First impressions. First time you set foot in a new country. Misconceptions. Albania has certainly suffered from its turbulent past. Traces of Greek, Roman and Otoman empires are still visible today, not only in historical buildings and culture, but also in the Albanian way of doing things. But perhaps the communist period is the one that has left the most prominent mark.

We entered Albania coming from Igoumenitsa, on the Greek side, on a Sunday evening. Border control was smooth and fast, but I suspect it had to do with our timing. The landscape that unfolds is scenic and rocky, as the road unwinds between craggy slopes. We then passed through what only seemed to be a deserted suburb of Sarande, the beach resort close to Ksamil, our final destination in Albania.

We had booked a week stay in one of the best reviewed villas in Ksamil, in the hip area next to Poda Boutique hotel. Much to my surprise, our 2-bedroom apartment at Villa Oden was not spotless clean as expected. So we had to wait an extra 30-40 minutes for the hosts to do a proper cleaning. Bed linens were impeccably clean, towels as well. But the apartment looked as if it hadn’t been vacuumed or moped, with kitchen area looking as if someone just had lunch and a bathroom sink that has not seen a proper disinfectant. Ok, Albania! we start off on the wrong foot. Plenty of time to redeem yourself. The owners were indeed friendly and accepted to redo cleaning, even though I was told at least 3 times that it was not a 5 star hotel…It was indeed a cheap accommodation, 315 euros for a week’s stay. That’s on the plus side. Then, there’s also the 2 minute walk to the beach, with a 5 year old…so villa Oden is located amazingly well, very very close to the beach. And to be honest, the hosts showed us a second apartment, which was indeed clean. It just leaves me baffled…I guess it was just back luck on our part. During the next couple of days, the owners of Villa Oden turned out to be very nice. They had laundry service and did two loads without charging us. They even laid out the laundry for us and folded it when dry. We charged our electric car from their socket, as well. Truly nice people. In fact, over the next 3 weeks we came to realise that Albanian was just a country full of decent, nice and friendly people.

Beaches. Rocky, pebbly, sandy beaches. Ksamil has them all. Even in the same location. There are numerous small coves and all seem to be following the same pattern: a high perched terrace up on the rocky hill overlooking the turquoise bay. Some are larger and wider, while others are more secluded and narrow. We went to both. I was expecting less crowds due to our visit in mid September, but I can assure you this was not the case. Sure, we managed to find front row sunbeds at 10 am, but they quickly become unavailable before noon. Also, most of the beaches are private ones, which means you will be paying to use them. And most beaches have a corresponding restaurant where you can order drinks and food. A waiter would basically have these delivered to you at your sunbed. While I find this to be extremely comfy for me and Eric, others are repelled by the fact that they have to pay for sunbeds to use a certain beach. And I have seen waiters come up to guests and let them know that it is prohibited to use the beach unless they pay for sunbeds, as well. We have been to a couple of these private beaches as mentioned below. Almost all beaches have changing rooms on the beach, with shower and bathrooms located a bit further next to the restaurants.

Monday. We ventured further away from our accommodation to Abiori beach. It has a small and beautiful beach. There are only 3 rows of approximately 12-14 sunbeds. So, it is fairly less crowded. They also have their private pontoon with sunbeds and baldaquins, as well as nets suspended over the turquoise water. The beach is sandy, softer than the one next to Poda bar. We also had lunch at Abiori, which has friendly staff that spoke English.

Tuesday. Me and Eric strolled down towards Poda beach bar. There are actually a couple of this bars/restaurants that share the Ksamil beach. I didn’t like the water area in front of Poda beach bar, so we ended up in the right corner of the beach, next to Kona restaurant. The water appeared to be cleaner here, although when we arrived the sea was scattered with hundreds of pieces of polystyrene. Eventually, the sea cleared out the trash. Or most of it. It was better afterwards, even though the water still remained rather dirty overall. The beach is a mixture of sand and pebbles, decent for young children. The sea was quite steep for Eric to be left alone near the shore.

Wednesday. Today it was all about doing something different. So, in the morning me and Eric went on the mussel tour on lake Butrint and in the afternoon we embarked on a historical journey through the Butrint National Park. We ended our day in style with a high perched dinner at the Sarande Castle, while the sun set in a traditional atmosphere created by Albanian music and dancing. You can read more on this and our Ksamil day trips here.

Thursday. It was time we went a little bit further away from the 3 island area, but not too much, as we stopped at the Bora Bora beach. The sea was a lot calmer now, compared to what we had experienced on our first two days here. So this meant clear water. We loved the beach and the seabed appeared to be much softer and less steep compared to the other two beaches. But it might be my mind playing tricks, since the sea was finally revealing itself to us as we have seen in the countless of online videos and photos. On our first two days in Ksamil, the sea was a little rough, with big waves that turned the water cloudy. On the plus side, the sunbeds here were cheaper, 1000 lek. In the evening, we rented a paddle board and we paddled up to the twin islands of Ksamil. You can also get a boat to take you there, but there’s not much you can do once you get there. There are sunbeds, but no beach bar or anything like that. Or at least, this was the case in September.

Friday. Eric loved the view we had on Thursday from Panorama restaurant and he insisted that we spend the day at the beach beneath the restaurant. Who am I to argue with this little guy? Prices here, just like at Bora Bora nearby were cheaper than at the beaches next to Poda.

Restaurants. I truly cannot find any fault to them. Everywhere we ate we found good food, fresh seafood, cold drinks, everything served quite fast and always with a smile. All waiters spoke excellent English and they were really helpful in advising us on what to eat. We tried several restaurants/tavernas and beach bars during our 6 day stay in Ksamil. Most of the places we tried were located close to Oden villa, that is close to the Ksamil 3 island area with Poda hotel. We had a delicious lunch at Abiori, dinner and lunch at Island.

My heart and stomach for that matter remained stuck on the amazing seafood dinner we had at Korali and Zgara Traditionale Qendra (literally meaning something like traditional grill Qendra). If you have to pick just one place to eat in Ksamil, let it be one of these two places. At Korali, we had a mouthwatering dish of sauteed musells for only 600 lek (5 euros!!!) and some amazingly tender octopus (1200 lek). At Qendra, the saganaki prawns were to die for. Then, there’s the Panorama beach bar, next to Bora Bora beach, where they serve a fantastic fish soup. Drinks usually have similar prices, cola 200-250, fresh orange juice 300, large beer 350, cocktails 600-800, even 1000 in some bars (all prices in lek). These prices are also valid on the beach.

On Friday evening, we opted for dinner at Guvat. The restaurant has fantastic views and since we normally have an early dinner, we usually manage to get a table with a view. Cocktails were really good, but overprices compared to Korali for example. Food was ok, but nothing spectacular. The grilled cuttlefish that I had was a little bit too chewy, though. But, the place got really crowded after 8pm, which meant longer waiting hours. I don’t know if they were understaffed and caught off guard by clients, but I cannot imagine how you can eat here during peak season. We just waited too long for deserts and second round of drinks.

Sunbed/watersports prices: 2 sunbeds+umbrella 1500 lek. Sunbeds prices are also cheaper on Bora Bora beach, where the pair +umbrella cost 1000lek. You can get a better price if you use a sunbed located in one of the back rows. Paddle boats cost 1200 lek for one hour. Ski jets are 120 euros/hour (still far cheaper than Greece, for example). Motor boat prices are very decent, starting from 120 euro/day.