The Balkan Eagles
Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo
5 to 14 April
‘Mirdita’ is the first word you usually hear when you land in Albania: good morning. And you realise immediately that it will be a good morning as soon as you arrive in ‘Shqiperi’, the Land of the Eagles, which welcomes you with the blue of its sea and sky, and then loses itself in the curves immersed in the
green of Macedonia and Kosovo. A leap back in time to a crossroads of history, cultures and traditions that still live together today in a country that can give you totally unexpected emotions.
Day 1: Friday, 5 April Ancona – Durres
Meeting of participants with the accompanying person on a motorbike from Italy at the Port of Ancona at 13:00 hrs. and departure at 17:00 hrs. with accommodation in a double internal cabin. Dinner on board. Overnight stay.
Day 2: Saturday, 6 April arr. Durres – Berat
Breakfast on board. Arrival at the port of Durres scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
Processing of port paperwork and conclusion of vehicle insurance for those who have not included Albania in their green card. Departure in the direction of Berat, also known as the city of 1000 windows. Accommodation in the hotel and then visit of the museum part of the city. Overnight stay at the hotel.
Day 3: Sunday 7 April Berat – Himara
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure from Berat to arrive along the coast. Visit, en route, the archaeological park of Apollonia. On to the town of Vlora and then along the Adriatic coast to the Llogara pass, where a memorial stone on the summit reminds us of the Italian presence since 1919, when the road was built, and where we can enjoy some excellent lamb!!!!. Once through the pass, we will find ourselves on the Ionian Albanian Riviera, which we will drive to Himara, where we will spend the night. Free lunch and dinner.
Day 4: Monday 8 April Himare – Butrinti – Gyrokastra
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure in the direction of the archaeological site of Butrinti. After the visit, we continue from Saranda on the road to Surikalte, the ‘Blue Eye’, a spring of pure water gushing out of the ground from a depth of over 30 metres. We reach the museum town of Gjirokastro in the afternoon, visiting its castle. Accommodation in a hotel. Dinner at leisure. Overnight stay.
Day 5: Tuesday, 9 April Gjirokastro – Pogradec – Ohrid
Breakfast at the hotel. This will be a long day on the motorbike, during which we will ride through spectacular landscapes, including mountains, forests, rivers and gorges, to reach Ohrid, a town lying on the shores of Lake Orhid.
Day 6: Wednesday, 10 April Ohrid – Mavrovo Ntl Park – Prizren
Breakfast at the hotel. Drive up by motorbike through Mavrovo National Park to Tetovo. Keep your passport handy… today we will enter and cross Kosovo, the autonomous Balkan region nestled between Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia, and reach Prizren in the afternoon. Free dinner and overnight stay.
Day 7: Thursday, 11 April Prizren – Rugova Gorge – Valbona
Breakfast at the hotel. From Prizren we will depart for the north of Kosovo to visit the beautiful Rugova Gorge and then return via Dukovica to Albania. After passing through customs, we will head towards, a true Albanian jewel, Valbona. A remote village in the middle of the Albanian Alps that is just beginning to meet some tourists. Free dinner. Overnight stay.
Day 8: Friday 12 April Valbona – Ferry – Tirana
Breakfast. We descend the Valbona Valley to Fierze to board the ferry across the Albanian Fjord to Komani. Departure of the ferry at 13:00 hours with a duration of 3 hours. Arrival in Komani: Attention after disembarking, 40 km of road in bad conditions await us (with a few sections of light dirt road feasible with any motorbike).
Arrival in Tirana after approximately 2 hours. Accommodation in a hotel and overnight stay.
Day 9: Saturday, 13 April Tirana – Durres – Departure
Breakfast at the hotel and departure in the morning for the visit of the Bunker of Tirana (duration about two hours) to head after the visit to the port of Durres.Embarkation at 19:00 and departure of the ship to Ancona. Accommodation in an inside double cabin. Dinner on the ship and overnight stay.
10th Day: Sunday, 14 April arr. Ancona
Arrival at the port of Ancona scheduled for 11.30 a.m. Processing of customs formalities and return home by motorbike. End of services.