hi,

juts came back from corfu. didn't do the albania trip, but it is a popular one. We sayed in roda, and you can see albania from the beach, apparentley it is only 2km away. you can book the trip with your holiday rep, or there are many travel firms around who do lots of excursions. I think the albania one is around 20euro.

kev

didnt do it myself but was told that it is a very long day cos you have to take a coach to corfu town first to travel across as you need a visa and from places like kasioppi roda acharavi thats 1 1\4 hours before you start,the trip is interesting as long as you like looking round ruins,and also it is a poor country and there are plenty of juniors asking for money,not trying to put you off it just letting you know what i got told hope this helps

I did the Albania trip last year with my mum and we had a great day and learned a lot and enjoyed learning about another country - it is a long day but we thought it was worth it. We didn't really hang about in Saranda (think thats where we went for lunch), as once we got over in the boat/ferry we were then taken by coach to the restaurant and were able to change our money into Albanian money (we only changed about 10/15 euros) as all we bought was a book about Buntrinti (this was the trip that we had included in out trip to Albania) and our drinks at the restaurant. After changing our money we then had a drink and were then taken on the coach to Butrinti an old city which is still being discovered (by archeolegists) and which was amazing place to visit. We learned quite a lot on this trip about Albania. after this we were then taken back to the restaurant for lunch (which was included in the price of our trip and was rice, chicken and vegtables - however I am a fussy eater so asked if I could just have some chips (done this on the return from Butrinti on way to restaurant) and I got them too) and then for dessert we had grapes and another fruit. And again all we paid for was our drinks here. We then opted to go to the Blue Eye for 5euros as didn't know what we would be able to do around the area until the return trip back to Corfu. All in all we had a fantastic day and was glad to see the area before it becomes all touristy (lots of 4 and 5 star hotels being built in the area as they are hoping for tourists to come from Corfu and holiday there for a few days or so in their holiday).

So it is up to yourself on whether you wish to do this trip or not, but we definately enjoyed it also an added bonus is the duty free prior to leaving Corfu harbour - Lambert & Butler cigarettes pack of 200 was only £12 and if you not fussed their own cigarettes were only £6 for 200.

Whether you decide to do this trip or not have a great holiday!
Andrea

Went to corfu a few years ago. Me and my family decided to go to Albania, so we got on the boat and went across when we was there the guide tour said its up to you guys whther you want to come on the tour with us and look at the historic past or you can go around the town yourself. So as a family we decided what to do and we went off on our own OH NO BIG BIG MISTAKE!!! Wondering why? well we went around the town ad all we got was stares points and my eldest daughter got something thrown at her by the local lads the people was VERY VERY UNWELCOMING. So we decided we can't take this any longer so we went back down to where the boat habour is and asked for the next boat back to Sidari!!!! So i advise you if you do intend to go on the Albania Trip i would recommend you go on the tour and don't go around the town on your own!!!!!! My family was very upset by the way we was treated by this and thought to post this post and also ask has any one else had this experiance!! Have a good holiday everyone :D:D

Hi

I have just come back from a holiday in Corfu and went on the Albania trip whilst there.
We decided to book through our own tour operator as we were going out of Greece and into another country. Although we paid a bit more than on the street, I am glad we did as we had a tour guide that stayed with us for every minute whilst there. We did the Brutini trip and back to the resturant for a really nice buffet meal and then our tour guide took us around the town of Sarander to some small tourist shops.
Some of our neighbours in our accomodation did the trip through the vendors on the street and had bad experiences! Thats not saying that they are all bad, just make sure you have a tour guide that is going to accompany you for the whole day.
We really enjoyed the trip and it was the highlight of our holiday

I have just got back from Corfu with my boyfriend. We did this trip.

We paid our rep 36euros each for the trip and was told by our rep their would be a tour etc and also told about the 10euro port tax.

We were pciked up at 7.30 am and then spent two hours on a coach picking up others, getting off the coach and to the boat wasa nightmare, loads of peoples names were not on the list and we were not directed to the boat.
Once on the boat we were asked if we wanted to do the tour and we said yes, ony to be told it would be another 20euros each, so we said not to bother (we didnt take enough money with us)
We were on the boat for a hour and im sure there were more people than seats. Once we got to Albania those on the tours were takin on their coaches and we we just dumped, not told what time we were leaving etc etc.
We wasnt even told of the currency in albania but we found somewhere to change up our erors, one thing is that its very very cheap there.
We spent most the day just sitting around, felt very uneasy and unsafe. Not much english spoken. We spend the last two hours by our boat as we didnt know what time we were leaving.

I personally wouldnt reccomend this trip and we had a go at our rep when we got back, she had no idea about the extra 20euros.
Other people on the boat felt the same however others enjoyed it.

The trip to Paxos is much better

Its a pity your day was spoiled by incorrect and insufficient information from your represenative. Sadly this is too often the case. It is early in the season new untrained reps have little information to work from. Using a well established local agency like my own; Castaway Travel, ensures that you will speak to some one with personal experience of the day out and full information of all the extras and you will pay less for the excursion.
This excursion is rather different from the average boat trip and it well worthwhile making sure you know all about before booking to make sure that it is a trip that you will enjoy. Very good info from GlasgowAndrea.
To clarify; where ever you book:
You will pay for the excursion which includes the transfer to Corfu town from your resort and the boat trip to Saranda (approx 1 and half hours).
On the boat you will pay 9 euro port taxes.
On the boat you will pay for the OPTIONAL excursion to Butrint 18.5 euro, this price includes lunch but not drinks.

You can change money locally to buy drinks and icecreams etc, but do not change much as there is little to buy.

I am ABSOLUTELY SURE that there were not more people than seats. I can say however that if everyone on the boat tried to sit upstairs there would not be room, as there is also seating in the bar area down stairs.

We were charged 10euros in port tax and asked for 20euros each for the excursion, which we did not do. I suppose our opinion may have been different if we had done the excursion.
Also other independant tour operators were offering the tour for 35euros same as with our rep so i imagine that does not include the excursion.

I believe then you travelled with Sarris Cruises?
I use another company. My selling price for the trip (transfer and cruise to Saranda) for 32euro. The port taxes are 9. Their optional excursion to Butrint is 18.5 Euro.
Yes I do believe you would have had a better impression of the day had you done the optional excursion.

Yes that is right. I just think if we were given all the info beforehand we could have made the trip more enjoyable.
Hopefully others will read this and ask the questions we didnt.

We returned from Roda, Corfu on Monday and we also did the trip to Albania.

We booked with NSK Travel which is on the main road from the traffic lights on the left-hand side going towards the sea.

We paid 12 Euros each to go to Albania, including transfers to Corfu Town port.
Outward journey was Flying Dolphin, return by ferry.
Additionally, 8 Euros port tax was payable.
It was another 10 Euros either for the optional tour to Butrinti or to the Blue Eye.
It was an additional 7 Euros for lunch if you wanted to opt for this.
NSK were totally up-front about the cost of this trip before we booked, including all the compulsory and optional costs.

We chose to go to Butrinti (we like 'piles of stones' )
In our view this tour was excellent - it's a ruined city dating back to 6th Century BC and is spread over quite a large area. Very impressive.
They are still excavating it.
We had an Albanian guide who was very knowledgable about the site.

Blue Eye is a trip to a natural spring that supplies water to a hydro-electrical plant.
Then, it goes onto a castle with great views over the town of Saranda.

It was supposed to be a choice of Butrinti or Blue Eye tour, but our guide said that the road to Blue Eye had been blocked by a bus so it would go in the afternoon.
Some people who wanted to go to the Blue Eye opted for the Butrinti trip instead.
As we were returning from Butrinti to Saranda for lunch, the guide said that the road was now clear and anyone wishing to go on the Blue Eye trip as well could have a quick lunch and then pay 10 Euros to join the tour.
We decided to make the most of our day in Albania and do that.

Being a litle cynical, we wondered if this was a ruse by the guide to maximise the number of people on each tour.

Most of the shops in Saranda seemed to close in the afternoon, so I'm not sure what we'd have done for a couple of hours before the ferry departed anyway.

Be aware that it's a very long day.
We were collected from Roda at 7:30am and didn't get back to our accommodation until 20:30.
We knew this though, so it wasn't a problem for us.

I think that if you're going to do this trip then you should research what your options are and consider exactly what you want to do when you get there.
I don't think Saranda is a place that you just want to wander around for 5 or 6 hours.

Polly