An excellent way to see Albania My husband and I have recently returned from cycling in Albania. What a fantastic adventure it was. Prior to going on this trip our bikes came out of the shed about once a year and since we are not in the flush of youth we had to go out cycling every weekend for the previous 5 months to make sure we were fit enough and boy were we glad we did. It was a challenging trip but we loved every minute of it. The scenery is fantastic, we could not fault the food and the hotels were a lot better than we anticipated and even quite luxurious at times. Armand is an excellent guide with plenty of local knowledge. He offered to run a kitty for meals and drinks and ordered a variety of food at every meal which made meal times so easy and enjoyable. It is a fast paced trip and we had to be up early every day for breakfast and be ready to leave by 8.30 every morning but we were glad of this because at least it was cooler when we set off and we always had a nice stop for coffee to look forward to after a couple of hours. It is a great way to see Albania and it was great to start inland and then move to the coast offering different scenery and a chance to have a swim in the sea. We enjoyed the cultural stops and the chance to learn about the history of Albania. The minibus driver was always there with extra water, bananas and snacks when you needed them and greeted us with a smile at the top of every climb. I would strongly recommend this trip to anyone but to enjoy it make sure you do plenty of hill training. We hired the bikes offered by the tour operator and these were of good quality although we took our own saddles. We used the pedals on the bikes ie. no clip ons and managed it okay so if you fancy it go for it - you won't regret it.
What an excellent trip. I feel privileged to have undertaken it. Overall the group was fortunate enough to have nice appropriate weather to undertake the challenging long hikes which were up to 20km in length and over 1,500 metres ascent.
I cannot rate this tour highly enough! Excellent tour from day one. As a solo traveler, I never felt left out. Everything was well organized and coordinated. The Santorini Hotel is very close to Thira so we were able to wander the streets and explore. The Mykonos hotel is not near town, but there was a regular public bus service. The views from both hotels were spectacular. Electra Hotel in Athens is very close to the main tourist sites and Plaka. I highly recommend this tour for solo travelers and couples. I wish I could spend more nights on the islands.