Two Fantastic Weeks In Tirana (Albania)
Finally, our 6-week stretch of Balkans fast travel is coming to a close! We’ve spent the last two weeks exploring Tirana, the capital of Albania, and it’s been quite the experience.
So how did we like it?
We liked it a lot! More than we expected, to be honest.
Read on to see what’s been going on.
Why Did We Visit Tirana?
Good question.
Despite being the capital of Albania, traveler opinions of Tirana are mixed.
Some really like Tirana, since it has the best infrastructure and amenities of anywhere in Albania.
However, others feel differently.
Some do not like the urban sprawl, traffic, and lack of “wow-factor” things to visit. Those people suggest that Tirana is only worth a couple of day’s visit at best.
So with this knowledge in hand, we thought we’d give Tirana two weeks of our time and check out the situation for ourselves.
We found Tirana to be a great place for an extended visit, despite its perceived weaknesses. Like Sarajevo, we thought Tirana was a very liveable city with fantastic people and would have had no problem spending two additional weeks here.
But before we explain ourselves, let’s talk about how we got here and settled in.
Getting To Our Airbnb in Tirana from Shkodër (Albania)
This was one of our easier commutes.
All we did was go to the bus area in Shkodër and hop on one of the hourly buses leaving for Tirana! The exact departure location for this bus is HERE.
Bus fare was 500 ALL ($5.54 USD) per person (cash only, paid to driver), including luggage portage.
The bus ride was uneventful and took about 2.5 hours to reach Tirana’s North and South Bus Station.
After we arrived, we were still well outside walking distance of the city center. So we picked up one of the public city Buses heading to “Qendër” (“center” in Albanian), found HERE.
As we were figuring out where to pick up the city bus, an Albanian man came over to make sure we were heading to the right place to get the bus to Qendër. He was going to the same place and we struck up a conversation with him on the bus. He was an engineer who worked at Tirana International Airport and we chatted about all sorts of things on the ride.
He was a really nice fellow and even paid for our bus fare (40 ALL/$0.45 USD per person) as a welcome to his country!
Little did we know that this would only be a taste of the hospitality of the Albanian people.
30 minutes later, we arrived at the stop closest to Tirana Center. We then made the 20-minute walk to our Airbnb in the Ali Demi neighborhood.
Our Airbnb was nice!
It was a very comfortable 1 bedroom apartment for a 2-week stay, but we would probably have requested a larger frying pan if we were staying for a month and would be cooking more.
At $29.77 USD per day (including the weekly discount), it was a good deal for 14 days. But we know that it would have been significantly cheaper per day if we stayed for 1 month.
Our neighborhood is nice too.
The Ali Demi neighborhood is only a 15-minute walk from the historic center of Tirana, where lots of stuff goes on. Every street has many cafes, shops, and reasonably priced local restaurants. We also have several decent supermarkets within easy walking distance.
And our neighborhood is really safe. As seems typical of the Balkans, people walk the streets at all hours, even solo females and elderly people.
So What Are Tirana’s Downsides?
To be honest, not many for slow-travelers like us.
But if we were picking nits, we’d say there are truly no big draws to visit the city. This means no world-class museums. No well-defined foodie scene. No beaches or hiking opportunities close by. And no streets filled with spectacular architecture.
And traffic is a real problem here. The old road infrastructure simply can’t handle the volume of vehicles on the main arteries. So unless you are walking or taking a bicycle, it can take a while to get anywhere by car or bus, even across short distances. But thankfully, the city is quite friendly to cyclists and pedestrians.
So if you are a traveler who only has a couple of days to visit, Tirana may seem like a pretty forgettable place.
But despite all this, Tirana has become one of our favorite cities over the last two weeks. And we suspect that many slow-travelers feel the same.
Let’s explain.
So What Are Tirana’s Upsides?
For travelers who have the time to scratch beneath the surface of a place, Tirana has much to offer.
First, if you like eating local, we haven’t been to a better place since traveling in Latin America.
Cheap local restaurants (and cafes) are everywhere, and most have bilingual menus. Quality is usually excellent, as are portion sizes.
For example, in local neighborhoods away from Skanderberg Square, you can get a coffee for 60 ALL ($0.66 USD) or a cappuccino for 150 ALL ($1.64 USD). A large pizza with many toppings can be had for 1000 ALL ($10.99 USD) or less. A multicourse local traditional meal feast for two (including wine/beer/tip) can be had for around 1500 ALL ($16.48 USD). Or if a normal lunch for one is more your speed, 500 ALL ($5.48 USD), including a drink, is an easy price point to meet.
Of course, you can find more expensive places. But you can get some great local food for bargain prices with little effort.
Second, there are lots of hidden diamond-in-the-rough attractions to see here. And many of them are cheap or free to see.
For example, we really enjoyed Bunk’Art 1 & 2, large retrofitted nuclear bunkers converted into history museums that describe the horrors of Albanian life under the rule of communist leader Enver Hoxha. Life during this period was truly horrific, and we thought the museums did an excellent job telling the story of their country during this period.
We also enjoyed spending an afternoon on Mt. Dajti, by way of the Teleferiku Dajti Ekspres cable car. The cable car ride was REALLY long and reminded us of the one we took in Medellin, Colombia. Once we got off near the top of the mountain, there were reasonably priced restaurants, cafes, and hotels – all with a spectacular view. There was even an adventure park there if one is into that sort of thing.
But what surprised us was that there was good hiking to be had on Mt. Dajti. We took a scenic (and easy) walk with excellent views of Tirana from the cable car station to the ruins of Dajti Castle, an old Roman fortress whose crumbling walls still remain.
We also spent several afternoons at the Grand Park of Tirana, hiking around the lake, picnicking, and relaxing. It was a great way to exercise, people-watch, and get a cheap coffee on the (artificial) lake.
Closely associated with the Grand Park of Tirana are the Botanical Park of Tirana (50 ALL/$0.55 USD entry fee) and Royal Palace/Gardens. The Royal Palace is free and open to the public (only open on weekends), and you have to leave ID at the entrance.
Both the botanical park and palace were a little rough around the edges but are worth seeing, especially if you make the nearby Grand Park part of the visit.
We also took another Free Walking Tour, which we found to be a great way to get oriented to Tirana city.
And of course, just exploring the city center and our local neighborhoods ate up a couple of days on their own.
There were lots of other things to see, but with only two weeks to visit, we couldn’t visit everything!
Third, there are lots of cheap bus transportation options – both within Tirana and regionally to nearby towns.
Although the city traffic slows the public buses down, we found the system easy to navigate and cheap! The best way to navigate the bus system was by using the Patoko app. It shows you each route and each bus stop, as well as your proximity to them. Google Maps works too, but it is harder to locate route information without lots of hunting and pecking for bus stops. Last, bus fare is only 40 ALL ($0.44 USD), payable in cash to the ticket usher after you board.
For regional day trip options, you can take a bus from the South and North Bus Terminal, about 25 minutes by public bus northwest of the city center. From here you can take a bus to almost anywhere in Albania, as well as several international options. Just pay cash to the driver and off you go!
Bottom line, Tirana can be a great hub for travel throughout Albania.
Fourth, day trip options are plentiful from Tirana.
Using Tirana’s South and North Bus Terminal, We took two day trips that were a ton of fun and easy to make happen.
Our first day trip was to the coastal town of Durres. With many bus departures per day between Durres and Tirana (at ~250 ALL/$2.75 USD per ticket), we didn’t have to worry at all about transportation.
Our second day trip was to the historically significant town of Kruje, home to Albania’s most famous (and beloved) military leader – Skanderbeg. Although departure times to Kruge are not well publicized, passenger vans leave every hour on the hour from both Tirana and Kruge. The last van leaving Kruge departs at 4 pm, so we couldn’t do dinner there, but we did do lunch!
We’ll write more about these day trips in future posts.
Fifth, it is really easy to do normal life stuff in Tirana.
Supermarkets are everywhere. Pharmacies are everywhere. ATMs are everywhere. Internet is speedy (unlike Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina). Department stores are everywhere. And I’ve already talked about eating out and getting around.
We even got our teeth cleaned at the dentist (the best we have ever experienced) for 3000 ALL (~$33 USD) per person.
And local pharmacies seem to be prescription-optional.
Bottom line, it isn’t hard to take care of your personal business in Tirana, which is important when you slow travel.
Sixth, communication is easy in Albania if you know English and don’t know Albanian.
Lots of Albanians in Tirana know at least minimal English. And even when they don’t, they are quick to try to communicate with pantomime or other methods.
We have never been in a country where people seemed to be so eager to communicate outside of their native language. Our working hypothesis is that since almost no one speaks Albanian (globally) and Albania was entirely separated from the global community until the late 20th century, locals are eager to connect with the wider world.
This brings us to our last Tirana upside…
The people of Tirana (and Albania in general) are probably the most friendly and helpful we have ever encountered.
The amount of unsolicited help we have received has been unlike anything we have ever experienced. And the amount of interest locals have taken in us has been surprising!
Since Albanians 35 years and older had to live during communist-era times, we suspect that much of the population may be surprised that their country is interesting to foreigners.
Or perhaps it is just normal Albanian culture. Who knows.
What we know is that every conversation with locals we have had has been punctuated with warmth, friendliness, and curiosity. Really, the people here are just adorable.
Personally, experiencing Albanian culture is reason enough for an extended visit.
The feels here are real. 🙂
Closing Thoughts About Our Two Weeks in Tirana
As you can probably tell, we have really enjoyed our time in Tirana.
It suits our style of travel.
Affordable. Liveable. Interesting. Quirky. With many hidden gems that encourage you to explore and find more!
And the culture here is truly one of kindness.
If you only have a week’s vacation to travel, Tirana may be a bit of a hard sell to visit.
But if you have more time to peel back the layers of this city, we highly recommend staying here and getting to know the place.
A slow travel gem to be sure.
Until next time…
Thanks for reading!
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