W
e were wondering how to spend our weekend without doing anything too tiring but at the same time entertaining enough for the kids. So we thought to travel towards Vlora, which is easily reachable by car from Tirana and has a lot to offer as well.
So, last Saturday, we departed from Tirana at around 9am and headed towards Vlora. Since we didn’t have time to consume breakfast while we were getting ready, we stopped on the way at Vila “Met Cela” in Lushnje, or should we call it “Tek Byreqet” because everyone refers to it by what they offer: Albanian pie or “Byrek”. Usually we accompany it with “dhallë” which is a drink made from yoghurt. We ordered five “byrek” and 2 “dhallë” and they all cost 500 lekë.
After stopping for a coffee and meet with the other part of our family we decided to stop on the way and visit Karavasta Lagoon. Karavasta is the largest lagoon in Albania and is part of Divjakë Karavasta National Park. As we drove towards Karavasta we loved the landscape and we found it quite relaxing.
The road we chose to travel through covered one part of the lagoon and to enter the park required us to drive around 4 km on a strip of road that was very bad. So we chose to leave this time and make it a goal to come back again by the road that takes you to Karavasta National Park through Divjakë and towards the main entrance of the park.
So after stopping to breathe the fresh air and take a few pictures, we got on the car with a flamingo feather as a memory and headed towards Vlora. Soon enough we arrived at Valza Boutique Hotel and checked-in.
Valza's exterior
cozy right?
Our bed
balcony
Just as we expected it to be, our room was beautifully decorated with modern facilities and a stunning sea view. We didn’t get enough time to relax in our room because Doen kept pushing us to leave and go to the sea. Who could blame her, all she could see from window was the endless sea.
We drove around 5 minutes by car to Lungomare, which is a waterfront walkway overlooking the Adriatic Sea, with lots of dining options, bars and gorgeous sunset views. During the summer months it is quite crowded with tourists going for a walk and different children games but this time of the year it isn’t as crowded and we had it all to ourselves.
We decided to try a new restaurant that we had never tried before, called Patio Homestyle Cuisine & Sweet. We were in doubt weather or not to enter and it turned out we made the right choice because we loved our diner. The prices were relatively economical for the quality of food served. We ordered cuttlefish and squid, salad, pastas and risotto with seafood and in the end the restaurant brought us tiramisu and fresh fruit. It was the perfect end of the night.
We walked back to our car and even though it was very windy the air was not cold and we loved our walk by the sea. After arriving to our car, we returned to our hotel and called it a night. In the room the TV had Netflix and YouTube so the three of us sat on the bed and watched TV until we fell asleep.
The next day, we woke up very relaxed, with the amazing view of the sea that we could enjoy straight from the bed. We got ready and went below to enjoy our breakfast. Albanian pancakes with various options of jam and cheeses, crepes with banana and Nutella , eggs, sausage, tomato and cucumber. Should I mention they were all delicious?
While we ate we noticed that the wind had gotten quite crazy so after breakfast we went to our room and packed to head back to Tirana. Any hope we had of sightseeing was cancelled because we couldn’t walk around with three kids on that weather. So as an alternative we considered visiting Apolonia Archaeological Park and we were happy to have decided so. A beautiful landscape, the museum, the church and the Odeon made the kids curious and interested in the history of this ancient city and how people used to leave in these lands.
If you’re planning to visit Apollonia please refer to ticket prices and general info below.
Lucky for us as Albanian residents, since we were visiting on the last Sunday of the month we got in for free. We never new about this fact but we will keep it in mind for future travels. P.s. We are planning on returning to Apollonia as well in the summer, and enjoy the nature and maybe do a picnic as well. It felt like we were in Tuscany and we couldn’t get enough of that place. But we had to, because by this time we were starving.
We left Apollonia and drove towards Restaurant Ilia, in the vicinity of Fieri. On a Sunday and especially at lunch time it was quite crowded so if you do decide to stop there you have to consider this as well because when we left we were a bit tired by the noise of people chatting. But the meat and traditional food were quite delicious so it was worth it.
Tired and happy by our intensive weekend, we handed towards Tirana with a coffee that we grabbed to go. Lucky for us the traffic was not bad and we got home around 7pm.
Check out our Vlog for more details and info:
For easier reference, please find below links to various places mentioned in this blog:
Valza Boutique Hotel, Vlora – https://www.valza.al/
Patio Homestyle Cucine & Sweet, Vlora – https://www.instagram.com/patio_vlore/
Vila Met Cela, Lushnje – https://www.facebook.com/vilametcela94/
Karavasta Lagoon, Divjaka – https://www.iett.al/parku-kombetar-divjake-karavasta/
Apollonia Archeological Park, Fier – https://apolloniaarchaeologicalpark.al/
If you have any thoughts or questions, please reach out as we would love to hear from you. We love sharing about our trips and adventures so we would love to answer any question you might have.
With lots of love,
Bica – the family
xoxo
BICA FAMILY
Hi, we are Bica family! We are Eneida, Dolsin, our almost 5-year-old Doen, our little one Ian who is 3-months old and our golden Shadow. As a blogger family we love to share our stories, experiences, and trips with the world! From fashion to parenthood, parenting to travel, we have a wide range of experiences that we love sharing with our online friends. We strive to bring our followers unique content that is both informative and entertaining.
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