Tirana, the Heart of Albania - A Full Day Tour

Genti had personal problems to deal with at the time of our 5 day tour and he organised a colleague, Toni Shena, to conduct the tour. Toni is inspirational. Immensely knowledgeable about the many sites we visited, but also about Albanian history, culture, context and attitudes to the radical societal changes Albania has been undergoing, plus natural medicines, world politics and Albania's prospects for the future. This may sound a little serious, but Toni has a warm heart, a fun sense of humour, and knows the best places to eat - the trip was a pleasure from beginning to end. Yay Toni. We met Genti on the final day - also a very knowledgeable and charming Albanian host.

As seems to happen fairly often (judging by other reviews), Gentian was not available and asked his colleague Shpresa to cover for him. A supposedly 6hr tour was over after 4hrs – although it was a very hot day. We did see all the sites on the itinerary, but only went inside a couple of locations. Shpresa was lovely and knowledgeable, but on reflection we didn’t really get what we paid for.

This was our first time booking with Tours by Locals and we had an absolutely fabulous experience. The whole process went smoothly and our guide was incredible. Gentian P. was hospitable, a great communicator, very knowledgeable, punctual and kind. We will definitely recommend Gentian and Tours by Locals for travel in Albania.

Gentian is reliable and trustworthy, and overall a great introducer to Albania . Would certainly be using his services again should we return to Albania for a longer visit in the near future

The guided tour was perfect as announced and Genti was a very good guide who taught us a lot about Tirana in a relatively short period of time. He is smart, funny and a living library about Tirana and Albania in general. I recommend Genti to everyone. Buildings and places that you would otherwise pass by without much attention are provided by Genti with a whole history and (spicy) anecdotes.

Solid tour- thank you for showing me around!