Highs and lows in the Balkans

The Adriatic was like a millpond as Jadrolinija’s vessel, the Dubrovnik, ferried us overnight from Bari. We arrived early in a sunny Dubrovnik and drove straight to Camping Solitudo, part of a hotel group, complete with restaurants, bars, shops and its own beaches occupying a headland, a short bus ride from town.

               We stayed five nights, mixing quiet days on Copacabana beach with days out, notably to Dubrovnik’s old town, now recovered from the Balkans conflict and full of tourists from cruise ships, and a superb day trip to the three Elaphite Islands, Kolocep, Sipan and Lopud, which included lunch aboard the boat.

               We changed our route slightly after Croatia, missing out Bosnia and Macedonia and going directly south to Montenegro, a small country which we passed through quickly. Campsites were basic, the best of ours being Autokamp Maslina at Buljarica, which had good facilities and its own beach bar and restaurant. Sightseeing highlight is Kotor, at the head of a long fjord, with a fortified old town well worth exploring, plus a castle with great views. Cruise ships call here, too, and in darkness one sailed past our waterside pitch at Kamping Lovcen, a massive wall of blazing lights.

               Sveti Stefan, an island attached to the mainland by a causeway, appears interesting but is part of a mysterious luxury estate along the coast, which you can walk through while security guards ensure you don’t wander from the path. The island itself is out of bounds unless you book for its restaurant. It sounds the sort of place James Bond might have investigated...

               We flashed through Albania in three days. Its best site was our first, Lake Shkodër Resort, beside the lake straddling the border between Montenegro and Albania. There’s an excellent lakeside bar and restaurant, while the lake itself is renowned for wildlife.

               Shkoder town would sit well in North Africa, its chaotic streets full of noisy traffic, cyclists and motorcyclists wandering erratically all over the road. On one occasion, an old cyclist came directly towards us, the wrong way round a roundabout. The roads are terrible and, not surprisingly, the country has one of the world’s highest road death tolls! 

               At Radhimë, on the coast, the small Cekodhima Kamper Park, run by an enterprising Albanian who learned the hotel and restaurant trade in London, is excellent. On the same site he has a restaurant and apartments, all with their own beach.

               At Ksamil, Camping Sunset is across the narrow strait from Corfu, but lacks decent facilities and is in an area best described as a cross between a war-zone and a building site. Two hundred illegally erected buildings were bulldozed by the authorities three years ago and the debris is still there. In the meantime, work has started on new buildings. Maybe, in time...

               Just down the road, however, is Butrint, a World Heritage Site with Greek and Roman remains, plus a Venetian castle housing a museum. From there, a short drive brought us to the Greek border at Konispol.