What to Do, Where to Go and What to Eat
Albania was our third country on the route, and probably one that we’d heard most about due to the increasing tourism. Albania is a beautiful country and the buses are incredibly cheap – around 40p within the city and about £2 for trips outside of the city.
Our first day was, admittedly, not really in Tirana as the bus from Skopje took a lot longer than expected – stopping for coffee just in the border of Albania past the time we expected to have arrived. However, this gave us some much needed sleep and a lovely journey to see the countryside. If you are getting a bus into Tirana, leave a few hours spare – 1.5x the time you think the journey will take!
Stepping into Tirana was amazing, with the people being some of the friendliest so far. We stopped off at a juice and smoothie bar: FRUIT JUICE & MORE for a break. The owner was so friendly, giving us free watermelon as we were tired from the bus journey, making us smoothies and helping us to locate ourselves within Tirana. I would highly recommend this juice bar as somewhere to go to have a chat and a refreshing smoothie.
Where to Visit in Tirana?
In terms of Museums, the House of Leaves was an amazing museum to see the cultural side of Albania and learn more about the communist history. House of Leaves is a museum dedicated to the surveillance during the communist regime, and cost 700 LEK entry. Although this is more than some museums on other Balkan countries (a lot more than the museums in North Macedonia where we had just visited) it was well worth the trip. Although we didn’t go, many other people recommended the Bunker Art Museum, a similar price.
There is a little market in the centre of Tirana, which is great to see the local crafts and vendors, especially for a walk around before getting either iced coffee or orange juice. Both of these drinks are incredibly cheap in Albania, and we fully took advantage of their price here, having them most days.
Tirana’s newly created white pyramid is a great place to go and watch sunset and look at the city from above, with many steps up but such a good photo spot at the top!
Day Trip From Tirana?
You may find that you manage to do a lot of the activities in Tirana within a day, or a couple of days. If this is the case, then I would recommend a day trip, using the cheap buses. We took a day trip to Durres, to have a beach day and a short break from the city. Durres, was however a little crowded, so if you don’t fancy the beach, consider a trip into the countryside to walk. You can find all the buses at the same terminal and you do not need to book in advance – you pay on the buses in Albania (cash only).
Food in Tirana
Tirana was probably the capital of fancy food of our trip – eating at MULLIXHIU, a Michelin star restaurant for around £25 for their 7 course tasting menu. If you eat nothing else in Tirana, you should go here and try the food – sourced from different regions around Albania. This was a fantastic introduction to Albania’s culinary scene, tasting food such as fli from northern albania and qifqi from Gjirokaster.
If you don’t quite fancy the 7 course meal but still want to go out to a lovely resturant, try Oda. Oda is fairly central, with a delicious menu, lots of fairy lights and plenty of choice for vegetarians. The food here is also delicious, and they are more than accommodating if you want to share a couple of dishes between you.
What else do you need to know for Tirana?
The buses are really good – if you figure out how to work the system. You will need to get a bus from the centre of Tirana to the regional bus terminal for most buses (but check before as there is also another terminal), where you can then pick up cheap buses to most places in Albania without booking. Tirana is a lovely city and a great base to start your travels in Albania, but you probably don’t need more than a day in the city itself.
If you’re interested in Balkan Backpacking check out the posts below:
A Balkan Backpacking Route
My advice to first-time backpackers
