Ridiculous Roads, Finger-Licking Food & Blissful Beaches… Our Balkan Adventure
We spent two weeks exploring the Balkans, where we split time across Montenegro, Albania, and Croatia. Rich in history, the Balkan people have maintained their cultures and identities over time, enduring multiple wars, attacks, and rulers. Although they are “young” countries in terms of when their current governments were established, the customs and traditions date back centuries… resulting in a unique culture, interesting architecture, and many new foods to try! We loved exploring and learning about the Balkans, a region we knew little about prior to arriving.
We started our… you guessed it… road trip(!) in Kotor, Montenegro, a fortified city tucked away in the Bay of Kotor. The city has become a very popular port for cruise ships, and can sometimes have up to six cruise ships docked at one time. The locals we spoke with described the cruise ship arrivals as very chaotic days that cause the Old Town to explode with tourists. It was very apparent when the cruise ships were docked in the harbor because all of the restaurant workers and shopkeepers became very irritable and frantic. However, as soon as the ships were gone, the Old Town transitioned back to its peaceful tranquility, the locals would start to come out, and the night came alive with music and dance at every turn.
In Kotor, we felt like we were transported back through time as we entered through the city’s main gate. We took a walking tour of the area where our guide, Igor, told us about the city’s history under Venetian rule and how the walls surrounding the city were the most expensive walls built in Europe at the time. Igor also taught us about how the mountains, known as the “black mountains” surrounding the city served as an important defense mechanism. The mountains were nearly uninhabitable due to low vegetation and harsh climates, but because the Montenegrins were hardened mountain people, they could use the mountains as a way to evade any would be intruders. As a result, the Montenegrins were largely left alone throughout history, with the exception of the city of Kotor, which as we mentioned above, was protected by its fortified walls. The Montenegrin history was captivating and the preservation of the walled city was impressive!
In addition to Kotor, we also visited Sveti Stefan and Perast. Sveti Stefan was a quaint beach town known for its island connected to the shore only by a stone walkway and exclusive to those who hold a key. In the past, the island was fully residential, but most recently was converted to a resort. Today, it can only be visited by those with a hotel or restaurant reservation… or to anyone who books a tour. The island is captivating and the surrounding beaches are just as beautiful!
Our final and favorite stop in Montenegro was Perast, an old fishing village that was less than one mile long from end to end. As with Kotor, Perast also sits on the bay surrounded by the grand black mountains. The town was extremely charming and it felt like we were living in a fairy tale. One thing we loved about Perast was that it was essentially car free. No one is allowed to drive in town without a permit, and permits are limited to the ~200 residents. Even then, few own cars. The town has around a dozen restaurants, two small bodegas, two ice cream shops, and a few hotels. Life is simple there, with little to do other than enjoy the sunshine, water, and spend time with the people you’re with. Wake up, grab breakfast, wander around, and find a sliver of the city’s retaining wall to lay your towel and jump into the crystal clear water. Repeat.
Crossing the border into Albania was was night and day from Montenegro. We could immediately tell we were leaving the EU. Albania’s infrastructure was not nearly as developed as Montenegro’s, with many buildings abandoned halfway into their development and very rough roads. However, none of that really mattered because the country’s charm was in its beautiful nature, culture, and people, which were present at every turn.
We love being thrown into a new culture and having to observe locals to figure out the lifestyle and ways things flow. We really enjoy when things are just a little bit more difficult… it’s one of our favorite parts of traveling. We generally find that as complexity and difficulty increase, the more authentic and local our experiences become. So, while it may sound counterintuitive for us to say we enjoy when things are difficult, we truly mean it!
And this was Albania. Difficult and beautiful. To begin, we kept getting our rental car stuck on very steep, narrow roads and having to execute challenging maneuvers with the guidance of many locals to get unstuck… all in a manual car! This was Britt’s least favorite part of the trip, and it happened more often than we would have preferred. Thankfully we got out of those situations with minor… maybe more than minor… dings on the car that luckily went unnoticed by the rental company. We attribute that to Britt’s flattery of the agent, distracting her as she examined the car upon return.
Crazy roads and driving challenges aside, we first headed south towards the Albanian Riviera for some time at the beach. The coastline was incredibly stunning with clear blue waters! We could definitely see why this area is a hot spot that has been rapidly growing in popularity in recent years, and it was apparent from all the ongoing construction and development that it will only continue to grow. We spent a few days enjoying the cities of Sarandë and Ksamil, hanging by the beach, meeting new friends, and eating delicious Albanian dishes. Street food consisted of pita gyros at the steep price of $3, a scoop of gelato for $0.50, and country salads (i.e., Greek salads) for $2.50 at every corner. Restaurants served more traditional cuisine, which consisted of delicious fish, baked cheese, rice balls, risottos, and Byrek (pastry dough filled with ricotta, spinach, or whatever the baker’s heart desires). Everything was consistently delicious and very reasonably priced compared to similar coastal towns along the Mediterranean. We have yet to visit Greece on this trip, but we imagine the Albanian Riviera to be a more budget friendly version of Greece or the French Riviera.
After a few beach days, we headed to Gjirokaster, nicknamed the “City of Stone” due to its unique style of Ottoman architecture found almost exclusively in this town where homes were built with flat stone roofs. In addition to the beautiful architecture, we wanted to visit Gjirokaster because of its proximity to the Vjosa River, which is currently being protected to create Europe’s first “wild river” national park. The stretch of the Vjosa River in Albania is one of Europe’s few remaining undammed rivers, meaning that the flow of the water is not redirected or altered by human projects. We took a day trip through the Vjosa Valley and stopped in the town of Permet, a quaint town set on the banks of the river with many outdoor adventure activities, such as biking, hiking, and paddle boarding. It was scorching hot the day we visited and we spent some time hanging out at the river with all the locals after having lunch and walking through the town. It was a great way to cool off, and it felt like everyone in town had the same idea!
Back in Gjirokaster, we enjoyed wandering the old streets, admiring the architecture, and visiting the shops filled with unique hand crafted goods. This was also the place where we got our car stuck in the most precarious situation. Unfortunately, we have no photo evidence… only nightmares. Long story long, we were trying to visit a very old Ottoman bridge that was at the top of a VERY steep one-lane road. Our car was tiny and could barely make it up the hill, and at one point we had to reverse back down a bit to be able to turn around to head the right direction. As we reversed, we noticed that there was a drop off into someone’s driveway, but it was too late and the car didn’t have enough power to go back up the steep hill without sliding backwards. So, the car slid back off the ~1 foot ledge and banged hard on the ground. Thankfully everything turned out okay. Not sure how we got out of that one unscathed. 😮💨 It was at this point that our stamina for the roads started to diminish quickly, and little did we know we had another precarious situation ahead of us in our next city.
Berat, known as the “City of 1000 Windows”, was our final stop in Albania. This was the most developed city we visited in Albania and, similar to Gjirokaster, it was full of beautiful Ottoman architecture. Here, however, the defining characteristic was… as the name aptly suggests… MANY windows. It’s hard to explain the sheer number of windows that could be seen at any given time. Each of the buildings had the same windows and they almost appeared to blend in together.
To get a better view of the city, we hiked to the Berat Castle which was perched atop another very steep hill. You know… the ones we kept getting our car stuck on. It was a nice hike (although still really hot!) up to the top, and we were able to walk through the old ramparts before reaching a lookout point where we could see all 1000 of Berat’s windows. After watching a bit of the sunset, we made our way back down to the main promenade and enjoyed the night life for our last night in Albania.
We wrapped up our Balkan adventure with a quick two nights in Dubrovnik, Croatia. We intend to spend more time in Croatia in the future, but this time around we only had the chance to visit Dubrovnik because we had to get back to Chicago for a wedding! (Congrats Blake and Steph!) From Britt’s last visit to Dubrovnik in 2012, not much had changed except the sheer number of tourists and Game of Thrones souvenir shops. It was a beautiful fortified city nonetheless!
Our time in the Balkans definitely had its challenges and there were moments where giving up seemed like the easiest option… but we persevered! What we faced in challenges was countered or exceeded by the kindness of strangers, enchanting culture, and beautiful ocean. Would we visit the Balkans again? Potentially… although not super high on our list of repeats. Are we glad we made a last minute decision to visit? Absolutely.
