up with Malin, and we spent one day there before starting our travels southwards. Luckily, we hadn’t planned to stay any longer — Dubrovnik was, indeed, a tourist hub. To say we almost couldn’t squeeze our way out of the old town wouldn’t be an exaggeration. It was so packed with tourists; groups, families — everyone seemed to have decided to come to Dubrovnik at the beginning of July. On top of that, the weather was gray and rainy, and the city didn’t impress us as much as I thought it would. We had a nice swim, wine, and food and still enjoyed the first days of vacation mode as long as we stayed outside the old town walls.
After one night in Dubrovnik, it was time for us to cross the border to Montenegro — a country I hadn’t really thought much of. I tend to always mix up Montenegro with Monaco or Macedonia. However, I had no idea it was so beautiful. Our first stop was the small coastal town of Herceg Novi. Surrounded by mountains and the blue sea, it was a picturesque medieval town where we could have easily spent a few more days. But with only ten days, we had a tight schedule (that’s usually the case when Malin and I travel together — no wasted time and trying to squeeze in as much as possible). So, after a few hours in Herceg Novi, we continued to Perast in Kotor Bay. It’s a small bay surrounded by high mountain peaks, and the whole scenery looks like something from a movie.
Perast is a small town that most tourists visit during the day, so there weren’t many accommodation options. We were lucky to find a small guest house that, based on the photos on booking.com, didn’t seem like anything special. But they had clearly not done the right marketing. When we arrived, the first thing we saw was the breathtaking terrace — or terraces. They had three fairytale-like small terraces on the hill (the whole house was built on a height with four floors) overlooking the town and the bay. Our little room was on the top floor with a small window offering the most magical view.
It took a fair amount of time before we got to see it. When we arrived, Jovo, the son in the family, welcomed us and told us to sit down and relax. He had this slow and relaxed pace that everyone in this little town seemed to have. “Relax, have some rakia, and I’ll smoke a cigarette before showing you your room,” he suggested. An hour later, he slowly showed us around. No rush from his side, and we were sweaty and hot after hiking up the hill, eager to swim in the bay. We couldn’t say for sure, but it seemed like Jovo was either high or drunk or just unique somehow. He spoke very slowly and didn’t really register what we said or asked. He also drank vodka in the morning, which might explain the impression we got.
Regardless of Jovo being a bit odd, the place itself was incredible. For just 50€ per night, it was hard to believe we could stay in such a place. It’s called BellaVistaZmukic Guesthouse — a very suitable name.
The old town in Perast is like something from a movie too, well-kept and not overly touristy. We had the best pizza I’ve ever had, even better than in Italy, at a restaurant called Bocalibre. Burrata and pistachio pesto was a new combo I won’t forget. It quickly became apparent that in both Croatia and Montenegro, Italian cuisine seemed to be the most “local” food you could get. Which, in my opinion, wasn’t an issue.
After a night in Perast, we took a bus to Kotor. Since it was rainy and fairly cold (the only day the temperature dropped below 25 degrees), we saw it as a good opportunity to hike. Around Kotor, there are many nice hiking areas and national parks, but since we had a packed schedule, we only stayed one night in Kotor and did one hike — around three hours up a mountain where we got a view over Kotor fortress. It was beautiful, and the old town was picturesque and beautiful, though a bit more touristy than Perast. One fun fact about Kotor is that the old town is full of cats, literally everywhere. The cats are believed to have arrived on ships from various parts of the world and became a part of the local culture and daily life. There's even a cat museum.
After Kotor, we headed to Budva, where we had three nights to relax and spend time on the beach. Which I think was quite needed — I tend to have a hard time slowing down and coping with my restlessness. Budva is known for being a tourist hub, and we mostly heard Swedish and Norwegian all over town. But the old town is cute, and we had lots of nice food and swims.
We spent two days exploring Sveti Stefan, a small peninsula with crystal-clear blue water, and taking a boat ride to Montenegro’s only island, Sveti Nikola. We got a private boat for 60€ for two hours, which was cheap compared to what most other captains charged. And at least we got Ivan, who seemed like the most fun captain. He apologized for forgetting to bring beers for us, put on loud music in the speakers (yes, his boat was small but had big Bluetooth speakers), and took us around to some cool caves where we could jump in the water to swim into them. It felt a bit scary to swim into these dark caves considering the half-loose stones above our heads. Coming back to the boat, Ivan told us, “I would never swim in there. It’s too dangerous. Yes, stones can fall.” Safety isn’t the first priority in this country (life jackets didn’t seem like anyone had heard of them either).
We also had time for one night out in Budva. We had heard it was a party town but were almost disappointed when most bars closed at 1 am. Nevertheless, we managed to get drunk enough (one local shot of rakia seemed to do it) and did some bar hopping around the old town. We got stuck in the only “wine & rakia bar” where the 17-year-old bartender served us free and very strong cocktails. I couldn’t even finish mine. He looked at least 25 and seemed older, probably since he had to handle a bunch of drunk Austrian middle-aged men who wanted to play African music in his bar and intimidated most of his customers. And maybe because he drank a whole bottle of vodka on his own while working, smoked a pack of cigarettes, and used a pack of snus but barely seemed even tipsy. “When I was 15, I worked in nightclubs. Then I used to drink even more and handle worse customers,” he told us. It made me think about what I used to do when I was 15. I don’t think I had even tasted alcohol. Former Yugoslavia must be rough to grow up in.
The next day, we spent on the beach, slightly hungover from the day before, in the small village just outside of Budva called Sveti Stefan. The water was the most crystal clear blue I’ve ever seen, and it honestly felt like we were swimming in a pool, not the sea. Slowly, the sun and refreshing water rid us of our hangover, and we had another night out in the old town of Budva. There were several nice bars with great cocktails, the nicest one being a bit of a hidden bar called “Follow the Blue Cat.” We also had pasta that was honestly one of the best things we ate on the whole trip: scampi pasta with lemon and mint, better than anything I’ve tried in Italy. The restaurant was simple but cozy and had a constant line of people queuing for a table. So if you ever come to Budva, make sure to go to Pastabar (and don’t miss out on their local wine!).
After some nice days in Budva, it was time for us to head towards Albania, the final country on this trip. We took a bus from Budva to Shkodër in northern Albania, a relaxed small town that has recently become more touristy, but not too intensely. There are several nice walking streets and boulevards with bars and restaurants, live music, and second-hand shops. Some of the best places for food and drinks we visited both the first day Malin and I stayed in Shkodër, but also the second day when Sam and I came back for our hike in Theth, were: Eko Club (a super cozy bohemian bar/cafe with homemade food and drinks, where local young people spend half a day just hanging out and chatting), Pura (a local restaurant with traditional food), and Goje Gaditese (a cool bar with amazing snack platters and drinks—very fancy but cheap, with wine for around 2€).
Due to the rain and bad weather on the first day when Malin and I arrived in Shkodër, we didn’t have time to do much and decided to go to Tirana, where we spent the last two days of our trip together. Tirana surprised me by being such a modern and upcoming capital—a real mix of Turkish and European culture, with lots of high-rise buildings being built alongside old streets and small cafes. We were also amazed by how cheap everything was. We went to a really nice wine bar (Si Dielli next to the old Bazaar) and tried local Albanian wine and cheeses, all for under 10€.
We also had time to visit a museum—the first and last one on this trip—the Bunker Museum, which showcases the rough history of the communist era in Albania, the ruthless secret police, and how this era remains a recent trauma among the locals. Realizing how much this country suffered through the 90s, it’s even more impressive to see how fast it’s been developing and how international and vibrant Tirana has become.
We also had time to visit a wine bar and spontaneously do a wine tasting (that turned into a rakia tasting…) at noon. We had seen great reviews on Google Maps for “Class Wines Albania” in the hipster neighborhood Blloku and just wanted to have a look but got convinced by the sweet lady working there to try at least one of their wines on the house. Said and done, we ended up trying a few more and their homemade rakia. She knew so much about wines and was probably the best sommelier I’ve ever encountered. In an hour, we learned everything about Albanian wines, how they’re mostly made in local family-owned small-scale wineries and without chemicals (most of them being natural wines, like in Georgia).
Slightly tipsy, we continued to explore the Blloku neighborhood and found the small cafe Hana (which means “moon" in Albanian) for a last coffee and snack before it was time for Malin to head to the airport and for Sam to arrive from Bulgaria. We also had time for a quick last dinner at a very nice local restaurant called Gjelltore Sauku - Gatime Tradicionale (a bit of a hidden gem in Tirana according to Google Maps reviews), where the owner was such a sweet guy and the food very authentic and homemade.
Read more about our hiking trip in northern Albania in the next blog post!
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