8-Day Albania and North Macedonia Tour with UNESCO Cities

• Pick up from Tirana Airport by your tour guide.
• Transfer to your hotel in Tirana and spend the rest of the day relaxing.

Dinner and overnight stay in Tirana.

• Pick up from your hotel in Tirana and travel to the medieval town of Kruja, located on the slope of Mount Sari Salltiku.
• Walk through its old bazaar and see handmade craft items.
• Discover the 6th-century fortress and the ethnographic museum.
• Continue to Ardenica to visit the Monastery of Ardenica, built by the Byzantine emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus in 1282 after his victory against the Angioni in the Siege of Berat.
• Visit the Apollonia Archaeological Park and pass through olives, oaks, and other plantations on the way.
• See the imposing walls of stone blocks, the agora, the Buleterioni, marble colonnades, the amphitheatre, the library, the stoa, necropolis, the baths, the gymnasium, nymphaeum, mosaics, and other monuments in the park.
• Arrive in Vlora, known as the place where Albania's independence was proclaimed on 28 November 1912.

Dinner and overnight stay in Vlora.

• Pick up from your hotel in Vlora and travel all morning along the Albanian Riviera, passing through the small villages of Lukova, Qeparo, Borsh, Himara, and Demi.
• Stop at Llogara National Park on the way and continue to the ancient city of Butrint.
• Visit the Ancient Amphitheater, the Temple of Aesculapius, the Baptistery with colourful mosaics, and the ancient city walls.
• Discover an old fortress that houses a small museum overlooking the entire site, one of the last pristine and ancient natural areas of the Mediterranean.

Dinner and overnight stay in Gjirokastra.

• Pick up from your hotel in Gjirokastra, one of the three UNESCO sites in Albania.
• Visit the fortress of Gjirokaster, where the Gjirokaster National Folklore Festival takes place every five years.
• See the local houses in Gjirokaster, known for their distinctive style that has earned the city the nickname "City of Stone" because most of the old houses have flat stone roofs.
• Explore an ancient Ottoman bazaar that was originally built in the 17th century.
• Proceed to Berat, the city of "A Thousand and One" windows.

Dinner and overnight stay in Berat.

• Pick up from your hotel in Berat and visit the Berat Citadel.
• Discover many churches that have survived within its massive stone walls.
• Visit the Onufri Museum and continue to the medieval part of the city.
• See the Lead Mosque, the Bachelor Mosque, the Gorica Bridge, and other attractions.
• Cross the border with Macedonia and arrive in Ohrid.

Dinner and overnight stay in Ohrid.

• Pick up from your hotel in Ohrid and start a sightseeing tour of the city, famous for once having 365 churches, one for each day of the year, and therefore referred to as the Jerusalem of the Balkans.
• Travel to Lake Ohrid, the largest lake in the city.
• Visit St. Sophia Church, Castle Samuil, the Church of Saint Clement, St. John Church, and San Naum Monastery.

Dinner and overnight stay in Ohrid.

• Pick up from your hotel in Ohrid and travel to Albania.
• See the Clock Tower in the city centre, one of the oldest constructions in Tirana, built in 1820.
• Continue to Et'hem Bey Mosque, considered one of the most beautiful mosques in Albania, with fascinating decorations and artworks.
• Explore the National Historical Museum, the main museum in Tirana, easily recognizable because of the huge mosaic standing on top of its front facade.
• Visit the National Art Gallery, the National Archaeological Museum of Albania, the Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral, and Saint Paul Catholic Cathedral.
• Proceed to Burkart, a bunker transformed into an art gallery, with many corridors full of artworks to admire.
• Move to the Blloku Apartment Block and see some of Tirana's best cafes, shops, and restaurants.
• Discover the villa of the former dictator, Enver Hoxha.

Dinner and overnight stay in Tirana.

• Pick up from your hotel in Tirana and travel to Tirana Airport.
• Depart Albania.

End of the tour.