Albanian Adventure Day Trip from Corfu

It was too hot. It was a mistake to book via Viator. We were treated as if a crime had been commit committed and we should have booked with the operator directly.

This was a good value trip with very knowledgeable and helpful staff. I would absolutely recommend it. Lunch was also very good. Worth noting the boat to Albania has no facilities for purchasing tea / coffee so would suggest buying before. Once you arrive in Albania you go straight on the tour and so again no opportunity for a coffee. Passport control at port is as you would expect the same everywhere so just need to get on with it. Overall a great day and Albania was v.beautiful. I would suggest doing it with the tour option to get the most of the trip.

Booked an excursion through Viator, but when we arrived at the meeting point at Corfu Port, we were told there were no excursions that day. We tried to contact the operator, Travelco, but the number given on the booking confirmation was no longer in use. A helpful representative from Finikas Lines helped us by finding an alternative number. Travelco told us they had informed Viator not to book any excursions for that day, but they hadn't followed the instruction. We were very upset, as we had planned our whole holiday around that trip and we we're not able to travel on an alternative date. We are angry with Viator for causing the mess in the first place, but also with Travelco for the stress caused in not being able to contact them! We had supplied telephone and email contact details when we booked, so someone should have contacted us ahead of time to let us know of the mistake. Then we wouldn't have driven over an hour to get to the meeting point. It was a very stressful experience and I'll never use Viator again as they can't be trusted.

Travel time to and from Albania (hotel transfer and boat) is quite extensive, 6 hrs total including immigration process. More time in Albania at Butrint and Sarande would have made this a 5 star. It was very well organized given all the logistics and the tour in Butrint was wonderful.

The tour in all was okay. Butrint National Park was nice but I would make it shorter. The guy was talking for ages and said he could talk for another two hours. We got less time in Sarande. I would not eat at that restaurant next to the Butrint National Park. The food was awful. I would recommend driving back to Sarande and giving people the option to eat on the Promenade and to have more time to chill and explore Sarande. All in all it was okay and nice to visit Albania. It seems more developed than Corfu. Finally, I would like to add a message to the tour guide. Thank you for leaving me and another lady behind. You had told us to meet at the promenade point at 2.50pm. We had got there 2.47pm and you had gone. That was an absolutely nasty thing to do! Then you lied to us and told us that you were there until 2.50pm. Absolute rubbish. We had to make our own way back to the port and to the boat! Not nice!

The journey itself was normal, ferry transfer to Albania. Hard to find in Corfu Harbour, little information. We have to request outside the entrance a boarding pass but we were not explained before. Still, I highly recommend it. Albania is more receptive to tourists, very friendly people where the viuda is cheaper. We can pay in euros and they give us the exchange in Leks, without having to change before. Restaurant with entrance and seafood dishes for two people around 20 euros. Shame I only stayed for a day

We were really looking forward to this trip, but I'm afraid I have to say it was a complete shambles from start to finish. Tour bus arrived almost 30 minutes late for our hotel pick up. Nobody from customer services answered the phone when we were calling to find out where the bus was. We arrived at Corfu port and were left to get on with getting through customs ourselves and not as a group. Once through customs, we couldn't find our guide and wasn't sure whether we needed to board the ship or wait for them. We finally found them again once we decided to board. Once on the ship, we paid a boarding fee of €80.00 for three of us. I paid this fee on card with one of the tour reps. We then went up to the snack bar upstairs and tried to order drinks for our young boy as it was 36 degree heat. We were told card is not accepted (even though I'd just paid one of their colleagues downstairs on card). In 2025, I would expect to be able to use my card to purchase food and drinks on this vessel. We arrived in Sarande and boarded a hot bus and waited around for 20 minutes before departing for Butrint. The bus driver stalled when performing a hill start and almost crashed into a van behind us when the bus rolled backwards down the hill. The tour guide himself was a nice guy but god was his droning voice monotonous and boring. We would have much preferred to listen to music whilst stuck in traffic as opposed to irrelevant facts about Albania being blared out of the speakers and sending most guest to sleep, myself included. Upon arrival to Burtrint, we started the tour of the ruins however, at this point everybody on the tour already looked fed up and was conscious of time, as we were also expected to have time to visit Sarande after the ruins and were already set back quite some time due to traffic and late arrival at the port. The tour was rushed in no way and again, was very boring and monotonous. The views and ruins themselves were nice, but the tour itself lost interest in all attendees by the looks of it. Then came lunch... A wasp swarmed shambles of a restaurant where service was non-existent. We told or tour guide my wife was a veggie yet when we asked the waiters if we could have a menu or if there was a pre-selected meal, nobody could give us an answer and seemed quick to want to go elsewhere. We had to move inside as I'm allergic to wasp/bee stings and there was literally hundreds of wasps swarming plates of food outside and then inevitably, my wifes meal arrived with a lump of chicken slapped in the middle of the plate with stodgy rice on the side. She returned the meal and 5 minutes later the same plate was given back to her minus the chicken. She took a bite of the rice and then realised this had been cooked in chicken stock, so we abandoned all hope of having a nice meal and left for the coach. The waiter also disappeared for 10 minutes when taking my money for the bill after owing me €5.00 change. Our tour guide had to speak to the staff in order to get this back. We boarded the bus and had to listen to another 40 minutes or pointless facts about Albania which had no relevance to the tour whatsover. We arrived at Sarande promenade at 2.31pm, and our boat back to Corfu was due to leave at 3.00pm. The walk to the port was around 20 minutes in the heat, so had no choice but to head straight to the dock and could not even pick up a fridge magnet on route. We boarded the boat and again had to wait until back in Corfu until we could use our card to buy drinks. All in all, what could have been a great day was ruined by poor organisation. It's a great shame as we were very much looking forward to this trip. I did request a refund and was granted this, which is the only silver lining of the trip. Could be a great tour but needs better planning and organisation. Would also suggest adding some enthusiasm into the tours and also maybe just play some music when on the coach as opposed to boring and pointless facts being blared out of the speakers, sending most to sleep.

Have a nice butrint tour in English. Good guide Meal included basic but correct Transfer included

Interesting experience. Could do with maps for those not going to Butrint OK but would not go there again.

It all worked very well, from picking up at the hotel, to checking in, the bus ride under German travel accompaniment to the return journey.