Albania

The "City of a Thousand Windows" — tiered white Ottoman houses stacked up the slopes above the Osum River. UNESCO 2008 and one of Europe's oldest continuously-inhabited cities (2,400+ years). Berat Castle (Kalaja) is a still-inhabited medieval citadel — people live inside the walls. Facing Mangalem (Muslim) and Gorica (Christian) quarters across the 18th-century stone bridge. Onufri icon museum inside the castle; Çobo and Kokomani wineries in Albania's wine capital; Tomor Mountain NP 20 km east. Access: 2.5 hr bus from Tirana. ALL currency (EUR widely accepted); 90-day visa-free for most Western.

Albania's capital spent 45 years as Europe's most isolated country (1944–1992); today Tirana is one of the continent's most energetic up-and-coming cities. Former mayor Edi Rama — now Prime Minister — painted communist-era grey apartment blocks in psychedelic colors, transforming the city's identity. Bunk'Art 1 and 2 repurpose Hoxha's nuclear bunkers (there were 750,000 — one per four Albanians) as extraordinary art museums. Blloku, once the exclusive communist party quarter, is now packed with cafes and bars. Ridiculously affordable.

Sarandë is the southern anchor of the Albanian Riviera — a horseshoe bay of pebble beach and pastel apartment blocks staring across 18 km of Ionian Sea at the Greek island of Corfu. From the hilltop Lëkurësi Castle (a 30-minute climb or a €5 taxi) you get the photogenic two-bay sunset; from the harbour ferries cross to Corfu in 30 minutes (€19, multiple daily); and from the bus station the Ksamil islets (turquoise coves, swim-out distance) and the UNESCO Butrint ruins (Greek-Roman-Byzantine-Venetian, 2,500 years of city stacked on an island) are 15 and 25 minutes south. The town itself is honest about being a beach resort first — most architecture is post-1991 — but the location is hard to beat in Europe at €60/day all-in.