Ksamil: Idyllic resort on the shores of the Ionian Sea
Hello dear travellers
I hope you are doing well and look forward to seeing great places in your posts.
Some time ago I blogged about Albania and the sights I visited on my holiday there last year.
Why did we choose Albania?
It is very simple, we wanted to see something else, we are tired of Romanian resorts, lately a holiday at the Black Sea in Romania has come to cost as much as an exotic vacation.
That's how we chose the resorts on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, in a seven day holiday, initially we decided to spend our holiday like this to form an image of these resorts, and today when I write the post about last summer's holiday I am already thinking about the next holiday this summer, with all the information from last year I have already formed an image of what I want to explore this year in Albania.
To be honest we chose to go to Albania only from what some of my wife's work colleges told us, otherwise I knew nothing about this country, but today I can say that I am not sorry that I made this choice.
How did we get to Albania?
We left from western Romania on the route Timisoara - Moravita (here we crossed the border into Serbia) - Belgrade - Macedonia (here we divided the route in two and slept one night in Ohrid) - Albania (in one of my posts about Albania I also wrote about how much time we lost at the customs between Macedonia and Albania).
Albania surprised me from the beginning with its mountainous relief, with those roads winding through the mountains, very clear and clean water, very welcoming people, by the way if you ever get to Albania try to exchange money in local currency, the local currency in Albania is Lek, it would be better to look for a bank (Credins, we withdrew money here without commission) when you withdraw money from the ATM you will not be charged any commission, if you withdraw money from any other ATM you will pay a commission which in my opinion is exaggerated.
Accommodation
We got our accommodation on Booking quite a long time before we arrived in Albania (and well we did because it was in the height of the summer season and there were few vacancies), a very nice hotel room, clean, overlooking the main road, we were on the first floor and downstairs was a supermarket.
The distance from the hotel to the famous beaches of the resort we had to walk about 300 meters, but before the beach goes a walk through the streets of the resort.
I can say that at first glance the prices here in the resort are a bit higher than in Vlora, starting from the accommodation to the price of the sunbeds, but we found an alternative as far as sunbeds are concerned.
Food in Ksamil
In general while we were on holiday in Albania we did not find bad food, and here we chose not to eat at restaurants on the beach (they were extremely expensive) but we ate at the terraces that we met on our way to our accommodation, the food is very tasty and compared to prices in Europe, cheaper.
Beaches in Ksamil
In terms of beaches I don't have much to say, in high season they are very busy, but instead the color of the water is spectacular, Ksamil resort is also called the Maldives of Albania, because the color of the water is very similar to that of the Maldives.
As I wrote above the price of the sunbeds seemed a bit expensive, 10 euro sunbed and table a day, I know that in the resort all beaches are private, so I found an alternative a few steps away, a beach with sand not chia shaved fine and with some very interesting rocks, so we sat at the beach there, for free, it was just us and another family, nobody bothered us all day.
We visited several beaches, all were super crowded, that's why we chose to get away from the crowds, but I can say that Bora Bora beach caught my attention, gorgeous, no words, a great place to take pictures (morning or sunset).
What you can visit in the area
Saranda resort, an amphitheater-shaped resort that is relatively close to Ksamil, some 15 kilometres away.
The National Park with the **Butrint **resort, about which I will write a future post, is really amazing.
Sea cruises, if you want to feel the smell of the sea, the gentle breeze of the sea, a sea cruise is welcome.
Why choose Albanian resorts?
First of all for the turquoise coloured water, very clear and clean water.
The people are very friendly, the prices are relatively low compared to other places in Europe, here we find important historical sites, the landscapes are just as spectacular, the food is very good.
What didn't I like here?
First of all the very long distance between Romania and Albania, more than 14 hours of driving, in most cases you will have to split the road in two, especially since Albania is mostly mountainous and the route is harder and you have to be more careful.
Secondly you can't pay by card in most places, you need cash, thirdly if you want to withdraw money from your card you will be charged an exaggerated commission (it doesn't matter if you withdraw 1 euro or 1000 is the same commission for each transaction).
There would also be the roaming charge to Romania and the rather high price of fuel.
If you liked what you saw and read here please don't forget to give a LiKe, Follow, reBlog or a Comment, for all this I thank you, and until the next post I say goodbye.
P.S. The attached pictures you have just seen are taken by me with my mobile phone in Ksamil, Albania, and the text is also designed by me.
