Flashy Tirana and classic Berat are chalk and cheese. Lots of cheese.
Tirana has a few very good museums, funky galleries, good parkland and nearby hills. Despite all this and plenty of fancy bars, chances are you’ll pass quickly.
Berat gets all the good adjectives: charming, relaxed, historical, friendly, white-washed, traditional. The tightly twisted cobbled alleys also hide some great eateries- especially the tiny, quirky Lili Homemade Food.

With ample parks, plenty of museums, an inviting city square and colurful apartment blocks, Tirana isn't a bad place at all.

One former nuclear bunker has been converted to a museum, documenting the darkness of war and communism.

A bus ride and a cable car deposit visitors on Mount Datji, with excellent views and a restaurant or two.

Sausages and grilled vegetables are typical Balkan fare, but if you crave sushi, Indian or French, Tirana has Albanian's fanciest plates.

The old bazaar area itself is quite small, but there are plenty of other nooks and crannies to explore.

Charming, white-washed Ottoman are homes rise steeply on the hills either side of the 1780 stone bridge.

Behind and above the compact warren of cobbled streets of the Mangalem old town, the fort is a living museum inside a living museum.

Life in the old town of Kala continues inside the fort walls, its residents unfazed by the history and grandeur about.

Pause for lunch, take in the Onufri museum, stumble into someone's front yard, climbs the walls and enjoy the views.

Traditional, wooden Ottoman houses in the old towns double as guesthouses, which you will be likely sharing with the owners' family.

Despite being well and truly on the tourist map, for good reason, Berat is a welcoming, easy-going place.