I have travelled with one of my best friends to Albania in July and August 2021. I found the country very interesting. Last days of our trip, we stayed for one night in Gjirokaster which i found beyond charming. Probably you should consider around 2 nights if you want to have a thorough feel of the town. The prices are really attractive, the old ottoman town is classy, the view is great. You can go up on the hills and have a spectacular view of the valley filled with old ottoman stone houses. Far down on the bottom of the cauldron that mountains create, you can see the new town with quite communist buildings. On the other side, a spectacular landscape shows off - typical mountains, little covered with trees. The view is fantastic. I totally recommend this town for people that want to really want to take a break from the agitated western world.
The city has the sweetest balkan vibe with grape arcades over the terraces of the restaurants, sweet breeze, figues, flowers. The ottoman vibe which is very authentic here (as it is in the city of Berat) makes the experience very exotic. Prices are very good so you can take advantage of lux hotels with magnificent views. Dont forget to eat their balls of rice with mint which are very good, a very interesting taste. I would definitely come back from time to time, for quality and low cost vacations here.

We did not pick Dorien Malaj as our guide in Albania; we were matched up by one of the travel industry’s many anonymous middle men—but the moment we actually met Dorien, we knew we had gotten lucky. He was quick to identify our particular interests and to adjust accordingly. Our focus in Albania was their “accursed mountains” in the north east. We expected that in getting from Dubrovnik to Albania, Montenegro would be little more than a “drive through”. However, Dorien took us on a stunning mountain route that included the two beautiful but very different towns of Kotor and Cetinje, which really put Montenegro on the map for us, an added bonus. Dorien was so well-informed and happy to share both the hard facts and the subtle cultural nuances we were observing. His interactions with local people were very interesting to observe, and his background in Psychology gave him an interesting perspective, greatly enhancing our experience. His personal interests were so varied and wide, and that made looking through his eyes very stimulating for us and made conversation very productive. There was no subject off limits—about either Albania or the US. Dorien has a nice sense of humor that seemed to match ours…so that we had lots of fun together, too. It was a very easy and open relationship.