The trip into Albania started from Ohrid in Macedonia via the Southern route over the mountains, (I've travelled the North quite a bit). The scenery was surprising and stunning. Surprising to me was the agriculture leading to Korca with fields and fields of regimented plantations of various produce with an amazing irrigation system. A legacy of Enver Hoxha I presume. Driving over the mountain roads was slow and it took us 6 hours to travel about 100 miles but again the scenery was raw and beautiful. We arrived at Benje near Permet which has an old Roman Bridge and a series of warm spas next to the river. Wild camped overnight with late and early morning swims. There was only one other vehicle there a motorhome from Belgium. Really peaceful and basically in the middle of nowhere. From here it was another 6 hours to the coast. In summary Albania is beautiful (in places), driving standards are atrocious in the towns and especially cities and personally I wouldn't drive at night there due to the danger of large holes in the roads. Driving through the town of Fier in a main street we suddenly stopped before a large manhole with no cover, maybe 3 feet across. As for beaches you have to go very far south i.e. Saranda area before you would want to take a dip in my view.
I guess I should post this in the travel section but if you're interested in this area check out my videos!! Northern Albania - Valbona and Ohrid Macedonia