Tirana and Dajti Mountain by cable car ride
This morning we will explore the colorful capital of Albania, Tirana. Tirana has a never-ending movement and energy. This metropolis city is worth to discover by day and night. Founded in the 1614, Tirana is now a developed city which combines culture, history, contemporary architecture and lots of hospitality shown towards tourists. As you take a walk in Tirana you will enjoy the look of the colorful buildings, fancy coffees and green parks.
Walk by the main boulevard, the Pyramid, The opera House and National Library, Governmental buildings, the new bazaar and the pedestrian area. Entrance to the National Historical Museum
Our walk continues to the local market, located in the bazaar of the city.
In the bazaar you can find local farmers selling fresh products, street food and different restaurants. We stop for lunch in one of the restaurants.
Afterwards, we head to Dajti Mountain – standing at 1,613 m above sea level.The trip starts with a panoramic cable car ride to the National Park of Dajti. This is the longest cableway in the Balkans of 4.7 kilometres. The 15 minute scenic journey takes visitors over forest, farms, hilltops and even bunkers. After arrival, guided visit of Dajti National Park will offer the visitors the possibility of enjoying the panoramic views over Tirana and its surroundings while breathing fresh air. Traditional dinner will be organized in the panoramic restaurant overlooking the city, with dishes based on fresh meat and bio vegetables of the village. We will try as well the traditional plate calles Fergese, made of oven baked ricotta, with peppers and tomatoes. Special desert Bakllava, a rich, sweet dessert pastry made of layers of filo filled with chopped nuts and sweetened and held together with syrup or honey
In the afternoon return to Tirana for overnight,

Tirana – Kruja 40 min – Agro Tourism – Tirana 1 hrs
Today we continue to Kruja, the historical city which lays on a panoramic view on the top of a hill, 600 km above sea level. With a combination of nature, history, archeology, traditional food and lifestyle, Kruja is one of the most beautiful tourist spots in Albania. Kruja is notable from its stony streets and traditional buildings. The tour begins with the visit in the Castle, the citadel of the National hero, Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg. It is build 548 m above sea level and gives a spectacular view of the surroundings
While we visit the castle, we will stop in the veranda of a small bar inside the castle walls, and degustation a shot of raki, the traditional alchoholic drink, whose main ingredient is typically grapes.
Further we visit the Ethnographic Museum of Kruja.
After the visits it’s time to get closer to Albanian traditions and lifestyle, by visiting the bazaar. It is a one street of shops, with wooden buildings and a mixture of cafés and small souvenir and antique shops.
Lunch in a local restaurant with folkshow live performance. Traditional plates with meat based menu, like homemade veal meatballs, grilled fresh bio vegetables from the nearby farms, and a special desert called kabuni.
Kabuni is a traditional Albanian dessert made of rice fried in butter, mutton broth (ram’s neck only), raisins (rinsed first in warm water), and some salt. It is then boiled before sugar, cinnamon, and ground cloves are added. It is served cold.
After lunch we transfer towards Tirana. Along the way we will stop and spend the afternoon in a small village and agro tourism including an open air restaurant, vineyard and the winery where the family produces its wine. Dinner We with some delicacies of this region such us pickles, local cheeses, bio olive oil, several kinds of bread etc. in their rustic form; and young goats meat done in a very traditional way. Overnight in Tirana.

Tirana – Monastery of Ardenica 1 hrs – Archeological Park Apollonia 1 hrs – Berat *Unesco 1.5 hrs
After breakfast we depart for Berat.
On the way to this UNESCO World Heritage Site, we visit Ardenica and Apollonia. Ardenica is an Orthodox monastery built in the 13th century. It is thought that it was in this idyllic place that the marriage of the Albanian national hero Scanderbeg was celebrated in the 15th century. After Ardenica we proceed to Apollonia, situated on the famous Via Egnatia.
Apollonia was founded at the beginning of the 7th century BC by the Greek colonists and in Roman times, it was a large and flourishing city (with 50.000 residents in the second century BC) near Aos river (today Vjosa). The monastery (which houses the museum) courtyard enclosed a Byzantine church dating back to the 14th century. We will have a characteristic lunch of the “Muzeqe” region with small hens baked in the oven with rice on a beautiful terrace of a local restaurant.
After lunch we continue our trip to the UNESCO town Berat, the pride of Albanian antiquity and architecture. Traditional dinner in the old town and overnight in Berat.

Full Day in Berat with family visit and wine tour
The town of Berat forms a wonderful combination of eastern and western cultures, costumes and traditions. The architecture of the old houses, with large windows that overlook the town, is the first think that impresses the visitors. Our first stop of this morning: the Citadel. It overlooks the river and the modern city as well as the old Christian quarter across the river. The citadel can be reached by a steep road and is still inhabited.
Inside the citadel, we visit the iconographic museum Onufri, with painting from the 16 the century, from the famous orthodox painter of that period, Onufri.
After the visits visit a local family in Berat, meet with the family members, discus on the lifestyle.
We can help in preparing the lunch and then and enjoy the freshly cooked, homemade dishes, deserts and Turkish coffee.
After lunch time we visit a local winery near the city. Here we will walk in the vineyards, see the wine production and enjoy the degustation of local wines and snacks. Overnight in Berat.

Berat – Pogradec & Ohrid Lake 3 hrs – Korca Old Town 40 min
This morning we depart for Korca,
Along the way we stop for lunch in Pogradec, the small town located in the shores of Lake Ohrid.
Lunch in a local restaurant nearby the park of Drilon, where we will try the traditional plate of Koran fish with walnuts, (Ohrid trout or the Lake Ohrid brown trout is an endemic species of trout in Lake Ohrid and in its tributaries and outlet, the Black Drin river, in the Republic of Macedonia and Albania in the Balkans. Locally, the fish is known as koran in Albanian)
Continue to Korca where we will spend the afternoon in a guided tour of the city.
The city is known for its typical quarters, composed of low houses and villas, which are paved with cobblestone. The city of Korça has a range of museums such as the Education Museum (located in the building where the first Albanian school opened in 1887), the renewed National Museum of Medieval Art (to visit absolutely), the Prehistoric Museum, the House-Museum of the famous landscape painter, Vangjush Mio, the Museum of the Oriental Art “Bratko”, etc. In the vicinity of the city is the cemetery of French soldiers fallen during the First World War.
The Theatre Cajupi is also a place to see concerts or theatre performances depending by the season .
We will Discover Europe’s richest archive of Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons at the Medieval Museum of Art and as well Visit a traditional market rooted in Ottoman heritage
Apart from the museums and monuments, Korça is the city where the largest carnival in Albania is organized, taking place before Orthodox Easter. Musically, the city is known for the local songs, called serenata
Today we will have another traditional dinner in a local restaurant serving qofte (or kernacka), kolloface and lakror (a traditional pie with herbs). Overnight in Korca.

Korca – Authentic Village of Voskopoja 30 min – Korca
Full day in the city of Korca, from where we can visit the mountain village of Voskopoja,
Voskopoja village, situated only of 13 km in the west of Korca is known since the 14th century by the name Moskopoli. Voskopoja was an important centre that remains to this day as an abundant storehouse of well-known centre of art, where some of the most talented Albanian painters practiced their profession. At the second half of the 18th century, Voskopoja was ruined and turned again into a village as it had been originally. The pillaging of the town, especially of its treasures, of the records and manuscripts of its churches continued even during the World War I and II.
In the afternoon we visit the beer factory of Birra Korca, one of the main beer producers in the country. Tour of the factory and degustation of beer and snacks. Overnight in Korca.

Korca – Agro tourism in Erseka – Small town of Permet – Gjirokastra *Unesco 5 hrs
In the morning we depart for Permet. The greenest and the cleanest town in Albania, famous for its folk music and the good cooking, ‘gliko’ sweets, good wine and raki
On the road we have a quick stop in Erseka, a town in southeastern Albania. Founded in the 17th century, Erseka is the capital of the Kolonjë District. Situated at the foot of the Gramoz mountains, it is a small alpine town at 1050 meters in altitude, making it the highest town in Albania. We enjoy refreshments in a local farm, before continuing our travel to the thermal waters of Benja. Panoramic views and hot curative waters, before our lunch time in a local restaurant. Today we will try three of the typical plates of the region: chicken soup with bread crumbs, baked lamb meat and the traditional desert called reshendi made of milk and nuts,
In the afternoon reach the Unesco town of Gjirokastra, for dinner and overnight.

Full day in Gjirokastra and Cooking Class
We spend a full day in the old town of Gjirokastra, one of the highlights of the Albanian Culinary.
We will visit the castle which offers a spectacular view of the city from above; the Ethnographic museum which is the birth house of the ex dictator Enver Hoxha and narrow streets of the old bazaar.
While in the old town, we engage in a cooking class with one one of the oldest chefs in the city, who will show us some of the main traditional plates, before we enjoy lunch.
Traditional pies with fresh herbs and corn flour; oven baked lamb meat with a mixture of yogurt and eggs called Tave Kosi, baked eggplants filled with rice, veal meat and tomatoes; and Oshaf – a special pudding made of goat milk dried figs and cinnamon – will be some of the caloric plates of our last dinner in Gjirokastra.

Gjirokastra – Durres 3 hrs – Factory of Skenderbeu Cognac – Tirana 40 min
After breakfast we depart for Durres, one of the oldest and most important cities of Albania, where we will have lunch of fresh fish and seafood in a restaurant near the seaside.
After lunch we visit the Skenderbeu factory, where the famous Skenderbeu cognac is produced and where we can taste this delicious drink.
Afterwards we head back to Tirana where we will spend the rest of the afternoon at leisure before a dinner in a special venue overlooking the capital. Overnight in Tirana.

Tirana – Airport 30 min
For breakfast we will try a last “secret” Albanian plate. Free time to explore Tirana, followed by the airport transfer and departure.