After our time in sunny Mallorca, we ventured to a country I’ve wanted to visit for years: Albania! The Balkan bug definitely bit me when I spent ~5 weeks in the region back in 2022 and sadly Albania was one of the countries I wasn’t able to visit on that trip. We also had a near miss with Albania back in 2021, when we visited Corfu, Greece, which is a short ferry ride across the Ionian Sea from the “Albanian Riviera”. At the time, COVID-19 restrictions were ever-changing and it was unclear what testing requirements would be needed to make the return journey into Greece, so we opted not to visit; fortunately, that forced me to plan a “real” trip (versus a day-trip) and I’m so glad we did. Honestly, the full week we’ve had barely feels sufficient – there is legitimately so much more to do, see, and eat in this country than I expected, not to mention the numerous day trips to surrounding countries that are within a ~3 hour drive.

We flew to Tirana via the Frankfurt airport, and as soon as we started boarding it was clear Albania would offer the true Balkan experience. Boarding happened in a giant clump, rather than in any kind of orderly lines by group; immediately on the plane, we were enveloped in a warm hug of leftover cigarette smoke as our fellow passengers settled into their seats. Upon landing, multiple announcements had to be made to stay seated as we taxied to the gate – we were already off to a strong start, culture-wise! The fun continued in immigration, which is “automatic” – of course, my passport refused to cooperate and an attendant had to help me scan it. Once scanned, I proceeded to the “photo” portion of the automatic border entry, which helpfully had a Windows error message displayed (and somehow still let me through after the requisite ~5 second pause). After collecting our bags, I stopped to use the restroom and was immediately identified on sight as a foreigner and helpfully shepherded to a single occupant stall by the bathroom attendant, who received a 4 Euro tip for her efforts (I’d later find out this is the equivalent of ~400 LEK or $4, which is about the same amount you’d expect to pay for an appetizer at a nice restaurant or a streetside kebab; I hope she treated herself to something nice!).

We arrived at our hotel in downtown Tirana, the Plaza, to blaring music and festive decor at around 1am (Albanians love a party!). We thought it might be a wedding, but it was actually just the staff party! After putting in ear plugs (it turned out the staff party had nothing on the Christmas Market in the town square, which had live performances every night until about 2am), we turned in for the evening. The following morning, we were up bright and early to wander through Tirana’s lovely streets.

Since our hotel was centrally located, we figured we’d walk around for a bit to orient ourselves and almost immediately stumbled upon one of Tirana’s museums, Bunk Art 2. The museum, which is in a Communist-era bunker underground, essentially chronicles the Communist period and crimes against humanity committed by the government against Albanians. The vibe is extremely unsettling and yet somehow slightly upbeat, as they’ve interspersed art with the exhibits. The message of the museum is a compelling one: propaganda can create illusions and blindly following leaders can be an illusion in and of itself.

There was even an entire room dedicated to different optical illusions, in addition to several with extremely creepy statues.

One of the most interesting art pieces as the “Mother of Dictatorship” (the statue to the left above), built with a variety of “classic” tools used by dictatorships. After that thoroughly interesting but depressing start to the day, we proceeded to wander towards happier sights: the Skanderbeg Square and its associated museums and points of interest.

Along the way, we stumbled upon one of the outdoor “bazaars” which had a variety of items on offer, from handbags to cookware to (of course) any cheap Albanian-themed goodie you could want. Surprisingly, cars can drive through!

We decided to stop for coffee and – with a lot of broken English – received our first delicious Albanian coffee. When we went to pay, we realized that the websites claiming you can use Euros in Albania were sorely mistaken. It turns out that the 1 or 2 Euro coins are far too low value to make them useful for purchases in LEK (which generally start at ~300) and the 20 Euro bills are far too large to use for purchases in LEK (to convert currencies, you essentially multiply by 100, so 20 Euro is ~2000 LEK, which is the cost of a two-course meal for one at a fine dining restaurant). After the most disappointed look I’ve received since leaving my job in management consulting, the proprietor shooed us away. Another customer noticed my confusion and was able to translate the conversion issue and stepped in to make change for us in LEK.

Two things became clear from this exchange: one, Albanians are incredibly friendly and generous (when they understand you’re not trying to scam them); two, Albanians are scrupulous and don’t take advantage when they easily could. This was proven over and over again during our time here.

Of course, one can’t have a coffee without a snack, so we stopped at a roadside stand for byrek next. The byrek (“burek” in many of the other places in the Balkans we’ve traveled) here is rolled into pinwheels and filled with your choice of meat, spinach and cheese, or cottage cheese. I opted for the spinach and cheese and it was a delicious, flaky, tangy bite.

Across the street was a local mosque, the Mosque Dine Hoxha. It’s listed as a “sight” on Google Maps, so I figured I’d stop in. Inside, it was just a “regular” mosque (not ornate, just “normally” decorated), but on my way out a woman coming in for afternoon prayer noticed my camera and was excited to learn I was American and thanked me for visiting, which was sweet.

Wandering through Tirana is fun – there is a lot of beautiful street art (including some voluptuous statues) and interesting little “easter eggs” like crosswalk signs in the shape of Albania’s national symbol, the double eagle.

Of course, we had to stop again for authentic Turkish sweets – the bakery was incredible and seemed to be supplying the local convent with their daily supply of bread (which we took as a sign things would be delicious, and they were!).

We made our way to Skanderbeg Square to eat the pastries with a coffee, walking through the variety of government buildings along the way.

The square itself hosts the Christmas Market, which was surprisingly much more robust and exciting than the ones we’d seen in Mallorca. Of special interest were the many food stands, which serve Albanian sausage and other treats.

Given we already had purchased Turkish treats, we opted to sit for coffee. We had our second currency confusion when we went to pay – we’d finally found an ATM, and it dispensed 10,000 LEK (~$100) in 5,000 increments. I tried to pay with a 5,000 bill only to be met with good natured confusion (using a $50 to buy a $2 coffee would also be a bad look in the USA). The proprietor didn’t want my Euro coins instead (I can’t blame them!) so they took my 5,000 LEK and began to walk the square to see if they could make change with anyone. Yet again, Albanians were good natured and trustworthy and about 7 minutes later, I had change in hand.

I was also amazed to see that they’re still using real wood fire stoves to heat the seating areas of the cafes!

Still full from our pastries, we decided to continue our exploration, hitting notable sights such as the “Friendship Pavilion” (friendship between Albania and Kuwait) and the Tyrbja e Kapllan Pashës, which is a tomb (Türbe) built in 1817 for a deceased Ottoman ruler. I will admit, I had no idea this was a tomb until I went to write this blog – there is no description in situ and it effectively just sits in front of our hotel and next to a mall / taxi stand.

Walking south through Tirana, we then hit the “main” tourist attraction – the “Tirana Castle” aka the former castle that is now a testament to consumerism. The space has been repurposed as an open air shopping and upscale restaurant destination, which was lovely to wander.

After that, we found ourselves nearing the Lana River, where Saint Paul’s Cathedral sits. It has a lovely mural of Mother Teresa, who was apparently ethnically Albanian, as well as some beautiful and unique stained glass.

We then crossed the river using the “Vodafone Bridge” (my guide for my other travels through Albania gave me a good-natured ribbing when I asked him what the symbol meant when I saw an ad for Vodafone in a different city; I didn’t put 2+2 together that they had literally sponsored this bridge and thought it was perhaps an Albanian national symbol!) and were at the base of what is perhaps Tirana’s most famous site: the Tirana Pyramid!

The Pyramid itself is basically just a viewing platform for Tirana from above; inside it contains shops and an exhibition area for artistic works.

The views from above are beautiful – if you can get over the number of Instagram influencers taking pictures!

I figured while we were at the Pyramids, I’d see if there was a public restroom – fortunately there was (and for free!), but it required me to explore the interior of the Pyramid multiple times, go purchase a coffee from a nearby cafe (only to be told the restroom was in the Pyramid…and now, not free), and… subsequently decide to check behind unmarked, closed doors to find what I was looking for. Oddly, this was a valuable lesson, as this was not the only time in Tirana the bathroom was behind a random door.

In desperate search of food after all this wandering, we decided to make our way to our first real Albanian meal at Mrizi i Zanave Tirane. Of course, we saw a couple sights along the way as Tirana is packed with things to see. Of particular interest were the Mosque of Namazgah (which we sadly weren’t able to visit inside) and Ura e Tabakëve, aka the “Tanner’s Bridge” which has been preserved since the 18th century, when it was used to shepherd animals throughout the city.

The restaurant can be found under an apartment building via a nondescript parking lot and was a great introduction to Albanian food. We (of course!) ordered way too much, but everything was delicious:

• The appetizer platter, which included: fli saçi (a pastry made over the course of 5-7 hours by slowing cooking each layer on top of each other); leqenik (similar to a cornbread); homemade byrek (flavors included spinach, pumpkin and cottage cheese); Albanian sour cream with spicy green peppers (tasted basically like a yogurt-based pepperjack cheese); white cheese from Gjirokastra; Kosovo-style sausages (one of our favorite things consistently in Albania!); homemade pickles
• Qebapa Kosove, which were grilled Kosovo kebabs with a double cream sauce
• Qofte Zgare, which are homemade Albanian-style meatballs with Albanian-style tzatziki
• An traditional Albanian pasta from Dibra, which is cooked with Tropoja blueberries and turns the pasta (and your mouth!) blue as a result
• To drink, we tried the Peja beer (blonde), the Cornelian Cherry raki (delicious!) and an Albanian wine (dry, full bodied)

As mentioned, the Kosovo-style sausages were our favorite (they’re spicy and perfectly charred); I also really enjoyed the pasta even though it was a unique taste. While blueberries sound like they’d veer sweet, it was actually very savory, especially with the salty cheese. The homemade pasta also had a nice bite and the blueberries popped with a nice burst of bitterness.

We had a nice view of the mosque on the way back to the hotel to relax. We also passed the old “Clock Tower” which is a nice view.

For dinner, we went to Bufe Wine Bar, which was delightfully trendy and had a small menu of share plates. We shared the Albanian-style butter beans (with a delicious tomato sauce) and a cheesy pasta, and several Albanian wines (it seems highly contested whether white or red is preferable!). We’ve also really enjoyed the various Albanian breads; this one was very similar to a focaccia, others have been incredibly light, rectangular “rolls” that clearly were fresh cooked in a pizza-style oven to create a crisp crust.

The next day, I opted for a tour to North Macedonia (my 75th country!) and the day following, joined the same guide on a trip to Berat while my husband stayed back in Tirana, as he’d been feeling crummy since Mallorca. More on North Macedonia and Berat separate blogs. Thankfully, he made it out of the hotel long enough to grab lunch on both days, so more info about his Tirana eats at the end of this post!

Last night (after my trip to Berat), we ventured to Restaurant Piceri Era “Blloku” for dinner, passing a couple more of Tirana’s sights, including art installations like the “Cloud”.

The meal was fantastic – we tried their version of the Albanian butter beans with Kosovo-style sausage (delicious!), dolma (similar to those we’ve tried in Greece, but with mint and a deliciously light lemon sauce), a handmade ravioli with truffle sauce (so rich!), and beef marsala. Everything was fantastic – we ended up enjoying it so much we tried the tiramisu and mulberry raki for dessert! We’ve also been really enjoying the Albanian lemon soda, which is tangy and refreshing.

This morning, before leaving Tirana to celebrate the New Year in Durrës (more on that later, too!) we visited a couple things that had been closed during our first day of exploration. Of course, we took in the beautiful street art and murals:

I tried (but sadly failed) to visit the MIG Museum (Women in Albania Museum), which required extensive searching through an apartment complex to find:

I was able to access the House of Leaves Museum, which chronicles the period of Albanian Communism and focuses on the surveillance techniques / technology used. While not super informative (as a non-Albanian speaker), it was very well curated and aesthetically pleasing (if incredibly unsettling).

The museum itself is located in a former obstetrics clinic, which became “disused” in the late 1930s when it turned into the headquarters of the Albanian surveillance operation. As suggested by the name, the “House of Leaves” relied on whispers and subtle movements to learn about the targets of its surveillance. The curation is compelling, if disturbing. Given its former medical use, many of the “repurposed spaces” (such as the laboratory for a photography lab) were especially creepy.

The “House” also showcased an underground tunnel / bunker, which was creepy (especially when I decided to use my flashlight and found a toilet in one of the offshoots of the main tunnel!). The side of the house also still showcases the bundles of cables used to receive transmission signals from the embassies / major hotels in Tirana.

In happier news, the rest of our day in Tirana was wonderful as we wandered the streets and headed for the best kebabs in town.

We found ourselves at the Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral, which was gorgeous.

We also (finally!) were able to visit the 18th century Et’hem Bej Mosque, which has extremely limited opening hours for the public and was worth the wait.

However, lunch today was the real treat – we ventured to Hayal Et, which specializes in kebabs. Of course, we ordered a ton of food, but it was all delicious.

We got:

• Dhallë or “Ayran” – an Albanian “soft drink” (more like a lassi) made from buttermilk and salt
• Xaxiq i thatë (essentially Albanian tzatziki)
• Salce Domate Djegese Stil Turk aka Acili Ezme (a spicy red pepper dip)
• Fries with Turkish spices
• Lahmakun (flatbread)
• Adana Kebap (basically a spicy, minced version of a shish kebab, served with charred veggies and bulgar wheat)
• Turkish tea

Everything was SO fresh and incredibly flavorful; our favorite hands-down was the “Acili Ezme” aka Turkish-style pepper dip, which was spicy and basically everything harissa wants to be. The Lahmakun was also amazing – it’s essentially a crispy flatbread topped with blended eggplant, tomatoes and spices and then intended to be served with fresh ingredients inside like tomato and parsley. The kebabs themselves were delicious, but outshined by the dips.

From there, we headed to Durrës for New Years! To make sure we remember the other things we ate in Tirana, here are a couple items:

For seafood, Lissus Fish is quite good, if simple. The fresh bread (free!) was incredible and the sea bass with truffle sauce was a standout:

MUGO Tirana had fantastic Albanian donuts with fresh honey:

Smoke House Bar & Grill had a great mixed grill with fresh pickles:

A couple final thoughts after our week in Albania:

• Tirana is the perfect place to base a trip in Albania, especially if you plan to do day trips; many other locations (both within Albania and to surrounding countries) will leverage the highway system for which Tirana is the “hub” and drive time can be prohibitive if you stay elsewhere
• The LEK is definitely the preferred currency of choice and bills above 10 Euros and all Euro coins will not be accepted
• We loved the Plaza hotel and found it to be the perfect location for our walking adventures in Tirana
• Cabs are effective and metered, but often it will be more time consuming to drive within Tirana itself

If you need an amazing tour guide (especially for sites throughout Albania, such as Berat, Durrës, Apollonia, or beyond, including North Macedonia or Kosovo), I highly recommend Ilir: +355 69 233 0417

If you need a taxi (check Lux Drivers), I also recommend Ilir (different than above!): +355 69 803 0866