FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ALBANIA | Be careful in Tirana!! Our worst travel experience yet :(

Location: Tirana, Albania
Recorded: April 24, 2022
Vlog 136

In this vlog we headed from Budva in Montenegro to Tirana in Albania!

We started off by taking a bus from Budva to Podgorica, which is the capital of Montenegro. From there, we caught a bus that crossed the Albanian border and dropped us off in the city center of Tirana!

We then took a taxi to the airport, because we wanted to rent a car, and then drove finally to our Airbnb.

Our Airbnb in Tirana was great! We hung out for a few hours before picking up our friend from college Davina in the middle of the night.

The next day, we explored Tirana. We got some breakfast in the morning at Skanderberg square, toured the bunker museum and went to all the major monuments and places to see in Tirana.

We were planning on staying a few hours longer in Tirana, however, we almost got robbed, and certainly got verbally assaulted. Watch near the end of the video to see what we mean!

After this traumatic experience, we immediately left Tirana, and did a cool 4 hour drive down to Sarande in the south!

We hope you enjoy the vlog, and we are excited to show you more of Albania over the next few days!

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:30 Bus from Budva to Tirana, Albania!
1:25 Making it to Tirana
1:57 Matt pulled a dumb
2:45 Amazing Airbnb in Tirana!
5:01 Our friend Davina joined us in Albania!
5:28 Exploring Tirana
10:08 Almost got robbed in Tirana, Albania!!!
14:27 Roadtrip to Sarande!
15:10 Thanks for watching!

[srbinbrate]

Im Serbian, i have been to Albania. We lost in the middle of night outside of Durres. Some local guys all young, patriots even some ultras helped us even if i say im Serbian with my mother and our friends are waiting us in Durres. We talk about toursim, guys trying to read translate and speak my langauge. After car stopped (rented car good one but we didnt have luck) we end up in some pizzeria, to help us find the way we stay for dinner, they even had one guy who was in war and he didnt care about us begin Serbs. They took us with their cars to the hotel and friends, our phone dead car dead, oh and the 1 time when our car stopped some older guy 70 helped us too. The funny thing in pizzeria i forgot to say we said where we re from we were about to sit and dude turned on TV there was Vucic president of Serbia i was like oh God he is hunting us everywhere, everyone was laughing. So stop saying Albania is bad, the most kind and beautiful place with amazing people.

[TheIntentionalMan]

So odd that you got this experience. I just moved here and all the expats I’ve been meeting agree on the same things; super friendly, safe, fun, and hidden gem-esque.

[richardhutton]

We spent 3 nights in Tirana last year and it is probably the friendliest city we have visited in Europe, and being from England with access to cheap airlines we have been to many! I would strongly recommend giving Tirana a 2nd chance and exploring places such as blloku with its amazing restaurant and bar scene. While your experience does sound scary not everyone speaks English and most people would not be aware of what was going on.

[endi]

i do not understand the reason of this video title' 'Be careful in Tirana''🤔 it is really nosense to share with the world that a stupid guy in Tirana disturbed you, to be careful for what? these things are common in America more than every other place, but we do not say be careful in U.S.A. anyway guys the only good thing in this video is that, you guys both have a beautiful apparence. that's all

[floramucaj]

Hey guys I was mugged in US, bad experience on Miami Beach. But I don't go a make a whole video about it as I still think America is a great country

[labolabo]

Albania is one of the most friendliest place I’ve been . little things happen everywhere but I guess you have to post it so you can get more viewers same on you

[roshiroshi]

You're literally the first tourists to have this kind of experience in Tirana or Albania in general. The strange thing is not that a mentally ill guy harassed you, because that can happen anywhere. The strange thing is that people didn't even care to help you out, when you asked for help. Albanians are some of the friendliest people in Europe, if not the friendliest, and the police generally come pretty fast when needed. Anyway, i wish it was the only case you had trouble during your stay in Albania, and hopefully you had a better time in Saranda.

[aqiftyta]

I lived there almost all my life and this is really rare. Sorry this happened to you guys.

[RyanandSaz-TravelLife]

Heading to Albania on Saturday! Can’t wait

[raynaguadalupe]

Hey, I am traveling to Albania . What is the name of the cafe? I want to try to pistachio croissant very badly.

[taulantrama]

I love Albania Albania is my country and it’s a very gorgeous country for a visit and it’s a really safety your welcome!

[briantravelman]

The creepy guy story is fine, but messing up the currency exchange, is something I'd keep to myself. Foreigners see that kind of stuff then view Americans as stupid and naiive people who are easy to scam. I have a hard time believing you didn't have problems in Egypt or Morocco, when I've seen even experienced travelers and professional film crews have problems in those countries.

[tonycool]

It is good that you reported on this, with date and time and proximity where this happened. There are cameras everywhere and this incident sound very serious. I really urge the albanian police to catch the guy, this type of incidents can really destroy any tourism prospects in the country.

[JS-irwh]

Your friend needs her own channel. She has amazing charisma and delivery.

[CManipulatedCouch]

I'm planning on doing the same route in October from Budva to Tirana with my fiancée. Where did you book your tickets to Tirana? The only tickets I can find are for a 12 hour bus ride, and we're trying to find anything shorter.

[letmemotivateyou]

Sorry this happened to you in albania is rare to see crazy ppl on streets but i hope u got a good experience the remaining days.

[ToxicVaccines_HivHoax]

You should have called major "Bull Shit" on his claim that police are not going to do anything, and called the police!

That waitress probably didn't speak English so she didn't know how to help. 🤷‍♂️

The police would have 100% nailed his ass!
Few years ago something similar happened with some spanish tourists. Long story short he was arrested and within one or two weeks while he was still in jail, government sent bulldozers to his nice restaurant near the beach, and demolished it. True story! His name is "Mihal Kokdhima". Look it up.

You see Albania really appreciates tourists to support the economy so the authorities will not allow mad people like that to ruin it for everyone. Guaranteed.

[mendjelire]

I go every year in Rome. A couple of years ago I was walking through the historical plazas and it was summer and really hot. I was wearing slippers and my feet were really sweaty and the walking got uncomfortable. I saw a faucet and I rinsed my feet, I saw a man walking and yelling in a threatening way towards me saying in Italian (I know some Italian) that was a drinking fountain and was not for washing feet. I gave him a look measuring him up and down and I walked way. He kept on ranting against tourists in general. Clearly a man with mental issues. The faucet was two feet from the ground, I don't know if that was really for drinking but even if it was I did not touch it with my feet. How was I supposed to know that that was for drinking when it was situated so low. Anyway one crazy man is not going to make me not visit Rome anymore.
Another time in the center of Amsterdam I stepped one foot for a split second on the bike lane, as the sidewalk was narrow and crowded and this old guy coming on a bike gave me an earful of insults and bitching about tourists in general as well. He had a lot of space on the bike lane but I guess crazy does not make sense.
I have a lot of such stories from my travels.
So what I am trying to say, that one guy probably had mental issues or was high on something or drunk on your beauty. Don't mind him, or the waitress who was probably scared herself or did not know what to do or busy with her job.

[bartstewart]

The takeaway from the crazy guy story is to go ahead and call the police. The cashier said they weren't going to show up, but I'm thinking she was wrong. They were never called so we don't know. Also this was a really rare case in Albania. Sorry it happened.

[RoyalBee]

bro its just you dont got info same thing happend to me in barcelona spain and it was worst experience for me i ent to every country in europe in dubai abu dabi and that a=was my worse experience because we dont got info