Good country, exhausting tourist industry

Albania is a genuinely beautiful and interesting place. Albanian Riviera is worth every superlative thrown at it. The qofte is legitimately excellent. stunning unspoilt Riviera beaches gave the trip real depth.

What I struggled with: the tourist infrastructure around the headline sites in Shkodër is relentlessly commercial and some roads are shocking is a genuine friction point. You can feel the gap between authentic Albania and the packaged version sold to tourists. The authentic version wins, but you have to work to find it.