Albania Vacations/Tourism

Current events, society, culture, science, insights. The music. Cinema. The books. The theater. The art.

Moderators: ZenMaster, Shpati

Pjetër
Posts: 830
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 7:37 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 14 times
Contact:

Migjeni wrote:
Pjetër wrote:As long as you avoid the main public beach Shengjin is really nice as far as swimming goes. Other than that there isn't much there. I was there last year. My uncle has a house there for when he stays in Albania.

View from his house
Any reason for avoiding the main beach - besides lots of people probably? Also any recommendations on where to go if not the main beach?
The crowds are the biggest reason for me. The sand is also much better in the less crowded parts. Rana e hedhun isn't bad at all in my opinion and besides that there isn't one specific location I would choose. My uncle and I would just drive from the house until we saw some spot that looked nice and then we would walk down to it.
It'll just be a few days chilling in the sun and a bit of swimming - Just looking to relax a bit, no party time for me this time around. Good place to do that or nah?
It's perfect for exactly that.

Are you going to get a hotel when you stay there or you going to stay in someone's guest room? Last year we rented out a room to a Kosovar couple from Peja and they seemed to like it well enough. It seems to be a common thing to do over there.
User avatar
Simboli i Diellit
Posts: 5420
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 3:26 am
Location: Milan
Team: AC Milan
Has thanked: 372 times
Been thanked: 211 times
Contact:

Rana e hedhun , Kune , Tale and Vain are the best places to stay if you need some privacy , relax without having many people around. When you're comming Migjen? I'll be here untill this friday . Shengjin has a decent nightlife , and usually the main beaches around the resorts are full of albanians from Kosove and Ilirida . Local population likes more Rana e Hedhun and Vain beacuse you can have a tend 100mt away from each other and the sand/water are natural . Shengjin is better than Durres and Kavaje but if you'll be staying in shengjin then just try to go as near as you can to Inheritor or on the other side towards Kune . Try to speak as much as you can as albanian from Lezhe otherwise they'll try to raise prices and ask for the price in Leke. The bus from Lezhe to shengjin costs 30 leke while the van 50 leke and they usually make you pay 100 leke. You should definitively visit Detari in shengjin if you want good genuine seafood (it doesn't cost much for the quality they serve). There are many other restaurants in Ishull-Lezhe in the area of Hoteli i Gjuetise and you could add also the two Plaku suggested as they have quality slow food . Iliria Sky and Plazza are good places to hang out and relax watching all the seaside from top of Shengjin.
User avatar
Migjeni
Posts: 652
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:09 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Plako wrote:Think Simboli can best answer this question. My wife, who grew up in Lezhe, tells me that Kune and Rana e Hedhun are the best spots to go for a swim. Of course she hasn't been there in years so things might have changed.

http://www.shengjini.com/rana-hedhun/

While in Lezhe I'd recommend you visit two of the best restaurants in all of Albania: Rapsodia and Mrizi I Zanave.
Thanks a lot, Plako, I'll probably visit both of those places when going.
Pjetër wrote:The crowds are the biggest reason for me. The sand is also much better in the less crowded parts. Rana e hedhun isn't bad at all in my opinion and besides that there isn't one specific location I would choose. My uncle and I would just drive from the house until we saw some spot that looked nice and then we would walk down to it.
Thanks a lot - we'll be going by car, so that's probably very doable to do like you guys have done.
Are you going to get a hotel when you stay there or you going to stay in someone's guest room? Last year we rented out a room to a Kosovar couple from Peja and they seemed to like it well enough. It seems to be a common thing to do over there.
We're going to stay at some hotel a stone throw away from the beach, cousin knows someone who can hook us up apparently. Hotel Rafaelo or something like that.
Simboli i Diellit wrote:Rana e hedhun , Kune , Tale and Vain are the best places to stay if you need some privacy , relax without having many people around. When you're comming Migjen? I'll be here untill this friday . Shengjin has a decent nightlife , and usually the main beaches around the resorts are full of albanians from Kosove and Ilirida . Local population likes more Rana e Hedhun and Vain beacuse you can have a tend 100mt away from each other and the sand/water are natural . Shengjin is better than Durres and Kavaje but if you'll be staying in shengjin then just try to go as near as you can to Inheritor or on the other side towards Kune . Try to speak as much as you can as albanian from Lezhe otherwise they'll try to raise prices and ask for the price in Leke. The bus from Lezhe to shengjin costs 30 leke while the van 50 leke and they usually make you pay 100 leke. You should definitively visit Detari in shengjin if you want good genuine seafood (it doesn't cost much for the quality they serve). There are many other restaurants in Ishull-Lezhe in the area of Hoteli i Gjuetise and you could add also the two Plaku suggested as they have quality slow food . Iliria Sky and Plazza are good places to hang out and relax watching all the seaside from top of Shengjin.
We've not decided yet, Simboli, but I think during this week, so probably Wednesday or Thursday. Thanks a lot for the thorough guide, Simboli, it's much appreciated.
Kafshatë që s'kapërdihet asht, or vlla, mjerimi..
User avatar
Simboli i Diellit
Posts: 5420
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 3:26 am
Location: Milan
Team: AC Milan
Has thanked: 372 times
Been thanked: 211 times
Contact:

Rafaelo is one of the best resorts in Shengjin. They have lots of live shows and good music. To avoid trafic don't move out of Shengjin from 16-20:00 or move in from 9-11:00 because the trafic at that time reaches kms . If you'll need internet just get a Vodafone offer with less than 5€ with unlimited bandwitch (oferta 600lek) . If you move to visit Lezhe , park the car near to the Cathedral and you can walk around freely as the city is small so you could reach Skenderbeu's memorial and the castle if few minutes. There are loads of bars in the new "walkway" on two sides of river Drin or near to the old comunist Hotel Turizmi you can find "Jolly" on the last floor of the tallest building.
Pjetër
Posts: 830
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 7:37 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 14 times
Contact:

Holy shit I forgot how bad the traffic was.
User avatar
Migjeni
Posts: 652
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:09 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Came back from Shengjin a few days ago. Mostly a good trip. Shengjini is smaller than I thought and there really isn't much to do besides going to the beach during the day and taking a stroll down the shetitore in the evening/going to one of the discos there. Beach was mostly clean, so was the water. Lots of people on the public beach - Rana e hedhur was better for me. Waiters are shit as usual in Albania.

Had an annoying experience. Last day we were there, my cousins and I decided to quit the beach a little earlier, so we could take a look at the 'city' in daylight. Well, there wasn't much to see, but we saw what looked like a small park - and we saw a cross @ the gate, so we figured it probably was a church, so we went ahead and when we saw a lady around her 60's who was working there, we asked her whether we could go into the 'park'. She didn't answer us but looked at us and said: "A jeni katolik a musliman?" - We were a little baffled by the question, as I've never been asked that by any Albanian in my life. We answered and said, that we were Muslims, and then she said: "Ju kosovaret i urreni katoliket" - I was very, very surprised and annoyed by this, and so were my cousins. Well, we put her in her place and told her that she was the one who was prejudiced and ignorant and left, and we met a man who worked at the church who told us, that 'Kosovaret' are the ones who leave most money in the church when they visit it lol.

Besides that it was a good trip. But know that it's a very small place when you're going, so there isn't much to do - we visited Tiranë and Shkodër while there - the rest of the days we spent in Shengjin. Also, the roads could be better, but they're not near a catastrophe, they're just very dusty. The same can be said about the dumpsters in the streets stinking up entire blocks. If you want to get tourists, be sure the city doesn't stink. Besides that it was decent. Rafaelo Resort was good.
Kafshatë që s'kapërdihet asht, or vlla, mjerimi..
User avatar
Aurora Bulkualis
Posts: 5084
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:24 pm
Location: Bulkustan
Team: Fc Bulku
Has thanked: 259 times
Been thanked: 266 times
Contact:

I don't know why you even bother answering random people who ask you about religion. I would have just given a troll answer like Hindu or something, and moved on.
"Cheap things you can buy in bulk, but Bulku is priceless" Ervin Xhevahir Bulku
User avatar
Plako
Posts: 3857
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:21 am
Location: NYC
Team: Partizani
Has thanked: 79 times
Been thanked: 164 times
Contact:

Migjeni wrote:Had an annoying experience. Last day we were there, my cousins and I decided to quit the beach a little earlier, so we could take a look at the 'city' in daylight. Well, there wasn't much to see, but we saw what looked like a small park - and we saw a cross @ the gate, so we figured it probably was a church, so we went ahead and when we saw a lady around her 60's who was working there, we asked her whether we could go into the 'park'. She didn't answer us but looked at us and said: "A jeni katolik a musliman?" - We were a little baffled by the question, as I've never been asked that by any Albanian in my life. We answered and said, that we were Muslims, and then she said: "Ju kosovaret i urreni katoliket" - I was very, very surprised and annoyed by this, and so were my cousins. Well, we put her in her place and told her that she was the one who was prejudiced and ignorant and left, and we met a man who worked at the church who told us, that 'Kosovaret' are the ones who leave most money in the church when they visit it lol .
Yeah that sucks but Lezha is overrun by Mirditore (Catholic stronghold) and they are some of the most intolerant Albanians when it come to religion. Still very surprising that she'd say that to your face.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
User avatar
KF.KORAB
Posts: 629
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 8:32 am
Location: Dibër - Mirditë
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Mirdita is like the Catholic ISIS region :D i'm Catholic myself but that old woman is an idiot if Muslims wanna visit the Church feel free to do it and vice versa.

Muslims have built churches for Albanian Christians.
User avatar
Simboli i Diellit
Posts: 5420
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 3:26 am
Location: Milan
Team: AC Milan
Has thanked: 372 times
Been thanked: 211 times
Contact:

Migjen , i'm sorry you had such an incoventient experience but i have to admit as Korabi says that Mirditore are quite extremists/fanatics on religion basis and well that woman must be quite ignorant like you say to reach such generic conclusions. Next to the church in Shengjin next summer i'll open a Battle Arena of Laser Tag . Putting some ISIS mannequins holding AK-47 looking to the church could be a good marketing campaign and that woman would hold her tongue :roll: . If you happen to visit the area during next summer we might set up some scenarios of UCK versus SDB or with Green Berets :roll:


Image
Image
Post Reply
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests