Marcia was amazing. Thank you - Our guide Marcia and driver were amazing ! Marcia is very knowledgeable we learned so much. It was a great day. I would recommend.

Fantastic - Fantastic tour with Marsia. Lovely guide with so much knowledge. Great info and recommendations too. Cold War tunnel is a highlight!! You won’t regret this tour.

Great day - I agree with others’ opinions of Marsia. She was interesting and engaging. We learned a lot about her home town and had fun.

Worth every penny! - This is one of the most informative tours we have ever done. Our guide (Maria I believe) was very knowledgeable and thorough. She was able to answer every question we asked and had a great understanding of the history of Albania.

So accommodating and knowledgeable - We really enjoyed our tour. Sani couldn’t do enough for us and was brilliant at keeping our baby entertained and catered for. Marsia was so knowledgeable about all the history. I couldn’t recommend both girls enough.

Highly recommended - Well organised and friendly informative guide. Lovely drive through the mountains on the way to the castle . Highly recommended

Nice day with lots of history - The Castle, Cold War tunnels and Blue Eye were fascinating. I’m convinced that no one knows more about Albania’s history than our guide, Marsia! The only down side are the many, many hills and uneven steps involved in this tour. It is NOT for almost anyone, as the description states. Numerous people on our tour stayed behind rather than climb another hill or navigate more uneven steps.

Gjirokastra- The Stone City & Blue Eye- The monument of Nature - I have to take what Roni said in her review becasue it was spot on with what we all encountered that day. While we appreciated the chance to see these beautiful places, the experience did not meet our expectations. The tour was scheduled to start at 8:30am, but we didn’t leave until 9:00. Although advertised as a maximum of 16 people, there were 18 in the van, which made the journey uncomfortable. The vehicle itself struggled on the mountain roads, moving very slowly and making the drive feel longer than it should have. Time at the stops was quite limited. We often felt rushed and didn’t have enough time to enjoy the sites or sit down for a proper lunch. At one point, the group was led downhill through the bazaar without commentary, only to be told we now had free time to walk back uphill if we wanted to shop, which felt poorly planned. Our guide, Sunny, was very friendly and kind, but unfortunately not able to answer many questions, so we left without learning much about the destinations. Sunny did apolozige several times about the time and the vechilce issues but it just didnt really make the trip any better. The most informative part of the tour was at the Cold War tunnel, where a local guide took over. I also feel that the Blue Eye was a pit stop becasue we only had 15 -20 mins there. No time to epxlore or eat something. Overall, the tour felt disorganized, with more waiting around than actual exploring. With better planning, clearer communication, and more attention to time management, this could be a fantastic experience. Sept 12, 2025

Did not enjoy - We took this tour when our cruise docked in Albania. It was a long slow ride to the first attraction and the guide did not offer any sort of information during the ride. The van was uncomfortable and we were stuffed in there. When we finally arrived at our destination, we toured a castle. It was ok. After we were only given 20 minutes to browse through the small town. It was also the only time we could find something to eat. Then we went to the Blue Eye. It's really not much other than a watering hole with clear water. There's a small lookout platform to climb which several other guests had trouble climbing as there needed to be at least one extra step at the bottom so people could climb the rest of the stairs. There is nothing else there except a souvenir stand. Then it was back on the uncomfortable van and back to the port. It was a lot of driving for nothing. Also seemed quite unorganized at times.

Albania's not ready for tourists yet - NOT recommended. Gjirokastra is an interesting castle/fortress, but not worth a 75-minute ride in a cramped van or small bus. The Blue Eye isn’t worth visiting at all. If you don’t care about the Roman ruins at Butrint, there’s no reason to get off a cruise ship in Albania. Sarande doesn’t seem as prepared for tourists as other ports/countries. This tour company had zero idea of the level of discomfort of the passengers, and the tour “guide” had to be prompted to speak, even then not giving much information during the drive. There was pretty consistent confusion between movement from one spot to the next, and the result was many grumpy tourists on this excursion. There was supposed to be a cap of 16 people on this tour, and there were 19 crammed into the van. There were also multiple vehicles, so that is truly not living up the description of a “small group” tour for which some participants paid. The tour leader was a lovely woman named Sunny, but she struggled to keep everyone happy. There was no overview of the activities and she was frequently not leading us, as she was distracted with providing extra care to another tourist in the group who was in a wheelchair and required some extra attention (understandably). As a result, the rest of us were left in a lurch, not knowing where to go or what to do. At one point, she rushed us through a market to the bottom of a hill, even though it was evident that many in the tour wanted to shop and poke around - at the bottom of the hill she informed the group that we had 15 minutes and could hike back up the hill to the market if desired. This upset and frustrated quite a few people in the group.