Stuart Butler

Albania is a special place. Things work a little differently here, and despite being very much on the tourist radar (partly thanks to Dua Lipa and partly to its incredible music festivals and magnificent beaches), it is a country that marches to the beat of its own drum. Albania has it all, from beautiful beaches, city breaks, and fascinating history to mountainous national parks, old towns, and more, with delicious food and an underrated wine scene ready to provide sustenance along the way. Is Albania cheap to visit? Albania remains delightfully affordable for most, although the days of it being a budget-saver are long gone. Tirana even took top billing on our list of affordable places to visit in Europe in 2026, primarily due to the abundance of wallet-friendly food, drink, and accommodation. The more popular seaside resorts are getting pricier and pricier (particularly in the summer), but Albania, on the whole, remains a destination offering incredible value for money. Top tips for visiting Albania in 2026 The Albanian calendar is packed with exciting annual events across the country, ranging from traditional folklore festivals (Gjirokastër is the place to go) to modern beer festivals (the Korça Beer Festival is one of the country’s great celebrations). However, while Albania’s tourist infrastructure continues to improve, public transport remains somewhat spotty. The best way to make the most of any trip here is to rent a car and hit the road, allowing you to cover culture

There’s nowhere in Europe quite like Albania. The cities, towns, and villages of this fascinating spot in Southeastern Europe shimmer with energy and excitement, but it is the country’s increasingly popular coastline that stands tall as the main event. Stretching for over 450 kilometres (nearly 300 miles), Albania’s seaside is packed with winsome fishing villages, secluded coves, and views for days, offering up a sense of the Mediterranean that you may have feared was lost to history. And what is a coast without its beaches? The best beaches in Albania showcase everything that makes the coast special, from the sandy stretches of the Adriatic in the North to the rocky charmers of the Ionian in the south. True, some of the country’s beaches are as busy as other parts of the Mediterranean, but you are never more than a short walk down a dusty track through alluring olive groves away from tranquil seclusion. Pack the sunscreen and shorts, it’s time for the beach. RECOMMENDED:🇦🇱 The best places to visit in Albania🏖 The best alternative Mediterranean beach breaks☀️ The best beaches in Europe🧳 The most underrated destinations in Europe Stuart Butler is a travel writer who has travelled extensively in Albania. John Bills also contributed to this article. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on o

Right now, it feels like a great time to celebrate our cities. What cities do best is bring people together – everything we love about urban life, from the galleries and bars to the neighbourhood parks, exists thanks to the communities that make it all happen.  That’s why, every year, we raise a toast to the city with our definitive annual ranking, created on the back of a comprehensive survey of city-dwellers worldwide. Our survey asks not only what people love about their cities – the food scene and nightlife, the shops and museums, the parks and people – but also how it feels to live there. We asked you about happiness, affordability and quality of life, among a variety of other criteria. And, in order to dig deeper into the everyday lives of locals, this year we expanded our survey to cover aspects like love, romance and community feel. Time Out’s Best Cities with Intrepid Travel spotlights the destinations that offer the best of both worlds: an endlessly exciting catalogue of reasons to visit, as well as all the good stuff that makes a place feel like home. The 50 cities that made the list this year did so thanks to the insights of more than 24,000 people across 150 cities worldwide. To determine the final Best Cities ranking for 2026, we combined their thousands of responses with the votes of more than 100 Time Out city experts. Then we tapped up our network of local writers to tell us exactly what makes their city worth a visit right now. The result? A rundown of the m

This list is from 2025. Our latest ranking for 2026 is live here. People who don’t live in cities will tell you they’re busy, lonely and expensive places. But there’s a reason so many people choose to live in them: with world-class art and culture, unbeatable food and nightlife, buzzing neighbourhoods and a dizzying amount of stuff to do and see, there’s simply no better place to be.  Every year, we take the pulse of city living by quizzing thousands of locals across the planet about life in their hometowns. This year, more than 18,500 city-dwellers shared their insights on everything from food, nightlife and culture to affordability, happiness and the overall city vibe. When urban living can sometimes feel isolating and costly, this year we wanted to get a sense of what, exactly, makes a city feel like home. Sure, the nightlife is great, but is the city safe and walkable? Is good quality food and art available at a reasonable price? Is it easy to make friends, find love, and access nature?  Livability was a key factor in our ranking this year. But a great city to live in is, naturally, a great city to visit. So, along with the thousands of responses from locals around the world, we asked Time Out’s global network of city experts to vote on the places they think are particularly exciting right now. After crunching all that data, here we are: Time Out’s definitive ranking of the world’s best cities in 2025. Read on to see how your hometown fared… RECOMMENDED:🛍️ The coolest n

Does anything conjure up an image of beach bliss quite like the Med? Surrounded by 22 countries and bordered by three continents, the Mediterranean Sea boasts miles and miles of coastline – not to mention hundreds of islands. And while there are certain seaside spots where you’ll need to fight for space on the sand (we’re looking at you, Barceloneta), there are plenty of other secluded stretches of coastline across the Med. Our selection of alternative beach spots, chosen by Mediterranean-based travel writers, takes you beyond Europe to North Africa and the Middle East. From wild, flamingo-frequented beaches in Spain to a culture-packed port city in France, this is where to find the Mediterranean’s best alternative (and affordable) beach breaks. There’s plenty of room to lay out your towel here. Grace Beard is Time Out’s deputy travel editor, based in London. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines and check out our latest travel guides written by local experts. RECOMMENDED:🗺 Europe’s most underrated destinations🌆 The best European city breaks🚫 The travel destinations that want tourists to stay away

We all like the idea of summertime in Europe – long, lazy days in the Mediterranean sunshine, whiling away an evening people-watching in local bars – but the reality is often much less romantic, with overtourism, sky-high prices and heatwaves blighting many a Euro Summer fantasy. But it doesn’t have to be that way. To inspire your summer holiday plans this year, we asked writers across Europe to tell us about their favourite alternative summer trip ideas. From Croatia’s quieter island-hopping route to an Estonian spa break, here’s where to head for crowd-free bliss and unsung adventures right across the continent. You’re welcome. RECOMMENDED:🏝️ The best alternative Mediterranean beach breaks🗺️ Europe’s most underrated travel destinations