Albania's sightseeing has been effectively hidden from international visitors for decades, and the result is an almost undiscovered landscape of Ottoman old towns, Illyrian fortifications, Byzantine churches, and communist-era bunker conversions. Two UNESCO World Heritage cities deliver Ottoman architecture of European quality at a fraction of comparable Balkan crowds. The coastal Riviera, the ancient ruins of Butrint, and the alpine north each carry different historical and landscape registers. The country's National History Museum covers a frank and unusual breadth of Albanian history from Illyrian origins to communist isolation. That's where the magic happens.