Most often considered a stopover location to Albania’s more famous Alps or western coastline, Tirana deserves a couple of days in your itinerary. See the best spots I found for sightseeing, food, and drinks during my recent month-long trip here, and some of my travel tips.
How long should I spend in Tirana?
This depends a bit on your goals for the trip. If you are on vacation and only want to sightsee, a long weekend (2-3 days) is probably enough. If you’re a digital nomad and/or are able to work remotely or want to sightsee at a more relaxed pace, Tirana is a great place to spend a couple of weeks. I just spent a month working there remotely, with a couple of day/weekend trips outside of the city.
Getting there and moving around
Arriving at Tirana airport
The Tirana airport is small and quite efficient (although I visited in March/April, so I’m sure it gets more hectic during the summer rush). No prior visa is required for American or EU citizens, and Americans can stay up to 12 months without a residency visa, making it a great place for some medium-term remote work.
When I landed in the airport, we were able to make it out (including passport control and luggage pick up) within 15 minutes. Again, this was not during peak travel season, so take it with a bit of a grain of salt. I would recommend taking advantage of the ATMs next to the baggage claim to take out some Albanian lek. Although quite a few places in Tirana take credit card, not all of them do and for taxis, cash is often the only option.
To get from the airport to Tirana city, there are taxis that line up outside the exit that are easy to take. Otherwise, I used the app SpeedTaxi Albania, which is similar to Uber except that you can’t pay by card. They just quote you a price that you then have to pay in cash. Depending on traffic, you can get from the airport to center Tirana in about 20-40 minutes.
Getting around Tirana
I would strongly recommend against anyone renting a car to drive around Tirana. First, it’s not necessary. Tirana center is quite small and can be walked end-to-end in maximum 45 minutes. Second, the traffic and driving in Tirana is horrific. Easily the worst driving and most congested traffic (during rush hour periods) that I have seen throughout my travels. Some people accustomed to driving on crowded roads in places in Naples may feel differently, but all in all, a rental car is not necessary to visit Tirana city.
Once you get to Tirana, I strongly recommend walking most places. It’s a fairly easy and nice city to walk in, and traffic can get terrible (almost equivalent time in traffic to just walking to your destination). If you need to go somewhere outside the city (see my recommendation of BunkArt 1 below, for example), I would recommend using SpeedTaxi Albania. It’s an easy app to use and taxis are fairly frequent, although you have to pay in cash. I never tried hailing a taxi from the street, so I can’t comment on their reliability.
Where to stay
There are a couple of frequently recommended neighborhoods in Tirana for either a hotel or an AirBnBs. For my recent trip, I stayed in several different neighborhoods exclusively in AirBnBs.
Blloku – This neighborhood just south of the central square holds many of the city’s top restaurants, bars, and nightlife. That description was enough to turn me away when I was first doing research (I prefer quiet and green neighborhoods adjacent to the nightlife). However, it became my favorite neighborhood. As long as you aren’t staying right on the main street, it doesn’t get that loud or crazy, and it’s green and full of the best restaurants and cafes.
Pazari i Ri – This neighborhood (translating to the New Bazaar) lies just north of the center city (but still right next to it) and has a lot of narrow, windy, and confusing streets. This was the first neighborhood I stayed in and it was okay, quiet but definitely still central. This may be a more attractive spot to people who want a full tourist immersion or those who would be interested in large open street markets.
Center – The “center” I am basically categorizing as the areas near the Skanderbeg Square and the Pyramid. This is more modern and busy area, but has many of the main attractions and, again, is super easy to move around. This might be of interest to anyone who is in Tirana for 2-3 days and wants to see all the top historical and tourist sights.
Blloku periphery – I am included a map below to illustrate what I mean by this, but the area directly west of Blloku (in the red circle below) was my absolute favorite area of Tirana to stay in. It is conveniently right next to Blloku, but also quieter with the best gems of restaurants and bars.
Overall, any of these areas are nice places to stay and luckily Tirana is so small that I wouldn’t worry too much about what neighborhood you’re staying in.
Best spots to see – Tirana
Tirana is a nice hub to stay in, but I wouldn’t say there is more than 2-3 full days of “things to see”. So if you are looking for a packed tourist adventure, try Tirana for a long weekend and then going across Albania to other hotspots (more to come from me on that soon). However, there is enough to do in Tirana for a relaxed weekend.
This list doesn’t include basic things like “walk around Blloku”, as I assume someone would be seeing neighborhoods as they walk around to do different activities.
Take a introductory walking tour – Every time I go to a new city, I take one of the free walking tours on one of my first days. I find it a good way to orient myself in a city and actually understand what I’m seeing. My group took the Tirana Free Tour in Italian and had a great experience with an entertaining and informative guide. The tour took almost three hours, so set aside some time for it.
See Skanderbeg Square – If you aren’t doing a walking tour or want to return (it starts in the square), you should visit the center of Tirana, which is the Skanderbeg Square. There isn’t a ton to do in the square itself, but it’s good to walk around and it’s near some historical religious sites, cafes, and restaurants.
Climb the Pyramid – In the middle of Tirana, there is a modern pyramid structure that holds some cafes and creative spaces, where you can climb up to the top and see some views of the city. There is nothing much else to do here, but it’s a nice viewpoint and takes maybe 20 minutes.
Ride the cable car – Otherwise known as the Dajti Ekspres, Tirana’s cable car is about 20 minutes outside of the center of the city and takes you up Mount Dajti. It is a bit outside the city, but it was definitely worth it. You get great views during the 15 minute ride, especially if it’s a clear day and, importantly, it is right next to BUNK’ART 1 (more below). The cable car is closed on Tuesdays, and is open until about 6pm other days. You can buy tickets right at the bottom station, and they have ATMs there if you don’t have cash. We used the SpeedTaxi Albania app to get a taxi there and back. There really isn’t anything to do at the top of mountain (except some activities for kids), but there is a restaurant and bar. Note that the restaurant with the view doesn’t let you sit there unless you order food.
Visit BUNK’ART – There are two BUNK’ART installations in Tirana – BUNK’ART 1 and BUNK’ART 2. They are historical museums made from the many old underground nuclear bunkers scattered around Tirana. BUNK’ART 2 is right in the city center but is apparently smaller. BUNK’ART 1 (the one I visited) is a 10 minute walk from the cable car entrance, about 20 minutes outside of Tirana city center. This museum took us about an hour to an hour and a half to walk through – definitely not reading everything – and was one of my favorite sites in Tirana. It was comprehensive, interesting, and well done. A great afternoon is combining BUNK’ART 1 with the cable car, and then returning back to Tirana center.
Take a walk around Tirana’s lake – Another nice thing to do in Tirana is spend a couple of hours at the city’s artificial lake, south of the city center. It’s a large lake with walking paths, cafes, and grass spots to sit and hang out around it. This is a perfect spot to go read a book to relax on the grass on a sunny day. Although, be warned, some parts of the lake get quite crowded on sunny weekend days.
Best spots to eat – Tirana
The following is a list of the best restaurants that I visited in Tirana:
- Salt – A known (but not overhyped) favorite in Blloku, with a wide menu including grilled meats and sushi. The ambience was great and the food was solid. Book for weekend nights.
- Restaurant Piceri Era “Blloku” – Another favorite for Albanian food. The ambience is a bit chaotic on weekend nights, but it was a solid choice. The grilled pork was amazing, with some starters being a bit more disappointing, so mixed bag.
- The Taproom by Pan’s Microbrewery – I’m a bit of a hamburger snob. This brewery had one of the better smashburgers that I’ve ever had while traveling. I’m not a huge beer fan so I can’t really comment on that, but it has a great outdoor patio to eat and drink on nice days.
- Fustanella Garden – This small restaurant has a agrotourism spot outside the city where it gets its fresh products, and you can tell. It is a hidden gem where I had amazing meat and salads. Not every starter is amazing, but it is overall good.
- Artigiano at Vila – A well-known Italian restaurant with two locations in Tirana. It was pretty basic, but the Italians that I was traveling with said it was pretty good (and Italians can be picky about their pasta).
- MUGO – We went here for both brunch and dinner. Their brunch is great and pretty popular (get there before 11am), and their dinner is solid.
Some restaurants that we went to in Tirana that I thought were overhyped and not good include: Restaurant Kripë Dhe Piper (salt and pepper), and Odas Garden.
Best spots to drink – Tirana
Outside of restaurants, I also spent a lot of time working from coffee shops and going to pre-dinner aperativo. Some of my favorite spots included:
- VENA Vinoteca – An awesome wine bar with lots of Albanian wine choices and small food plates, with a nice outdoor seating area. They also have regular dinner plates, but the portions were really small.
- Radio Bar – My #1 bar in Tirana – funky, convenient, and good drinks (and some food). And a Rose Spritz that I’ll think about forever!
- HANA Corner Cafe – A cute cafe with mostly outdoor tables to sit and work at if you want. Good drinks and I had an amazing fruit tart there as well. Note that they only accept cash.
- Colonial Cocktails Academy Tirana – A bar next to Salt restaurant that has less hipster and more upscale vibe. Not as good as Radio Bar, but still a solid option.
- Nouvelle Vague Tirana – A bar with creative cocktail options – as well as the traditional ones – in Blloku. Strong drinks, gets pretty busy on weekend nights.
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