Food & Wine Tour Around Albania

Today after breakfast, we meet in the lobby of the Hotel Adriatik at 10:00 AM to visit one of the top wineries in Albania. UKA Winery produces around 20’000 bottles a year. The main variety remains Kallmet, but also Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Mavrud for the red wines. Apart from the grape, they also produce apples, tomatoes, green bean, peppers, plums, eggplant, and olives. We will enjoy wine tasting and a light lunch at the same time with a great view overlooking the vineyards. Just imagine, you are sitting on Uka’s table. Followed by this, there you can have a grilled chicken, lamb, beef or sausage, accompanied with the Uka’s best red wine. Can’t write anymore. Just imagining the combo smell in front of you. After we will return to center of Tirana to explore more about the history highlights include Skanderbeg Square, the Clock Tower, Et’hem Bey Mosque, and the Blloku district. A visit to the Dajti National Park is a great way to spend a day in an attractive mountainous landscape outside and literally ‘above’ the city. This tour starts with a relaxed trip up the mountain 1612 meters high with the Dajti Express cable car gondolas, which offers a great view over Tirana and its surroundings

Today we will start our tour to Rahovec the center of wine production in Kosovo. We will leave Hotel 08:00 AM in the morning for a unique experience in wine tasting. All vineyards of this area lie in hilly terrain at an altitude of 340 to 600 meters. The average 270 days of sunshine each year make Rahovec an ideal spot to produce fine wine. Wine Tasting tour includes a visit to two main wineries in Rahovec: Stone Castle built during the 1980s, a few kilometers outside the town of Rahovec where the original winery had been built in 1953 (huge winery the biggest one in the region,) and Bodrumi I vjeter (a winery run by Haxhijaha family).After visits and tasting wine we take a lunch break at one of the best restaurants in Prizren with traditional food the restaurant is set on the hill across the river. Afternoon tour continues to Prizren - the oldest city and cultural capital of Kosovo. Tour in Prizren includes visits to main sites and monuments. Stone Bridge, Shadervan, Catholic Cathedral, Sinan Pasha Mosque, Halveti Tekke, Museum of Albanian League of Prizren, Hamam, old town. We will continue visit one of the city’s many traditional handicrafts filigree shops. Dinner at our hotel’s restaurant exploring local traditional cuisine.

After breakfast at 09:00 AM, we depart to Dumrea plateau region in Central of Albania. Dumre has 85 lakes. We will start our tour driving to Seferaj village, for a unique cooking and wine tasting homemade wine at Bujtina. To taste authentic Albanian food and wine, feel the diverse nature and see the best in different regions with focus on the nature of Belsh. When you are not cooking with the local women you will be touring the wonderful countryside, the orchards and vineyards, exploring regional delicacies, enjoying daily tours of local sites of villages. You can visit the lakes created due to sinkholes. The biggest lakes are Merhoe, Cestinja, Dega, and Seferaj. You can take a ride with a bike around the lake of Seferaj or you can go for fishing. It’s all about the experience, a combination that allows you to sample both the region’s most traditional and its most rustic traditions. Indulge your passion for food, wine and nature on this fantastic cooking and wine tasting holiday in Albania, an experience that you will treasure long after your trip is over. Accommodation in hotel 5-star Hotel (sea side) relax at SPA service. Welcome Dinner at the hotel’s restaurant

At 09:00 AM we will leave Durres and continue our trip to Shkodra City, which lasts for about 2 hours. Shkodra is one of the oldest cities in Albania, founded in the IV century BC and is also known to be the center of Albanian Catholicism, Culture and Harmony between different religions. Shkodra’s main tourist attraction is Rozafa Castle. Rising majestically upon a rocky hill west of the city, the outcroppings and battlements paint a blazing picture against the setting sun. It is surrounded by the waters of three rivers; the Drini, Buna and Kiri. Then we will take a tour to Pedonalja so called Kole Idromeno Street that is the oldest part of Shkodra, very Mediterranean taste passing through mosques and churches.Than we can have a boat trip along the lake which is the largest in Balkan(optional).We will return back, at Adriatik Hotel, and your dinner could be a fish base choice in our Restaurant

Meet at Adriatik Hotel lobby and then drive to Pogradec, approx 120 km from Durres. The program starts with an overview of Pogradec and its main landmarks. Then we drive to “Drilon National Park” to enjoy the lunch at local restaurant (nice spot not far from the Ohrid Lake which has been a preferred holiday place for the ex-dictator Hoxha) – decorated with willow trees, and streams flowing down to the lake.We suggest you to try Koran fish which has a wonderful taste. “Queen of England met the Queen of the Lake”. These are the words of Queen Elizabeth of United Kingdom many years ago while visiting the Lake of Pogradec when she tasted the famous speckled trout of Pogradec, known as Koran. During her historic visit, the Queen had the opportunity to enjoy the delicacies of Pogradec cuisine. Wine-yards of the zone give the privilege to taste home-made wine, which is the best and served from all the restaurants. Then we proceed to, a characteristic village where a famous Albanian movie has taken place.Return back to Hotel Adriatik and relax in our SPA service.

This morning at 11:00 AM, we will travel towards the beautiful city of Berat. On the way, we will stop for a traditional Albanian wine tasting in the charming Çobo Winery, settled scenically at the base of Tomorri mountain, in the rolling hills that surround the city of Berat. The tour will include an oversight of the wine making process and detailed explanations that paint a glowing picture of the family's history and the origins of their wines. After the tour of the grounds, guests are invited to share a glass of wine and exchange stories with a member of the Çobo family while enjoying a variety of homemade Albanian cheeses and locally-grown olives. Then we leave the winery and head towards Berat city. This city is one of the oldest and the pride of Albanian architecture.Berat, known as the city of 'one thousand windows', is a treasure of Albanian history, culture and a testament to the country’s tradition of religious harmony. We continue our visit to the fortress located on the top of the hill overlooking the Osumi River. Within the fortress, we will visit the old Christian orthodox cathedral of the town, where we will admire some of the most beautiful and oldest byzantine icons in Albania, dating from the XIII century, in the Onufry’s gallery.Optional lunch break at one of the best traditional food in Albania. We will learn the secrets of preparing the all-time regional favorite “Përshesh” with turkey and other local recipes.End of the tour, we return back to Adriatik Hotel.

We leave Durres at 08:00 AM in the morning going to Kruja.We will continue the walking tour to the narrow streets of the medieval well-preserved Old Bazaar, which has a wonderful selection of authentic antiques and souvenirs where you can buy traditional Albanian costumes, books, musical instruments, and different items from the communist days. Then we will visit Skenderbeg’s museum, which contains objects dating back to Skanderbeg’s time. There nearby you can visit the Holy Mountain of Sarisalltik located at 1900 m a.s.l and have some holy water from their fountain, up in the mountain. Lunch will be enjoyed in a restaurant up in the mountain. You should not lose the possibility to taste the best of the traditional cuisine of the zone.

Today we will spend a beautiful day on Durrës County the second largest city of Albania coast region and discover the scenic, historical and gourmet delights.Together we will explore one of the biggest Roman amphitheaters in the Balkan from the 2nd century AD built during the reign of Emperor Trajan. We will also explore the charming and old city center, one of the cutes town in Albania, walk along the beautiful streets and admire the rich history which is mirrored in the Venetian architecture. Then we will head to the Venetian Tower, where a flight of stairs will take us to the roof and give us some of the best views of this old city. We can stop there for a short break to have a good Albanian beer.After the coffee we will visit factory "TRE MIQT" and the expansive olive groves of the Ndroq country side. There, we will learn about all the different characteristics, culinary uses and health benefits of olive oil. Join us for an all-inclusive exploration of the famous Albanian Olive Oil and discover its fine subtleties in a tasting experience of the senses. After coming back the dinner will be served on a tourist farm on top of the hill, where you can ride a horse, enjoying traditional food and raising a toast for a great day.

We will leave Durres and drive for about 1 hour to arrive to Pellumbas village. After a morning coffee at a local bar (where you can also taste the locally produced liquour raki).We will start walking along the 2 km trail that leads to “Shpella e Zeze” or “The Black Cave of Pellumbas”. You will see a spectacular view of the mountainside dropping down into the Canyon of Erzen River down there, cool water pools among giant rocks and trees will be the reward for the day's hike.The cave stands at an elevation of 350 meters and is said to be one of the earliest prehistoric settlements of the area. Tools and artifacts dating back to the Neolith, Bronze and Iron eras have been found there, as well as fossils attributed to the cave bears (ursus spelae) that lived in the cave more than 10,000 years ago. You will enter the cave and observe the stalactites and stalagmites, and you might even be able to track a bat’s nest. Those who prefer to stay outside will have to wait for 15 minutes while enjoying the wonderful view. We will then walk back to Pellumbas village and enjoy a nice refreshing swim in the river.This is followed by a delicious light lunch of dishes that are typical to the area.

After meeting, we will leave Durres to continue our tour for all nature lovers to explore the Osumi Canyon 26 km (16 miles) long, at an altitude of 450 m. Along the way, we will stop at village of Bogovë to enjoy a beer or coffee in the wildlife attractions. After the coffee break we head towards the canyons. Along the way we will be able to enjoy the ramifications of the Osumi River and the high peaks of Tomorri Mountain.We will be able to visit the canyons, Father's Mill, Bride's Hut (a legend that we will learn while traveling) The Small Bridge, as well as the Cultural Monument - The Kasabash Bridge. In return we will stop to Bogovo to eat lunch, we recommend you to try pastërma (or smoked meat) is a traditional food of Skrapar, that is considered a symbol of local traditional culinary. The smoked meat, indeed, have a special taste, especially if you eat cooked together with beans, onions and cabbages, as the tradition recommends. Skrapari is not only a region known for its hospitality and tradition, but is also known for its interesting producing of raki. In fact, raki of Skrapar is very well known not only in Albania but also in Europe. After lunch in nature, we return back in Durres.In the evening we invite you to join us at Beach Bar to try some of our cocktails very especially delicious on the beach around the fire