Hidden Stories of Saranda Communism

We learnt a lot about Albania’s history on our one short cruise ship stop at the Port of Saranade. Ermal met us near the port area, and we travelled by car to the monastery of the forty saints. It was on top of a hill overlooking Saranade and provided spectacular views of the city and as far as the island of Corfu, Greece. Alongside the monastery was a series of bunkers and tunnels that had been built as defensive positions and areas of refuge if the country was attacked. We learnt the communist leaders of the day had isolated Albania and believing the country would be attacked by its neighbours. Then we walked downhill to a local mosque and were told of the re-emergence of religion after the fall of the communist government. State Atheism laws were passed in the 1960’s to ban religion including all icons. We thoroughly recommend this tour.

Great tour! We saw bits of the monastery and the bunkers that we would not have seen had we visited by ourselves. And the views over Saranda and the surrounding mountains were beautiful. It was interesting to hear about the communist period from the guide's personal family perspective.

A very interesting and personal experience. The guide was extremely knowledgeable, and it was very interesting to learn more about Albania's political history and its impacts. Highly recommend this tour.

This is a small family operation and not one of those big bus tours. I was privileged to be the only person on the date I chose. Ermal had some great personal stories and anecdotes about the area and it's history. I recommend sturdy walking shoes for the rubble of the ruins and maybe pants. There was some tall grass and a few spiky plants around the bunker. Overall it was a really enjoyable morning and I am really glad I signed up for it!

I really enjoyed this tour because I am passionate about war history and military equipment. The guide had excellent knowledge of the World War II period. Experiencing those feelings was amazing. The best part was going deep into the underground tunnel. It was scary because there was no lighting, but it was worth it.

So this tour was just a little unusual and not what we've experienced in the past with other similar type tours. It was a local daughter/father who hosted the tour. We were picked up at your lodging on time and then we picked up the father near the hill side stop to start the tour. We paid a small admission and then walked to the old Soviet bunkers. We probably spent about 45+ minutes there learning about their history and the Soviet era in Albania. What was odd/different was that the daughter basically read various history articles from her phone to us with her father adding some comments along the way. They did answer our questions and overall it was a good historical review but the presentation was just very different. Next we walked through the monastery of the 40 saints for about 30 minutes and learned its history(again via the daughter reading articles from her phone). We ended the 2 hour tour by walking down the road to a recently built mosque and then we were driven back to our lodging. Again, the daughter/father were very nice and shared a lot of history/information but it was just odd having history articles read to you from someone's phone.

I really enjoyed spending time with the guides. They are a father and daughter duo who were very kind and informative. A tour with locals who share their perspectives and want other to learn more about the history of communism and the impact it has directly from first hand experience. They answered all my questions and the father had a great sense of humor which helped lighten up a bit of some very difficult history. The daughter is impressive in her maturity and respect she shows to everyone around her. She was leading the tour and did an amazing job translating many things when necessary aswell as providing details about the history of communism in Albania. The father provided more perspectives and real life stories on the impact this history has had for him.

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The Cold War tunnels were very mysterious, but it is unfortunate that they are not well maintained. The guide had very good knowledge of the history of that period and explained the events with a great sense of humor. The agency staff are members of a family who strive to be friendly and very professional.

I really enjoyed this tour. We were in Saranda and chose Hidden Stories because we are very interested in the past history of Albania. The guide was friendly and had a lot of knowledge about the places we visited. I recommend it

We had an amazing tour with a lovely local father–daughter duo who took us through a communist-era military bunker perched above Saranda. The spot itself is incredible — with sweeping views over the city and a panoramic look across to Corfu — but what really made it special was their deep knowledge and personal insight. They brought Albania’s communist history to life, answering all our questions about what it was like to live in a completely cut-off state. It was equal parts fascinating, eerie, and eye-opening — a wonderfully weird, off-the-beaten-track experience that we’ll never forget! Highly recommend this tour to anyone looking to understand Albania beyond the beautiful beaches.

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