Testimonials:
Albania - Classic Cycling Holiday

Paul Fisher, Livingston, Scotland

This was my first time in Albania and I will be back. The tour was wonderfully varied and revealed many aspects of this amazing country from open meadows to mountain passes and tiny villages to coastal towns. Our guide - Nik - was exceptional in every way, supportive when riding and opened my eyes to Albania's very recently troubled history and its growing optimism for the future each evening.

Every Albanian person that we met was friendly and greeted us with openness and a smile - it was worth every effort getting to know and understand this "forgotten corner" of Europe.

Eleanor Goodwin, Tatsfield, UK

A fantastic trip through beautiful Albania. A stunning array of scenery, through mountains and along the coast, with a perfect combination of both challenging and exhilarating cycling.

Our guide Joshua was full of information about the area and history, and went out of his way to ensure everyone got out of the trip what they wanted. Food and accommodation were spot on, and our driver Vissy was always there just when you need him. This was my first guided cycling trip, and I loved every minute. Nice one redspokes, you'll be seeing me again!

Janet Coffey, Nairobi, Kenya

This was my 5th trip with Red Spokes, and once again I had an excellent experience. I love the Red Spokes format and consider it to be excellent value-for-money. I thoroughly enjoyed the Albania Classic trip, despite the extreme heat and grueling uphill climbs. (I would recommend people to choose the October option and avoid the June/July heat!) The guide, Arjan, was excellent. The food was delicious, nutritious, and abundant - a lovely blend of culinary influences from Greece, Italy Turkey. The side line tours of medieval castles and ruins added richness to the trip, providing insights into the country's complex and interesting history. My tour mates were wonderful and good humored and created a friendly, supportive bond to get us all through the sweaty days. I'm already planning my 6th trip!

Marie Sadler, Luton, England

This trip was a wonderful surprise. Albania is a hidden gem. The cycle route takes you through beautiful countryside, mountains, rivers and lakes, the scenery is breathtaking. We had a great group and very well looked after by Arjan and our driver. The food and accommodation was to a very high standard and the Albanian people very warm and friendly. 

Thank you redspokes once again for a well organised trip giving a true feel of Albania

Emma and David Smart, Bristol, UK

This was a great trip. The first trip with redspokes for my wife and I. Despite a flight delay, we were welcomed to the group meal and our first taste of healthy Albanian food. Meals were all arranged with communal food to take as much or little as you wanted. While it was hot cycling weather (it was summer, so expected to be hot), we were a fast and friendly group so able to get off the bikes in early afternoon to rest in the midday sun.

Armand and Arjan were very welcoming and were excellent tour leaders. The bikes were very well maintained with almost no mechanicals for any riders during the week. All the riders were great fun with lots of fun enjoyed over the odd drink in the evenings.

We are now working on which redspokes tour to do next.

Catherine Wallace, Edinburgh, Scotland

Amazing trip - loved every minute. Beautiful country, wonderful cycling and Arjan and Rimi were really supportive. Thoroughly recommend!

Minaxi Patel, London, England, UK

This is my third redspokes trip and it came up to the same high standard as the other two. Our guide, Arjan, was excellent, very knowledgeable and passionate about his country, tirelessly attentive to everyone's needs and he had a great sense of humour. The route took us through spectacular scenery, the food was delicious, fresh and plentiful and the accommodation was always comfortable and I love the range from boutique to very rustic. The cycling was the best, challenging but manageable, a great way to see the country.

Karen & Geoff, London, England, UK

Another amazing redspokes trip, this time to Albania with our wonderful guide Arjan who was very knowledgeable about the country and history of Albania.

Scenery was beautiful including mountains/lakes and Albanian coast. It really gave you a insign into the country and the people along with delicious meditterean food and challenging cycling.

Jeff Riley , London, UK

Thanks Dermot for helping me discover and appreciate new countries with cyclists who share the distinctive design of the redspokes experience.

Lots of cycling, adventurous tours that attract adventurous people. I've had two redspokes tours and they were both fabulous.

Cressida Dawson, Jussy, Switzerland

This was a fantastic tour - what an amazing country. It was really well organised an our guide, Arjan was great - helpful, very well informed and immensely proud of his country. The accommodation was very good, the bikes in good condition and easy to ride, and great food.

Robert Burford, Luton, England

This is my fifth trip with redspokes and once again all our expectations have been repeated a relaxed friendly trip with our guide Arjan and our Driver who both passionately spoke about their country, it’s past present and future.

We were looked after in every possible way, Albania is a hidden gem and long may it stay that way. Thanks redspokes for another great cycle.

Andy Green, Isle of Wight, UK

Amazing Albania. What a wonderful country. You are certainly well looked after on this tour.

The food is excellent, the roads are quiet and the scenery is stunning!

Katja Stille, Hackney, London, UK

Yet, again a fantastic holiday with redspokes. I didn't know much about Albania before booking the holiday and I have come home with a much better idea of the country and its history. On top of that the cycling was fantastic, beautiful climbs and exhilarating descents.

At the end of the day we were rewarded with a selection of tasty and fresh food that set us up for the next day. The days cycling along the coast held a the special treat of being able to cool down in the sea.

Katherine OpieSmith , London, England, UK

Great trip! One of the best I've been on.

John Roche & Judy Bedford , Leeds, England, UK

John - We has a fantastic time in Albania,great people, amazing food, good hotels and beautiful views. Dhino our guide was delightful, a good sense of humour and excellent communication skills. He knows the history of his country and passionate about it's future. We visited a number of historical sites and discovered more about Albania.

Judy - We had a wonderful trip. Dhino our guide was fantastic he was so organised and had so much knowledge about the history of Albania which made the trip so much more interesting. The cycling, food, scenery and company was outstanding I would definitely recomend this trip to others (and have done)

Tricia Handley, London, England, UK

Albania surpassed my expectations in every way. Beautiful scenery, including mountains and coast, challenging but manageable rides (I wasn’t as fit as I’d like to have been); wall to wall sunshine (wasn’t expecting that); an interesting mix of accommodation (including organic farm) ; food continuously of high standard (fresh always), a wonderful guide and the most hospitable friendly people.

This is my second trip with redspokes and I’ll be looking to my third.

Roger Troughton, Dorking, Surrey, UK

A great week - challenging yet with opportunities to relax - this was a real redspokes holiday! The route took us through some quite stunning mountain scenery over to the Ionian coast - and even that was far from flat! Well organised by very competent local crew, we enjoyed really good fresh food and a standard of accommodation that was much higher than I was expecting.

Corina Naughton, Dublin Ireland

The cycle group were really great, everyone got on well. Albania was interesting probably more developed than I was expecting. I loved that we had a chance to visit some of the ancient sites, even if a bit hot. Mountains were beautiful and swimming in the sea is a real bonus on a redspokes trip!

Angela Thomas, Matamata, New Zealand

I cannot rate this tour highly enough. Arjan our guide was amazing. When my luggage didn't arrive in Tirana he followed up to see where it was and had it delivered to our hotel before the start of our tour the next morning. What a beautiful country and lovely people. There was quite a few undulations. 

Robert Oddo, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Great views, warm friendly people and delicious food!!! Highly recommend.