Customer Reviews

Blue Guide: Albania & Kosovo

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I lived and worked for 18 months in Tirana and traveled throughout the country from Kukes to Korca to Saranda to Shengjin and I always, always carried my Blue Guide. It was indispensable for my personal exploration of the country and allowed me to act as "tour guide" for visitors. I used the Albania-only edition until this edition came out and immediately upgraded. Any book can tell you how to get to a country or which hotels are available, but they quickly become obsolete. By focusing more on the history, culture, and environment, Pettifer avoids that trap. Albania changes every day and any attempt to recommend which hotel is good, which is safe, which is cheapest will be oudated before the ink is dry. This book tells you more about why things are the way they are. It also covers more areas off the beaten path. Yes, I own the Bradt guide too, but prefer the more detailed, denser content of the Blue Guide.

The Blue Guide is the best guide for Albania. This guide has informations about everything (history, culture, language, places to have seen, hotels, restaurants) and mentions everything that can be visited. Unfortunately, the maps are really bad. The situation in Albania changes very quickely - the traveller has to know this. But all the other guides are older and have more wrong informations. James Pettifer knows Albania very well and visited all the country.

I am a devoted academic researcher on Albanian culture and this is the best guide book out on the market that offers wonderful information on travel into Albania and Kosovo. This guide book not only has useful information on travel conditions and the best way to explore the area, but it also has some wonderful information regarding the culture and history of the Albanian nation. This book is a must have for anyone that is interested in travelling to this culturally complex region in the Balkans. This book is the first thing that I am taking with me when I set off to travel to Shqiperia and Shqiperia e Madhe (Albania and Greater Albania). It is a shame that Lonely Planet has not produced a guide book into this part of the world. It would be fantastic if they did. For the meantime this Blues Guide has everything you need to make your trip into the region a successful and productive one.

This author is to be congratulated on an absolutely masterful work! This is a fantastic book that is crammed full of useful travel, as well as historical information to an almost unbelievable degree. If this guide book had been written in a less condensed format it would easily have ended up being twice as long. I noticed that during my travels in southern Albania, the author seemed to have ethnic and historical information on villages so small that they didn't exist even on the most detailed maps that I was able to purchase. On that basis, I would recommend this book even for those not contemplating a trip to Albania, as it provides for many hours of interesting reading for those just wanting to learn more about the culture and history of the region.

Although the author's approach of writing a guidebook which includes all areas of historic Albanian inhabitation (Kosovo, Northern Greece, and Western Macedonia) rather than just the present day country is somewhat unusual, he does the reader a great service as many visitors to Albania entering from these adjacent regions are provided with detailed information which is usually lacking in other guidebooks (i.e. Guidebooks on Greece have little, if any information on regions around the Albanian border areas).

I would not contemplate travel to Albania without this publication!

I found this book in the bookstores in Albania in both English and Albnanian versions. As is typical of the Blue Guide publications, it is geared more toward a historical rather than travel context.

It is somewhat 'dated' because Albania has developed quite a bit since 2000. Roads and accomodations are improving. Even Internet cafes can be had in most of the cities, although inconsistent power is still a problem in many areas.

Now that Gillian Gloyer's guide is available, I would recommend buying it instead since it is better as a travel resource.

This reminds me of one of those coffee table books people used to buy because they felt they ought.

a) because it is the only guide on the market
b) because every other traveller seems to have one
c) it looks nice

Whether it suits its purpose is quite another matter. Put simply if you're into history in a big way and really want to take on the Albanian cause then this will be indispensible.

If you want an up to date guide to the actual practical information the book is almost useless. First, it is clear the author had a lot of help on the way from prearranged contacts eager to be in the book and second the author obviously had a car and I would hazard a guess a driver (at the cost of the Blue Guide). Lonely Planet/Rough Guide this is not.

Which traveller/backpacker is going to hire cars or stay in the Rogner International Hotel in Tirane? This is in essence an `ivory tower` travel guide. For instance, we didn't stay in any hotel mentioned in the guide as,apart from one, were all new and excellent (could teach the Greeks a few lessons!).

You don't need to be told of the state of the roads as in the book as you will be on the bus experiencing this at 40 bumps a minute. What you do need is up to date info on the LATEST accommodation, a lot more maps (particularly of Gjirokaster) and the maps that are there reviewed for correctness. You also need a more practical Albanian Language section to go with your dictionary than the one in this guide.

Also useful would be a guide to Corfu as this will be a booming crossing point in years to come.

If you are going to Albania and feel you MUST have a guide book and/or seriously interested in going into every historical/archealogical nook or cranny then by all means buy it. If nto stay away.

So you want to go to Europe, but want a change? Somewhere different, unusual, off the beaten path and not crowded by tourists? Go Albania.

For 50 years Albania was literally shut away from the rest of the world by a fanatical communist dictator. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of European Communism released the proud and warm people from the deep sleep. Slowly they are coming alive to the rest of the world. While previously it was nearly impossible for Westerners to visit Albania, the door is now wide open. But be forewarned, Albania is the poorest country in all of Europe, and there are still many practical difficulties for the common tourist. The first place to start is with a tour guide.

Since Blue Guide: Albania is the only guide to this country in print, that alone makes it a valuable travel aid. Blue Guides are published by W.W. Norton and are unique travel guides that strongly promote a country's history, culture and archaeology.

Author James Pettifer, a Balkans expert, has selected the easiest places in Albania to visit; namely, places where accommodations can be found. He furnishes the traveler with good, practical information, although it is dated since it was written pre-1996. The hotels and restaurants listed are almost non-existent and fall bellow the most remedial standards of travel guides for other countries. The guide's strengths are history, culture and archaeology - and in this area Pettifer excels.

If you are traveling to Albania, this guide will be a good asset - conditionally recommended.

Ignore what that last person said; this is by far the most detailed guidebook available in the english language to both political entities. I found it obsessed a little too much with every little ramshackle mosque and ruin that exists, but overdetailing is better than underdetailing.

I do understand that this author has taken a bold step by writing a guidebook not so much about countries but about ethnic Albanian settlements - there is also information of visiting Albanian majority towns in northern Macedonia.

The book is definitely -not- propaganda. Nor is Kosovo completely bereft of Serbs, and the author points that out. It's a surprising book to see, given that tourist interest in the region is next to nil - which is why the big boys like Lonely Planet have only a tiny sliver of information regarding Albania in their books(which basically sums up to "Don't Go.").

Kudos for making a bold political statement, but I doubt this book is going to sell many copies - there just isn't a market for this book, really. Except with the expats posted to Kosovo, but there's a UN book they're all given for that purpose.......

James Pettifer has written a fascinating guide to the Albanian speaking areas of the southern Balkans, which will be invaluable to anyone living and working in the area. The format, which follows language and ethnicity rather than the present day borders is unusual, but this should not put anyone off buying this very detailed guide to the wealth of antiquities in the area.

Published as a tourist guide, this book is packed with historical and cultural perspective, great detail of architectural and artistic information, and extensive local detail providing insights into the life of various cultures that lived in the area now known as Albania over many centuries. I learned excellent details about connections in this geographical region and the Illyrians of ancient times, the direct ancestors of the original "Albanians." This land is more central to the great tides of history and culture of Europe and the Mediterranean than anyone would guess. How can this have remained hidden for so long? Grippingly and readably presented by this affable expert in Balkan affairs!