Traveling to Albania as a Black Woman: 5 Firsthand Experiences
Albania has quickly become one of Europe’s most talked-about summer destinations for its turquoise coastline, beach clubs, relatively affordable prices, nightlife, and increasingly photogenic resorts.
But for Black women considering a trip to Albania, there are a couple of other questions that often come up alongside Where should I stay? and Which beaches should I visit?:
What is Albania actually like for Black female travelers? And is Albania safe for Black women?
The answers, based on the experiences of five Black women who shared their trips on TikTok, are a little complicated.
Main Takeaways for Black Women Traveling to Albania
Expect some stares: Several women noticed people staring, though some interpreted it mostly as curiosity.
Durrës is a mixed bag: It has great beaches and nightlife, but it was also where several women had uncomfortable experiences.
Consider going with a group: Multiple women enjoyed Albania but still wouldn't personally recommend traveling there solo.
Be prepared for attention from men: Experiences ranged from friendly flirting to fetishization, catcalling, and harassment.
Overall, Albania is worth considering: Even women with negative encounters often praised the country's beauty, food, nightlife, and atmosphere.
Some described Albania as beautiful, welcoming, affordable, and one of the safest places they had traveled. Others loved the country itself but came away uncomfortable with the amount of staring and attention they received. And a few experienced behavior considerably more serious than curiosity, including harassment, unwanted touching, threatening encounters, and situations that left them unwilling to recommend Albania for solo Black female travelers.
At the same time, even several of the women with negative experiences had genuinely positive things to say about Albania.
The result isn't a simple "Albania is Black-girl friendly" or "Black women shouldn't go to Albania."
Instead, their stories paint a much more nuanced picture of a destination that can be an incredible vacation for Black women while also presenting circumstances travelers may want to prepare for before arriving.
Here are five firsthand experiences from Black women who traveled to Albania.
Review #1: Albania Was Beautiful, but Durrës Made Her Uncomfortable
A woman who goes by @cindyabiceo on TikTok visited three destinations during her trip to Albania: Durrës, Sarandë, and Ksamil. And while she had some serious reservations about her experience in Durrës, she started her video by making one thing clear: she genuinely loved Albania.
In fact, she pushed back against some of the criticism she had seen online suggesting that Albania has become overhyped as more celebrities and influencers have started vacationing there.
“A lot of people are saying it’s so overrated, it’s not great—like, it actually is...it genuinely is a really incredible place.”
Part of Albania's appeal, she explained, is that it isn't necessarily geared toward only one type of vacation. Travelers who want to spend their days relaxing along the coast can do that, while those looking for nightlife and beach clubs have plenty of options, as well.
Still, of the three places she visited, Durrës was easily her least favorite, although not because she didn't enjoy the destination itself.
There was actually quite a bit she loved about the city. She was particularly impressed by its beach clubs and restaurants, describing their interiors as incredibly stylish and aesthetically pleasing.
There was another unexpected positive: she wasn't the only Black tourist there.
“You’re going to get lovely pictures, lovely vibes, lovely aesthetics and, you know what, a lot of Black people were there, which is really nice. Sometimes it’s not nice to go somewhere and not fit in, but there was a lot of Black people there.”
So in many ways, Durrës delivered exactly what travelers might expect from the photos and videos circulating online: beautiful venues, beachside restaurants, nightlife, good drinks, and plenty of places designed for a scenic European summer vacation.
The problem was what happened when she ventured beyond those tourist experiences.
The Attention From Locals in Durrës Became Uncomfortable
Her biggest criticism of Durrës was the way she felt some locals reacted to her as a Black woman.
She was careful to distinguish these encounters from her interactions with people working in restaurants, bars, and other businesses that regularly serve tourists. She didn't report having the same problem with them. Instead, she said the behavior she noticed from some other locals made her increasingly uncomfortable.
“I was very, very uncomfortable—constantly pictures being taken of you, or someone was video recording me whilst I was sat at a table for dinner. People would literally stare at you. Women were literally looking me up and down.”
She wasn't necessarily claiming that every person staring at her had hostile intentions. In fact, she acknowledged that some of it could have simply been a reaction to seeing Black visitors. But for her, knowing that curiosity might have been behind the attention didn't make being photographed, recorded, or stared at feel any less invasive.
And eventually, it affected how safe she felt.
She had traveled with her partner, which made her more comfortable, but said she personally wouldn't want to return under different circumstances.
“I just didn’t feel safe. I probably wouldn’t go [to Durrës], especially if I didn’t have men in the group that I’m going with or my partner with me.”
She also acknowledged that another traveler could have the exact same experience and react completely differently. Someone else might be able to ignore the staring or brush it off as curiosity. Her point wasn't that every Black woman visiting Durrës should expect to feel unsafe, but that it was something she wished she had known about beforehand.
There were some practical parts of the trip that went particularly well.
She found a taxi service called BS Taxi on WhatsApp that she said was inexpensive, punctual, patient, and responsive, and strongly recommended using it to get around.
Her final advice to other Black women was consequently pretty simple:
“If you’re a Black girl, go—just be mindful.”
Review #2: Her Experience in Durrës Went Far Beyond Uncomfortable Attention
While some Black women have come home from Albania raving about their trips, @pinkipadtalks from TikTok had a very different experience. After seeing more and more Black travelers heading to Albania for summer vacations, she shared her own story. Unfortunately, it was much more troubling than simply dealing with a few stares.
“I got assaulted more times in Albania than probably days I was there,” she said, adding that she had “a ton of stories” from the trip.
One of the encounters she described happened while she was staying in Durrës. Her Airbnb was near the beach, while her friend was staying on the other side, so she regularly walked along the beach to get from one accommodation to the other.
During one of those walks, a man approached her, repeatedly told her she was pretty, and asked for her phone number. Since she was in another country and walking by herself, she was already cautious about engaging too much with a stranger. Rather than give him her own number, she told him she would take his because she was in a rush to meet her friend. She took a screenshot of it without saving it and went on her way.
However, that wasn't the end of the interaction.
“Every single day that this man would see me walking down that same strip, he would follow me, follow me, follow me, follow me,” she recalled.
Each time, she would make an excuse and try to walk away quickly. On what he told her was his final day in Albania, the man approached her again and asked to take her out. She declined. He then asked if he could at least have a hug.
She agreed to a side hug, at which point he grabbed and slapped her butt without her consent.
Even the other people nearby seemed caught off guard by what happened. She remembered looking around and seeing people on the beach reacting to his behavior, which made it clear to her that she wasn't simply misreading the situation.
“Everyone else on the beach was even looking like, ‘What the hell is this man actually doing?’” she said. “That’s when I knew I wasn’t tweaking. This is actually weird as hell.”
Another Encounter Left Her and Her Friend Cornered
On another night, she and her friend were walking near a main road after leaving a club when men on motorbikes approached them.
This wasn't simply a case of men riding by and trying to get their attention. According to her, the motorbikes would pull up in a way that physically limited where the women could go, with the storefronts and walls on one side and the road on the other.
“They’d just corner us off so we couldn’t get anywhere,” she explained.
The men would then begin speaking to them in Albanian and asking them to get onto the motorbikes. Since neither woman spoke Albanian, they couldn't fully understand what was being said, but they certainly weren't comfortable getting onto motorcycles with strangers.
Experiences like these left her baffled by just how popular Albania had suddenly become among Black travelers online.
“It’s a shame because the country is actually so beautiful,” she said while recounting what happened.
Review #3: A Fun Group Trip, but Not Somewhere She’d Recommend Traveling Solo
A woman named @kiekieomo on TikTok came away from her trip to Durrës with a fairly mixed review. She had a great time celebrating her friend's birthday, enjoyed the nightlife, and found most of the people she encountered lovely. But there were also enough uncomfortable moments, including problems with taxi drivers and confrontations on the street, that she wouldn't personally recommend Albania for a solo trip.
A lot of her advice was also practical, beginning with something travelers might not think much about before arriving: cash.
“Make sure you have cash,” she advised. “It just makes life easier if you have your own cash... cash is king.”
She found ATM withdrawal fees expensive and recommended bringing money with you rather than relying on withdrawing it once you're in Albania. Having cash was particularly important when dealing with taxis, since her group encountered drivers who initially said they accepted cards only to later tell them they didn't have a card reader.
For getting around Durrës, her group eventually found Speedy Taxi, which she said was considerably cheaper than simply picking up a taxi outside. The savings were especially worthwhile because she was traveling with a group and they could split the fare.
But while they found a transportation option that worked for them, not all of their experiences with drivers were positive. In fact, some became confrontational.
“We had taxi drivers threatening us, we had somebody try to fight us on the road,” she recalled. “It was just, yeah, I wouldn’t suggest it.”
Those experiences played a major role in how she felt about traveling Albania alone.
She Would Choose a Group Trip Over Going Solo
Like some of the other Black women who visited Durrës, she noticed that she and her friends attracted quite a bit of attention from men.
She described the men as “thirsty,” mentioning catcalling and name-calling and advising other Black women to be mindful of who they interact with. Even something as simple as smiling at someone, she suggested, could potentially invite more attention than you intended.
“I don’t think they mean it from a bad place,” she explained, “but as a Black babe, you know why they’re doing it.”
Still, when people asked whether she would recommend Albania for solo travel, her answer was no.
She had previously traveled to Split, Croatia, which she would recommend solo. Albania was different. Although her group met another woman who was vacationing there by herself, the things she and her friends personally experienced made her reluctant to encourage another woman to do the same.
The Nightlife, on the Other Hand, Was a Hit
For travelers who love going out, her review was much more enthusiastic.
She specifically recommended Club Omar for its Afrobeats nights.
“If you are a clubbing babe, if you like to party, if you like to have a good time, go to Club Omar,” she said. “The girls had a time.”
So for a group of friends looking for a destination where they can dress up, go out, listen to Afrobeats, and enjoy the nightlife, Durrës still had something to offer.
She also shared a few practical tips that made traveling with a group easier. Her group used a Nomad eSIM, which she said worked without any internet connectivity problems, and Splitwise to keep track of shared expenses.
The latter was especially useful because it eliminated the inevitable end-of-vacation confusion over who paid for what. Everyone could keep track of expenses throughout the trip and settle everything afterward without having to manually reconstruct several days' worth of taxis, meals, and other shared costs.
Ultimately, the Good and Bad Coexisted
By the end of her review, @kiekieomo wasn't trying to convince people to stay away from Albania. She actually described it as a “cute place” and said that overall, she had a good trip.
“Had a great time with the girls,” she said. “Just certain things that should not be happening. People need to learn how to behave.”
Even then, she made a point of separating those encounters from the majority of people she met, adding that “apart from the few crazy people that we met, people are very lovely.”
Review #4: “I’ve Never Felt More Safe”
While some of the other women described experiences in Albania that ranged from uncomfortable to genuinely frightening, a woman who goes by @ashoutofok had almost the complete opposite experience. She described Albania as warm, welcoming, and remarkably safe, and said her overall trip was “absolutely superb.”
Before visiting, she was already aware of the negative perceptions that sometimes surround travel to Eastern Europe. She said it was difficult to convince even her friend to make the trip because of assumptions that the region would be dangerous.
“I was just excited for an overall culture of something that was a bit more welcoming,” she explained. “People who were a bit more warm in total, a bit more friendly, and cheaper.”
For her, Albania delivered.
What stood out most was how comfortable she felt simply moving around the country, including at times when she would normally have been more conscious of her surroundings as a woman traveling alone.
She Felt Surprisingly Safe Walking Alone at Night
One example she gave was walking back to her hotel by herself in the early morning hours.
She pointed out that she wasn't exactly blending into the crowd. She had long red braids and was wearing a purple puffer jacket, walking alone late at night. Yet she said men weren't approaching her, calling out to her, or even paying much attention to her.
She noticed that she wasn't the only woman who appeared comfortable doing this either. Other women were walking around late at night in dresses and heels, while men were using those same streets without bothering them.
She didn’t mention in the video where exactly in Albania she was, but she emphasized that the lack of unwanted attention had her feeling safer than ever.
And it wasn't only the absence of negative encounters that shaped her opinion. Some of her favorite memories involved Albanians actively going out of their way to help her.
Getting Lost Turned Into One of Her Best Examples of Albanian Hospitality
One of those moments happened when she and her friend were trying to reach Dajti Mountain.
The two were riding a bus filled with Albanian passengers but weren't entirely sure where they were supposed to get off. She remembered looking around at each stop, trying to figure out whether anything looked familiar.
Apparently, their confusion was obvious.
When the bus reached the stop they needed, the other passengers began telling them to get off. She was initially confused about how everyone seemed to know where two complete strangers were trying to go.
The explanation was basically: You're obviously tourists. We know where tourists are going. This is your stop.
So they listened and got off.
But the problem was that once they were standing outside, she still had no idea where she was going.
“I look lost, more lost than like a baby duck without their mother,” she joked.
That's when an older Albanian man approached them and began speaking to her. He didn't speak English, and she didn't speak Albanian, but she could tell he was trying to help. Once she gave him the name of the mountain, he began giving her directions.
Somehow, despite the language barrier, she understood.
The interaction became even funnier when her friend asked afterward whether she secretly spoke Albanian.
“No girl, I don’t,” she recalled telling her. “But for some reason I understood.”
It's a small travel story, but it captures her overall experience with Albanian locals. “I’ve never met a group of people who are so warm,” she said.
She Got Stares Too—But Interpreted Them as Curiosity
Like other women who had less positive trips to Albania, she also experienced some staring. However, she said they didn't come across as threatening or particularly hostile.
“I did get stares, but here’s the thing...they just haven’t seen a lot of people who look different from them. They are very curious.”
She emphasized that this was based on the people she personally encountered. She didn't feel that the staring translated into poor treatment. In fact, she felt she had been treated exceptionally well throughout the trip.
Her interpretation was that some locals seemed almost surprised that international travelers were interested in Albania at all.
“They’re probably really happy that you’re there,” she said. “They’re probably really confused that you’re there.”
Her One Major Warning? Don't Drive
Although she enthusiastically recommended the country overall, she said she would not recommend driving through it herself because she found the driving there “insane.” She also had some choice words for Albania's bus system, which she described as “absolutely absurd,” although she saved that particular story for another time.
Neither issue was enough to dampen her overall impression.
“Albania is a wonderful country,” she concluded. “I would recommend it to anybody.”
Review #5: She Had an Amazing Time, but Would Still Think Twice About Going Solo
@ruthsjpgspent five days in Durrës on her first trip to Albania, and overall, she loved it.
“Guys, I had an amazing time. When I tell you Albania was a time, even now I am still thinking about it. The food was amazing, the vibes were great, and honestly, it’s such a beautiful place.”
Her experience was slightly different from most travelers, since she went with a group to attend a festival, which brought a lot of other Black travelers to Albania at the time. She recognized that this likely gave her a different experience than a Black woman arriving by herself during a quieter time of year.
Her group also didn't arrive completely unaware of some of the negative stories circulating online. They had already seen videos from Black women discussing everything from uncomfortable treatment to concerns about drink spiking.
“We were very much aware of, okay, this could go left or this could go right.”
Rather than letting those stories ruin the trip before it even began, they simply decided to pay attention to their surroundings and trust their instincts.
If Something Felt Off, They Left
This became one of the group's main approaches throughout the vacation.
“Whenever we felt as though something could go wrong, straight away we’re just like, ‘No, let’s go somewhere else. Let’s go spend our money somewhere else,’” she explained.
At one point, for example, someone behaved strangely about the group entering their shop. Instead of arguing, trying to decipher what the person's problem was, or worrying about whether they were misinterpreting the situation, they simply left and went somewhere else.
She didn't describe her trip as one spent constantly on edge or navigating one negative interaction after another. Instead, her overwhelming memory of Albania was that she had a great time.
Still, she remained aware that not every interaction felt completely straightforward.
“The Men in Albania, They Love Us Down”
One thing she noticed quickly was the amount of attention Black women seemed to receive from Albanian men. “The men in Albania, they love us down, okay.”
For the most part, she experienced those interactions positively. She described the men they encountered in restaurants and clubs, as well as their drivers, as extremely friendly. It was part of what made the overall atmosphere of the trip enjoyable.
But there was also a point where some of that attention started to feel a little different.
She described getting “weird mixed signals” from certain people, where enthusiasm toward Black women seemed so strong that she began questioning what was actually behind it.
“You either love Black women a bit, a bit too much, to the point where it starts to feel like, are you—is this a fetish or something?”
Obviously, European men being attracted to Black women isn't inherently strange. But as Black women, we can pick up on advances that just don’t feel right.
Many Black female travelers frequently share stories online about receiving unusually intense sexual attention, and sometimes outright harassment, from men who appear to view them through racialized stereotypes. For women of African descent, there can also be an uncomfortable intersection between fetishization and stereotypes surrounding African migrant women and sex work in parts of Europe. In those situations, the attention can feel less like this person finds me attractive and more like this person already has assumptions about me because I’m a Black woman. That can make otherwise flirtatious interactions much harder to read and explain why excessive enthusiasm toward Black women may immediately raise a red flag.
It didn't ruin her experience, but it was something she thought other Black women should be aware of.
“I think overall Albania was great. It’s definitely not somewhere where I would say it’s Black-girl friendly in terms of going on a solo trip. It’s definitely not somewhere where I would go on a solo trip.”
If she returned, she would make one other change: she would stay in a hotel or resort instead of an Airbnb.
Although she stayed in an Airbnb on this trip, she said a hotel or resort would make her feel a little safer on a future visit.
So, is Albania Black-Girl Friendly?
Based on these five women’s experiences, Albania doesn't really get a simple yes or no.
Their experiences varied dramatically. One woman said she'd never felt safer, while another experienced harassment. Staring was also a constant that some thought of as harmless curiosity, while others found the attention invasive and uncomfortable.
One thing I would expect, though, is to stand out. Eastern Europe already has quite the reputation amongst Black travelers, but as many have said, that region doesn’t see Black tourists as much as its western counterpart. Because of this, simply being in these countries as a tourist can be a surprise for locals. Several of the women mentioned staring, and attention from men came up repeatedly too. Sometimes it was friendly or flirtatious; other times it crossed into fetishization, catcalling, or harassment. This doesn't mean we should assume every stare or interaction has bad intentions, but it's something worth being prepared for.
Personally, these experiences wouldn't stop me from visiting Albania. Most of the women still praised the beaches, food, nightlife, scenery, and overall atmosphere—and several had an amazing time.
But for a first visit, I'd probably make it a girls' trip rather than a solo one, especially if Durrës is on the itinerary. Several women came to a similar conclusion.
Ultimately, I'd go informed rather than afraid. Expect some attention, trust your instincts when something feels off, and remember that another person’s experience—good or bad—doesn't guarantee what yours will be. Overall, keep an open but cautious mind!
