Mother and daughter road trip in Montenegro and Albania!

Hello there!

We are Brooke and Charity, a mum and a daughter. We rented out a campervan from Balkan Campers.
We started our journey in Podgorica, the capital of the beautiful Montenegro, where we picked up our home for the next 10 days, Milija. We had little to no plan but decided to head towards Kotor bay for our first night in our newly converted T6 camper van! We were greeted by some winding roads and impeccable views within 30 minutes of driving down to the coast- through mountains and clouds and finally peaking a glimpse of the water. I don't think we were ready for how breath-taking the surroundings were and took any excuse to stop and take in the view.

As a passenger, my jaw remained on the floor as we wove our way round these roads- throughout the whole trip this didn't change!

The first night we stayed at a campsite in Kostanjica on the west side of the bay and were excited to set up the camper for its first night on the tour! Both me and my mum admired the clear waters and complete serenity as we tried to map out our plan for Montenegro and Albania. Having not seen each other since our last trip away 6 months ago (Me, living in Australia, mumma living in England), this was an incredibly exciting experience!

On day 2 we headed up to Durmitor NP, pitstopping to explore some forts on the way into, unbeknownst to us, the coldest section of our trip. We felt the temperature drop but didn’t realise how much until we looked at ourselves in shorts and tees when the pedestrians we were passing were in jackets and salipetes. At this point in time we were eternally grateful that Milija had heating, it really saved us this night!

Here, we stocked up the van and explored the little town within the park. The campsite we chose was taint and the owner and his family greeted us with hospitality, offering us warm drinks and some home made alcohol which definitely warmed up the insides! The national park was beautiful, I can only imagine it covered in snow in earlier months!

Over the next few days in Montenegro we headed back down toward the coastline, stopping at any and every view point possible! As I say, we couldn’t get enough of the landscapes.

Our next night being on the riverside near Niksic, I'm sure our home on wheels appreciated the fact we were on some flat roads for the first time since we departed! It didn't last too long because on our way down, we had to see Ostrog-Orthodox monastery! It was 10000% worth the hairpin turns, woah what a beautiful place!

We stopped in Budva, enjoying the beachfront and then headed to Sveti Stefan, a beautiful historic area which felt like something out of a book. We took full advantage of Milija during a short downpour and watched the rain meet the sea, nestled in our cozy van. The water was so clear here, it really felt like a special place- taking in the last beautiful moments of Montenegro before heading onto Albania for the following days.

We took a 2 hour coastal drive from Sveti Stefan, admiring the coast, crossing the border to Skhoder in Albania. Staying in a riverside campsite and taking the time to relax. We had some animal friends here, geese, dogs, chickens, ducks and some adorable kittens which were maybe a month old. We took advantage of the bar and river, and heard stories from a man cycling from England to China.

From here we decided to take the long drive down to Berat. It was more than worth it for the beautiful town we came across. On the drive we stopped to make some lunch and set up the table and chairs to have lunch with a view of mountains and rolling hills.

We spent 3 nights on Berat- Cooking hearty meals in the van and discovering the beauty of the old town. We learnt it was the wine region, and booked a wine tasting and vineyard tour. Befriending some locals and really melting into the culture for our last leg of the trip.

We were coming to the end of our adventure in the van and heading over to Corfu from Sarande. We drove to meet our lovely and helpful Petar, to return the beautiful Milija and continue our trip. Overall we had an amazing time, learning lots, seeing some once in a lifetime things and couldn’t be more grateful to Balkan Campers for this opportunity!

Thank you so much.

Brooke + Charity.