Posted on
December 13, 2025
in
Trip Ideas
Via Jauntsetter, we noted that Lonely Planet has named Albania -- yes, that Albania -- the top destination for 2011 last week. A long time ago (2005, which is a dog’s age on the Internet) the editor of this blog went on an assignment to Albania. It is, as the guidebooks might say, a majestic landscape filled with craggy mountainsides, azure seas, and 700,000 bunkers built during the Cold War by Albania’s paranoid dictator, Enver Hoxha. It’s hard to mistake it for somewhere else, that’s for sure.
Still, it seems the IgoUgo members who made it there enjoyed Albania; here’s a great journal highlighting a tourist itinerary there, including the ruins of Butrint (a UNESCO heritage site), the seaside town of Sarande (a half-hour ferry ride from Corfu) and Tirana (the dusty capital city).
Is it the top destination for 2011? Over, like, Italy and stuff? Seems unlikely, especially factoring in details like potable water and other niceties available in Italy and not Albania. Our impression five years ago was of a country that was pretty but not quite ready for prime time when it came to tourism. So we’ll put it to our readers: have you ever had an experience visiting a country or destination that was touted as the next big thing and turned out to be more of a bust? Leave a comment, as we’d love to hear about it. In the meantime, back to planning a return visit to Albania…
More Adventures in Eastern Europe on IgoUgo
Photos of Romania
Where to Stay in Hungary
Photos of Croatia
Where to Eat in Lithuania
Posted by alexanderbasek (Alexander Basek)