In Albania, we first wanted to go last year. We had planned a city break of just two days in Tirana, but in the characteristic style of last year, this trip was canceled. At that time, we didn't plan to explore Albania, we didn't know much about it, and we thought we wouldn't find much there.
After all, Albania doesn't enjoy as much tourist promotion as its neighbor, Greece. The truth is, we hadn't made it a priority to visit this country.
We had everything planned. Two plane tickets on the Milan-Tirana-Milan route, four days to explore as much as possible, one night at a super cute hotel in central Tirana, and a rental car for 24 hours. And the desire to explore a country that isn't yet touristy.
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Alex Cornici
Is It Worth Going to Albania?
When we bought tickets to Albania, I wasn't convinced we'd find anything to our liking. We wanted to go, just as we want to explore all the countries in the Balkans, but we lived with the impression that Albania didn't have much to offer and that it wouldn't be worth going there.
To my shame, I judged Albania by its cover, based on some preconceived notions that had no solid foundation. I had heard from friends that Albania has a beautiful coastline and fantastic beaches, but since we're not crazy about lounging on the beach all day, we didn't even plan to cross the entire country to get to Ksamil or Sarandë—towns that are occasionally mentioned online.
We knew we would go to Tirana, a city everyone seems to avoid and about which we hadn't heard anything good from those who visited it. So, we didn't know if we'd like Tirana or find anything interesting there.
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Alex Cornici
Was it worth going on a city break to Tirana? The answer, without ifs and buts, is yes! It was worth going to Albania, and contrary to appearances, Tirana is a kind of hidden gem of the Balkans.
If you don't want to constantly look for exchange offices or pay extra fees for payments in another currency, I recommend you take a Revolut card with you. We use it on all our trips, and since our first trip, it has saved us from many worries and years wasted on all sorts of fees. I won't list the benefits of Revolut because there are too many, but I invite you to discover for yourself how useful it is.
We landed in Tirana a little before noon, after a night full of mishaps. We went straight to the hotel, slept for a few hours, and later in the evening, we went out to explore. The weather was bad (if we had been in London, it wouldn't have been a problem), it was raining, and it was colder than we thought it would be.
We headed straight to the heart of the city, to Skanderbeg Square. Once there, we found a massive square surrounded by buildings under construction, with Tirana being an entire construction site. In my mind, I was thinking, "Is this all?" I wasn't disappointed because I expected a gray city.
We walked around the square, ate a gyros, and bought Kiss chocolate (for those in the know) from a stall in the center. They still have stalls with everything, just like we used to. Then it started raining so hard that we ran back to the hotel.
After the first evening, Tirana didn't seem too exciting or interesting.
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Alex Cornici
Day Two – Our Albanian Adventure Begins
With a backpack on our shoulders, we set off for a station in the city center—not knowing which station we were looking for—where we were supposed to take the bus to Durrës.
Although it would have been simpler to rent a car, we chose the cheap and complicated option... because we wanted adventure. We wanted to explore authentic Albania... just as it is.
As I mentioned before, the internet doesn't abound with information about Albania, especially about public transportation. We found half a piece of information about how to get to Durrës, clung to it, and figured the rest out ourselves.
As the sun came out, Tirana started to show its true colors. The streets were lively, the buildings seemed more interesting, and the atmosphere was completely different. And we had more energy, too.
Heading to the first bus stop, we thought we'd surely find a schedule of the buses passing through that station. We knew the final destination, the direction the bus should go, but we didn't know where to get off, where the bus departed from, or where to buy tickets.
In my naivety, I hoped that Google Maps, the trusty friend of travelers, would show us the route and tell us what to do (as it does in other places). The only problem was that you could barely find any information on the spot, let alone online.
But we made it to the station, the only tourists, and waited for a bus to arrive. Before we knew it, a bus stopped in the second lane, people rushed to get on, while an old man shouted at the top of his lungs, "Instituti." That was our bus, and we didn't have tickets!
We got on without a ticket—sometimes it's good to play dumb—and waited to reach our destination. What destination? "Dogana," that was all we knew. The kind old man came, gave us tickets (one ticket costs 0.40 lek), we asked him which stop to get off for the bus station, and he left.
We were the only tourists on a bus without air conditioning, full of people who didn't speak English. For 5-7 stops, at every single stop, I pulled the old man by the arm and asked if this was our stop, after saying the magic words, "bus to Durrës." He signaled when to get off. Then we took the bus to Durrës.
Albanians are really cool people, cheerful, proud of their country, and happy when they see tourists.
Durrës – A Time Machine to 2005
Durrës was like a time machine that took me straight back to 2005. Many people told us that Albania is like in the '90s, and when we arrived in Durrës, I agreed. If this wasn't obvious in Tirana, in Durrës, we traveled back in time. And I loved it!
Essentially, Durrës is a port city with 6 km of fine sand beach (unfortunately, we didn't enjoy it much) and an extremely lively old town. Unlike Tirana, Durrës is a bit dirtier and has more beggars, but my eyes were captivated by the palm trees and the beautiful buildings in the center.
Saturday in Tirana – A Different Face
On Saturday, we wandered around Tirana, street by street. Sebi managed to get a haircut, where he discovered something interesting about Albania (you have to read this article), we reached an old Ottoman bazaar, completely modernized, watched a football match at a terrace, and ate grilled mici, cheese, and sausages.
We saw another side of Tirana, and contrary to what I thought on the first day, Tirana won us over. We can't understand why everyone avoids it when it could easily be a stop on the long road to the Albanian coast.
A Day Trip to Berat
The last day was reserved for a day trip to Berat. We had heard many beautiful things about this city, with many people claiming it to be the most beautiful city in Albania. We knew it was a UNESCO site and one of the best-preserved Ottoman cities.
Although taking the bus there would have been interesting, we decided to rent a car—we got a lovely Opel—and drove the 130 km to the center of Albania. The 130 km took two hours, on village roads (thanks, Google Maps), and after two hours of driving, just before reaching the city center, we got lost in a slum, on roads that didn't exist on the map. Unfortunately, we were too stressed to take pictures there.
However, Berat is an open-air museum. The houses are perched on cliffs, one above the other, each house with its own story. From the banks of the Osum River, which separates the two neighborhoods of the center, you can admire the white houses and truly understand why Berat is also called the city of a thousand windows.
Being in the center of the country, Berat is quite arid. The 32 degrees that day felt like 40, and because of that, our walk through the city didn't last more than two hours. But we were extremely happy that we managed to get there and that we had enough time to feel the pulse of Tirana one last time.
Was Albania Worth It?
YES! YES! YES! Once again, I want to say that it's worth it. Albania is well worth exploring, getting to know, feeling, and experiencing. It deserves to be your next vacation destination.
Albania has so much to offer: 500 km of coastline, turquoise water beaches (so they say), UNESCO cities, a capital with a cool atmosphere, two lakes, mountains, a port city, and lots of history. I feel like Albania has the whole package, and despite this and the fact that it is one of the most budget-friendly destinations in Europe, it is still underappreciated, still in the shadow of Croatia.
And when I say budget-friendly, I mean that Albania is one of the cheapest vacation destinations on the entire continent. But I wrote an article about our budget, which you can find on the blog.
We left home with zero expectations, thinking that Tirana wouldn't be wow. And we were wrong! Tirana was wonderful, and Albania pleasantly surprised us. The fact that it reminded us of our childhood, was not a bad thing at all. On the contrary, that's the charm of Albania.
The fact that it is a country where you still have to rely on people, where you still find street vendors, where you buy bus tickets from a ticket collector, where there are still people selling books on the street, young and old spending their free time in parks, all these things make Albania an experience.
The people are good, smiley, and happy. Not everyone speaks English, but they give off a good vibe, a warmth that you don't find in Western peoples. Albania (at least the places we visited) is still untouched by the masses of tourists, meaning it's still authentic, and we liked that the most.
For all the beautiful moments, Faleminderit Shqipëri! (Thank you, Albania!)