Albania, The Land of Eagles, the perfect place to find tens of castles which show the long and never ending history of Albania.
Built in different ways, times, and rules, they are a precious treasure which still can be found in different cities in Albania.
They show our old culture and are an important evidence that have survived three different empires.

Since Illyria, medieval times and nowadays, some of them even destroyed are standing.
They were built by the strongest rocks, they stand even opposite the greatest empires of the time.

Some of them are :

Ali Pasha Castle is a castle in the city of Butrint, its named after Ali Pasha of Tepelenë who held residence at the place until 1820.
The current fortress was rebuilt in 1819 from its surface with 3 towers. Until 1820 was the second residence of Ali Pashe Tepelena.

Berat Castle is a castle in the city with the same name, it is built on a rocky hill on the left side of the river Osum and is accessible only from the south. First burned in 200 b.c by Romans, then rebuilt by Byzanitine Emperors.
The buildings inside the fortress were built during the 13th century and because of their characteristic architecture are preserved as cultural monuments.

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Albania is a country that fulfills most of the wishes of its tourists. Besides the 2 seas there are also many lakes: big ones and small ones.

Here is a list of the most popular lakes in Albania:

• Shkodër Lake – This lake is near the city of Shkodër which is situated North of the country, very near the border of Albania with Montenegro. This is the biggest lake of the Balkan peninsula.
• Ohrid Lake - This lake is one of the best in the peninsula for tourism. Albania shares this lake with Macedonia. The numbers of tourists here is very high during all the year.
• Big Lake Prespa ; Small Lake Prespa – These 2 lakes are shared between Greece, Albania and Macedonia. Very popular for tourism.
• Lurë Lakes – The potential of these lakes is huge. Sometimes they call this place ” a miracle of nature ” . The government expects investments from foreign investors.
• Butrinti Lake – This lake is situated near the ancient city of Butrint. It’s not a very big lake but it’s known for its archeological values. Thousands of tourists visit this place every year. It is one of the most visited place in Albania by both tourists and Albanian people.

In all this lakes the infrastructure gets better year after year and it’s not perfect yet. Anyway, these are great places to visit because Mother Nature has done an awesome job. Surrounding these lakes there are many hotels. Prices vary from place to place but the most expensive ones are in the Ohrid Lake.

Going to these lakes is very easy. Each of them isn’t more than 3 hours driving from Tirana.

Below you can learn some interesting facts and figures about Albania.

This is the Albanian flag, red with a black two-headed eagle in the center. Albania is also known as Land of Eagles. Other formal names of Albania are Republic of Albania whereas in the Albanian language there is Shqiperia or Republika Shqiperise.

Albanian Cities

• City Population
• Tirana                      898000
• Durrës                      365000
• Elbasan                    359000
• Fier                            383000
• Vlorë                        263000
• Shkodër                   228000
• Korçë                        202000
• Gjirokastër             175000
• Berat                         163000
• Lushnjë                   100000
• Sarandë                    80,200

(*Note that the data above contains different smaller villages or other districts)

Albanian Population

Albanian Population is said to be approximately 3,639,453 (July 2009 est.) with a population growth of 0.5 % per year. Note that 3.6 million Albanians are counted only in the Republic of Albania whereas the total number of Albanians worldwide is said to be around 6.5 million and most of them live in Greece, Italy, United States and other Western European countries

Albanian Ethnic Groups

Albanian 95%, Greek 3%, other 2% (Vlach, Roma (Gypsy), Serb, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Turks)

Religion in Albania

Even though Albania is known as one of the countries where different religions live happily together, there are different break-downs such the ones below

Muslim 60%, Albanian Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10%, Atheists 10 %

Languages Spoken in Albania

Albanian (official – derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani, Slavic dialects

Area

The Albanian area is approximately 28.748 km square from which 4.7 percent is covered from water

Currency:  LEK  (1 Euro – 130 lek)
Internet TLD:  .AL
Calling Code: 355

This is a question many foreign tourists ask. After reading this tutorial you will have a better understanding on where is Albania located.
Albania is located in the South-Eastern Europe, it is bordered from Kosovo and Montenegro in the north, Macedonia in the east and south-east, Greece. On the west it is the Adriatic Sea and after that, Italy.

How to go in Albania?

First of all depends how are you going to travel, there are actually 3 different ways to visit Albania. Let me explain each of them below.

Visiting Albania By Car

If you are visiting Albania from Greece , you will encourter 2 different borders. Kapshtica, which is in Korca and Kakavija which is in Gjirokaster

If you are visiting Albania from Macedonia, you will have to pass from Plloca or Gorica.

If you are visiting Albania from Kosovo or Montenegro, you will have to pass from Morine

Visiting Albania By Plane

Using the plane its faster, more secure but of course more expensive. There is solely one international airport and that is Mother Teresa Airport, which is situated approximately 17 km away from the center of Tirana. Most of the well known cities in Europe have direct flights to Tirana, Albania so its a good option if you have a couple of hundreds to spend

Visiting Albania By Ferryboat

If you are visiting Albania by Ferryboat (especially from Italy) then there are 2 big sea ports which are respectively located in Durres, which is the biggest port in Albania and also in Vlora. Once you are in the Durres port, you can get a taxi or a bus and be in Tirana for approximately 30 minutes

I believe I have included all the information needed for each of you to know where Albania is located or how to visit it

If you have any questions dont hesitate to contact us below

If you are reading this then most probably you would like to visit Albania. First of all congratulations, its a wise choice. This website was launched with the sole purpouse, showing to the world the magnificent territory of Albania.

If you love seas, no need to worry, we have got in thenorth the Adriatic Sea and in the south, Ioanian Sea. The Albanian Riviera which is located in the south-western part of the country offers excellent relaxing places for any ages.
If you love greeneries or mountains, we have reserved a spot for you too, Albania has a lot of high mountains where you can go and have some fun with your beloved ones. We are sure you will never forget those moments.

In this site we will try to add all the information needed for anyone who is willing to visit Albania. The following categories will be available for any of you

• Albanian Cities -> Different guides about different cities in Albania
• Albanian Geography -> Whether you want to know the population of Albania or its borders, everything will be explained in this sector
• Albanian History -> The famous Albanian history will be discussed in this category
• Albanian Hotels -> If you are looking for accomodation in Albania or if you want albanian hotel reviews then this will be your ideal spot
• Albanian Economy -> We are sure many of you might be interested to invest in the Albanian Real Estate thats why there will be a special sector solely for the discussion of Albanian Economy

Thanks for your time

Stay Tuned

Travel Albania Staff