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instant Downloaded free at www.inyourpocket.com getting around Arriving in Korça Arriving by plane Albania’s only airport is in Tirana, 175 km northwest of Korça. After arrival and passport control, most foreigners need to pay a €10 fee to enter the country. There’s an airport at Ohrid in Macedonia, 110km from Korça, serving mainly charter and Balkan flights. Across the border in Greece, Kastoria airport (76km from Korça) has flights to Athens, while Thessaloniki’s airport (247km) has flights across Europe. Arriving by train Korça is not on the Albanian rail network, but the the station at Guri i Kuq a few kilometres north of Pogradec is the terminus of trains from Tirana. A direct bus to Korça (200 lek) waits for the trains from Tirana. Other furgons wait to take passengers to central Pogradec. Arriving by bus There are no bus stations in Albania, and most buses drop passengers off near the bazaar in the centre of Korça. Arriving by car The roads in Albania have seen massive improvements over the past years, and the ride from Tirana to Pogradec is pretty smooth. The Pogradec-Korça road is being upgraded at the moment, causing some delay and considerable couds of dust, and is expected to be completed in late 2009; at the moment it takes 40-50 minutes to cover the 35km between both cities. 2 korÇA 2009 - 2010 Map Hotels restaurants Bars Sights Introducing Korça A proud and cultured town high in the hinterlands of southeastern Albania, Korça (pronounced KOR-cha) is a world away from Tirana, and is indeed close to Greece in more than one way. Locals cross the border to nearby Kastoria and further afield to Thessaloniki and Athens for the latest fashion, religious festivals, education, jobs and family visits, and many of them are fluent in both Greek and Albanian. Korça is known for its pretty girls, its tradition of seranades, and good food. Despite its small size, it has quite a few great sights, including an excellent icon museum, a bustling bazaar, a fantastic Byzantine-era painted church, a top-rate beer brewery and a great beer festival. In the immediate surroundings, Pogradec has a lovely lakeside setting and Voskopoja and Dhardha make for great daytrips in the mountains. This new Korça In Your Pocket guide is the first English language city guide to this fascinating destination. If you have any comments, please let us know at tirana@ inyourpocket. com. Enjoy Korça. korÇa MINI-GUIDE Including PoGraDEC 2009 - 2010 The daytrip destinations Voskopoja, Gorica e Madhe (Lake Prespa) and Vithkuq can be reached by a daily furgon, but the timetable may not leave you enough time to explore. Trains The nearest place with rails is Pogradec, from where Albanian Railways (Hekurudha Shqiptare, HSH) runs one daily, basic and extremely slow diesel-hauled train to Tirana. Pogradec train station (stacion i trenit) is a few kilometres north of town along the lakeside, and tickets for the train are available just before departure. It’s much faster to take a bus, but if you have the time, the stretch to Elbasan is a marvellous train ride, as you first trundle along the lakeshore and then wind down a lush valley towards Elbasan, sometimes perched high on rusty viaducts. Avoid the flat tedious bits of rail beyond Elbasan by taking a bus to Tirana or elsewhere. Taxis Taxis are green or blue with white roofs. All taxis in Korça are independent, though most collaborate with the central taxi switchboard at tel. +355 24 44 44. A ride within the city should cost about 200 lek; all other rides are subject to negotiation. Korça’s main taxi rank is outside the Grand Hotel on the main square; in Pogradec ask for Rruga Rinia. About this guide This Instant guide contains the content of the Korça In Your Pocket miniguide, the first English-language guide to Korça, Pogradec and surroundings, produced in March 2009 in cooperation with Korça municipality, GTZ Albania and the Gulliver OK Travel Agency. Copies of the printed miniguide are free and can be found locally as well as in many other distribution points in Albania including hotels, embassies, airports and tourist information centres; copies may also be sold for 200 lek to allow bookshop distribution. The full content of this guide can be viewed at http://albania.inyourpocket.com. Find In Your Pocket guides to Tirana, Shkodra, Pristina, Skopje, Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Athens and other cities online at www.inyourpocket.com. www.inyourpocket.com Public transport Korça has five city bus routes aimed at shuttling residents to the suburbs. Buses run every 30 minutes. Tickets cost 30 lek regardless of destination and are bought on board. Travel agents Hotels and plane bookings and guided tours in the region or elsewhere in Albania. Pall. Çajupi 2, tel./fax +355 82 24 38 62, skasso@ abissnet.com.al. Also on Rr. Reshit Çollaku in Pogradec, tel. (083) 22 26 17. Gulliver OK B-4, Blv. Gjerg j Kastrioti, tel. +355 82 24 36 97/+355 68 227 04 70, gulliver@icc-al.org, www. gulliver-ok.com. A friendly travel agent that doubles as the local Tourist Information Centre (see also ‘Sights’). Flight bookings as well as local tours; ask for Orieta who is an expert on the region and speaks fluent English. QOpen 09:00 - 19:00. Car rental There are no car rental companies in Korça, though if booked in advance, the car rental companies in Tirana can bring a car to Korça for you. Cars with drivers or guides can be hired via the local travel agents. All In Your Pocket editorial content is independently written and is free from paidfor advertising. In Your Pocket has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of information at the time of publication and assumes no responsibility for changes and errors. All comments and enquiries are welcome at tirana@inyourpocket.com. Published by In Your Pocket, Albania Experience Sh.P.K, Rr. Papa Gjon Pali II, Pall 11/1, kati 5, Tirana, Albania, http://albania.inyourpocket.com, tel +355 4 225 56 55, fax +355 4 227 19 60. All texts and photos © Albania Experience Sh.P.K; all rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. Maps copyright Korça municipality and prefecture. Publisher: Gazmend Haxhia Co-publisher, texts, photos, editing: Jeroen van Marle (rentapocket.com) Albania manager: Alida Karakushi, tel. +355 68 20 61 390 Fact-checking: Froseda Angjellari Layout/design: Tomáš Haman The publishers would like to thank Rajmonda and Vangjel Nase, Ismail Beka, Luan Dervishej, Maria Grazia Amore and especially Orieta Gliozheni. Cover photo: The cathedral seen from the Vangush Mio museum courtyard. Albania Travel & Tours B-4, Blv. Gjerg j Kastrioti, Buses Korça is well served by buses from the main cities in Albania, as well as Thessaloniki and Athens in Greece. There’s no bus station and no official timetable, so it’s a good idea to ask around for the exact departure locations and times before travel - many buses depart from beside the bazaar along Shetitorja Fan Noli. Most minibuses (furgons) depart as soon as they’re full, starting from various places in town, sometimes trawling through the streets to find passengers. Buses to Gjirokastra and Greece are slower but more comfortable large buses. There are direct daily furgon buses from Korça along the Pogradec-Elbasan route to Berat, Durrës, Tirana and Vlora. There’s a daily early morning bus (departs around 06:00) using the stunning mountain pass route to Gjirokastra, continuing to Saranda every second day. Train schedule From Pogradec Dep. 12:50 12:50 Arr. 16:00 20:00 City ELBASAN TIRANA To Pogradec Dep. Arr. 09:30 12:23 05:00 12:30 2009 - 2010