Albania has come onto travel routes relatively recently, and the coast is the main reason: the Ionian shore around Sarande and Himare has clear water and fewer built-up stretches than its neighbours. Inland, Berat and Gjirokaster preserve Ottoman-era hillside towns, and the mountains in the north are genuinely remote.
The guides on this page cover Albania as a whole. Summer is the coastal season and August is busy with returning diaspora as well as foreign visitors. Roads have improved but mountain routes remain slow. Cash is used more widely than cards outside Tirana, and the currency is the lek, though euros circulate informally in tourist areas.