North Albania and Kosovo guided tour

Planet

Accommodation and Meals:
On this tour we will spend 9 nights in comfortable hotels. All accommodation is locally owned and staffed, which provides employment and income alternatives for many locals. Where meals are provided, there is a focus on using locally sourced produce and traditional ingredients in locally-run establishments. For meals that are not included, clients are encouraged to eat in authentic, family-run restaurants that showcase the best of Bulgarian and Kosovan cuisine.

Water:
Whilst we must stay hydrated, it is also vital that we have a system for providing clean water without causing lots of waste with plastic bottles. As the tap water in some places is safe to drink, the leader will always suggest that instead of repeatedly buying bottled water, guests should pack a refillable water bottle and make use of the many public fountains and taps in the cities and towns to refill their bottles.

A Fair Deal:
We work closely with our local operator to run this trip in a way that aims to reduce impacts and to give as much back as possible to the local communities. Part of this is employing local leaders, who are committed to responsible tourism and helping to preserve the way of life in their area. The leaders will give a briefing on responsible tourism issues to help you understand how you can help reduce your impact and maximise the benefits to the local community from your visit.

Waste:
The leader will also give a briefing on how best to manage waste during throughout the trip. Clients are actively encouraged to dispose of waste in bins and to use recycling facilities where possible. Whilst this is an area of Europe that still has a long way to go in terms of environmental sustainability initiatives, our local supplier and leaders ensure they lead by example and provide clients with an appropriate briefing on how to dispose of waste.


UK office
It all starts at home so we have first worked to reduce our carbon footprint in our UK offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies in place, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.

Group size
We operate small group tours that have a low impact on the communities we visit and we always ensure our operations do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. This allows us to stay in unique and characterful accommodation that would not have benefitted from tourism due to their limited size.

People

Local Craft and Culture:
This tour is packed with culture: we visit the Bulgarian capital of Sofia and its main sights before staying in the small Bulgarian town of Melnik; known for its historic architecture. In Melnik we visit the Kordopulova house, the largest house from Bulgaria's Revival period, and will learn about the old Melnik traditions. Here, there will also be an opportunity to arrange wine tasting at the famous 250 year old Kordopulova House winery.
The tour will see us visiting some of Bulgaria’s most famous orthodox monasteries and churches. In Bulgaria we visit the Rozhen Monastery and UNESCO sites of Boyana Church and the famous 10th Century Rila Monastery; considered to be one of Bulgaria’s important cultural, historic and architectural monuments.

There will also be the opportunity to explore and purchase local crafts from the old Bazaars of Bitola, Skopje and Prizren in Kosovo during each orientation or sight-seeing tour to further learn about the cultures of this region and engage with the locals.

Community:
This trip is designed to allow a high degree of economic benefit to the local communities; we buy local produce, eat local food and use local services, thus ensuring that as much money as possible is retained within the local economies and the host communities. By visiting a large number of cultural and natural sites such as the Pelister N.P and various Orthodox monasteries and paying entrance fees, we are contributing towards maintaining, restoring and protecting these valuable monuments, nature sites and facilities. The visit to the village of Dihovo for lunch and to the local beekeeper is part of a village community effort to promote different forms of rural tourism and to engage locals with tourists as a way to sustain their businesses.