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Travel guide
Tirana
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: April to June, and September to October
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Welcome
Tirana, in a few days
A capital of 600,000 between the plain and Mount Dajti, which painted its socialist blocks in bright colours from 2000 onwards and opened Enver Hoxha's nuclear bunker to the public. Skanderbeg Square, redesigned in 2017, is where everything starts.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Skanderbeg Square free · about 30 minA former four-lane roundabout turned into a vast pedestrian square in 2017, paved with stone from every region of Albania and ringed with trees.
- Afternoon · Et'hem Bey Mosque free · about 30 minBegun in 1789 and finished around 1823, painted inside with trees, waterfalls and bridges, rare motifs in an Ottoman mosque.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Green House Hotel€90 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · House of Leaves · about 1 hA 1931 maternity clinic that became the secret police's surveillance centre, now a museum of hidden microphones, bugged bags and informers' files.
- Afternoon · Bunk'Art 2 · about 1 hA central bunker under the Interior Ministry, opened in 2016, telling the story of the Sigurimi political police room by room.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Mondial€85 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Blloku free · an eveningThe district reserved for Enver Hoxha and the Politburo until 1991, now full of cafés; the dictator's villa still stands, empty and closed.
- Afternoon · Pyramid of Tirana free · about 30 minBuilt in 1988 as a museum to Enver Hoxha, later a trade fair centre, a NATO base in 1999 and a nightclub, then long abandoned.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Castle Boutique Hotel€100 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Bunk'Art 1 · about 2 hA nuclear shelter of 106 rooms over five levels, dug into the side of Mount Dajti in the 1970s for Hoxha and the high command.
- Afternoon · Dajti Ekspres cable car · about 1 h 30A 4.7-kilometre ride from Tirana's eastern edge up to about 1,000 metres on Mount Dajti in fifteen minutes.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Doro City€80 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Byrek: flaky pastry filled with cheese, spinach or meat, eaten at any hour of the day.
- Tavë kosi: lamb baked under a set layer of yoghurt and egg, originally from Elbasan.
- Fërgesë: peppers, tomatoes and soft cheese cooked down together, a Tirana classic.
- Grilled meat, and fish on the Riviera, often sold by weight.
- Turkish coffee, and raki, the grape spirit poured as a welcome.
⚠️ Best avoided
- ATMs charge high fees: carry lek in cash and withdraw larger sums less often.
- Potholes and livestock share the roads: drive slowly, and not at night.
- The southern beaches are packed in August. June and September are calmer.
- Haggle over rooms and boat trips, but politely.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Albanian
| English | Albanian |
|---|---|
| Hello | Përshëndetje |
| Thank you | Faleminderit |
| Please | Të lutem |
| Yes | Po |
| No | Jo |
| Excuse me | Më falni |
| Goodbye | Mirupafshim |
| Do you speak English? | Flisni anglisht? |
| I don't understand | Nuk kuptoj |
| How much is it? | Sa kushton? |
| Where are the toilets? | Ku është tualeti? |
| The bill, please | Faturën, ju lutem |
| Help! | Ndihmë! |
| Cheers! | Gëzuar! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyAlbanian lek (ALL)
BudgetAbout €63 a day, mid-range
Best seasonApril to June, and September to October
PlugC/F · 230V
Tap waterBottled only
TippingAppreciated, around 10%
Emergency112 / 129
EntryNo visa needed. EU citizens can enter with an ID card or a passport; UK, Canadian and Australian passports get 90 days in any 180, and US passports up to a year.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/tirana
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.