Vlorë, Albania

Description: Vlorë aka Vlora is the third most populous city in Albania. It lies on the coast of the nation, on the Western side, right where the Ionian and Adriatic Seas meet, which is still referred to by many as the Mediterranean Sea. Vlorë city is surrounded by steep mountains and enjoys a warmer, Mediterranean style climate. The city is mostly flat, and along the two main roads, Bulevardi Ismail Qemali and along the waterfront known as Lungomare, the walkways are 10-30 feet wide. Aside from those areas, Vlorë is a challenge to navigate on foot at times and in many areas little to no accessibility for wheelchairs. Uneven paver stones, missing stones or open utility covers with no markings are very common.

With a history of its beginnings in the 11th century BC by the Illyrians, it is a fiercely proud Albanian city today. It has been occupied by the Romans, Byzantines, Normans, Venetians and the Ottomans. In much more recent history, Vlorë played an extremely important role in the Independence of Albania on 28 November 1912 when their founders signed the Declaration of Independence at the Assembly of Vlorë after winning their freedom from Ottoman rule. Vlorë was the capital city of Albania for a very short time, before the city and Albania itself was invaded in 1914 by the Italians in World War I.

After a very dark period in the history of Albania, Communism was defeated in Albania in 1991. Shortly after, Vlorë was the center of the 1997 civil unrest after the financial collapse of several fraudulent investment schemes which eventually led to the fall of the government administration at that time.

Vlorë is connected by a decent highway system with the rest of Albania, with much of it currently under construction/modernization. There is no rail system currently working in Vlorë, having fallen into poor condition in the past decade. Efforts are reportedly underway to rebuild and improve the railway here and throughout Albania. There is an intracity bus network that is pretty reliable and runs continuous throughout the day on an approximate 20min schedule between buses. The intercity bus “station” is along the main road on the Eastern edge of the city. Departure and arrival times can vary greatly from posted times and the overall vehicle conditions are sometimes questionable, but fares are extremely cheap. There is currently an international airport being constructed North of Vlorë a few miles, with completion set for 2024. Obviously, the deadline is passed, and all sources say it will be “Soon” with a shoulder shrug.

Descriptive Word: Contrast – Wherever we looked in Vlorë we saw contrast. It started with the city map. Old town, though small, stands in sharp contrast to the large Lungomare boardwalk area which runs along the coastline. It’s like visiting two completely different cities. The city buses and taxis contrasted from vintage to modern. The apartment complexes contrasted from older to newer even when sitting side-by-side. The roads and sidewalks showed contrast in different segments as newer cobblestone pavers ended to cement, then became cobblestone again. But one of the most contrasting views we saw in Vlorë was between the older men and women who lived through communist times and the teenage boys and girls who were being played by the strings of capitalism. We hope deep in our hearts that the two generations are talking enough to preserve growth and avoid political upheaval.

Summary of Thoughts: Vlorë was a lovely place to vacation. After all of the hustle to historical monuments in Italy, it was wonderful to slow the pace of our days and enjoy living. We spent quality time on the beach and swimming in the Adriatic/Ionian Sea. We got silly on several days and tried youthful activities with an ATV excursion and stand-on scooters (see photos below). Given the rich history of Vlorë, we visited the National Museum of Independence, the World War II monument, two mosques, and the Old Town. The ATV excursion included a visit to the St. Mary Monastery built in the 13th or 14th century as well as caves used by military personnel in WWII with drawings on the walls. Our side-trip to the Apollonia Archeological Park was wonderful as we followed the stones back to the Greek Colonists of the 7th century BCE. While the UNESCO world heritage site known as the City of Stone, Gjiorkaster, filled our minds with beauty and history of ancient to modern times.

Number of Days we visited: 31

Analyzed Costs: Albania is a cheaper destination that many budget travelers visit. The cost of visiting Vlorë, a coastal town, can be influenced by the high tourist season in the summer. We visited in July, high season. All of our expenses have been converted from Albania Leke to US dollars below. Since Albanian cuisine was both new and less expensive than our previous Italy destinations, we ate out more frequently. You will see our entertainment expenses were high this month, but there were two main factors for this. First, we bought an ATV excursion at $112 total. Second, we took a 2-night day trip out of our Vlorë destination to visit Gjirokaster. This included 2 nights at a hotel ($110) with car rental and fuel ($470). Additionally, we had entrance fees to Gjirokaster Castle, the Apollonia Archeological Park, A Cold War Tunnel Museum, and the traditional house museums.