It's November in Albania, and I'm burnt out
September 20, 2024 5:33 AM   Subscribe

Please give me your Albania (and Albania-adjacent) recomendations to incorporate into my trip in mid November. Have car, will travel.

For work reasons I have had to turn my much-anticipated late-August tour of Albania's beaches and hiking trails into a hasty five-day visit in the middle of November.

I usually love planning trips. I am pretty torn up that I had to cancel my holiday in the first place, and it gets worse when I remember that now when I do go, I won't be able to do literally any of the things I'd been looking forward to.

I am so burnt out right now that the idea of re-researching and re-planning this trip around things which will still be fun to do even if it's cold and raining is literally the very final straw.

Please tell me about the thing you did in Albania (or any nearby Balkan country even) which you would suggest that I also do, in November, in the rain!
posted by citands to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Sorry your original plans got messed up. I've only visited the Macedonian side of Lake Ohrid, but I'd go there even in bad weather. There are still historic sites to visit and while the views won't be as spectacular, it's a beautiful region, regardless.
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:46 AM on September 20


I haven’t been but it’s on my list. I’m not the biggest castle / history museum person, I like water views, food and colorful art. This is what I’d do in November:

- THERMAL BATHS! November + thermal baths sounds like heaven.
- walk around Gijirokastra, looks beautiful!
- wine tasting! Apparently Albanian wines are quite good
- Bunk’Art museum (Tirana) and see if they have a walking art tour through the city
- Lake Skadar

Nearby travel:

- seconding above suggestion for Lake Orhid
- Kotor Montenegro (a bay)
posted by seemoorglass at 8:49 AM on September 20


Haven't been to Albania, but Oct/Nov is one of my favorite times to visit the Balkans and Eastern Europe. I've been to Bulgaria, Serbia, and Croatia in the fall and love it there at that time of year. The late afternoon sun, the crispness in the air, the sense of a last bit of adventure before winter sets in. You'll have a great time.

Maybe hike to some spomeiniks? Check out the Dark Tourism website?

Belgrade has a great food and beer scene. Sofia has a fun art and music scene (with some decent jazz to be found).
posted by msbrauer at 9:58 AM on September 20


Italy by ferry? Bari and Puglia should be relatively OK in November. Probably some rain, but not miserable, and still lots of fun stuff. Greece?
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:27 AM on September 20


If you are burnt out and only have five days I’d not want to spend time on long side trips/visiting neighbouring countries but focus on one area and a chill itinerary in that location.
posted by koahiatamadl at 2:05 AM on September 21


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