Best things to do in Tirana

21.07.2023 - 08:00 / roughguides.com

Albania’s capital used to regularly top lists for Europe's worst city. Decades of Stalinist rule left Tirana grey and grim, lacking in both infrastructure and services. Today Tirana is – while still often chaotic – a very pleasant little city, and the cultural, entertainment and political centre of Albania. Here's our pick of the best things to do in Tirana, Albania.

The information in this article is inspired by The Rough Guide to Europe on a Budget , your essential guide for visiting Europe.

Being invited for a coffee or a rakija(a plum brandy) is a local custom and you’ll find Albanians friendly towards foreign visitors. Having been isolated from the rest of the world for the latter half of the twentieth century, many are curious about the influx of travellers.

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As it’s a small city, you can easily cover Tirana's central area in a day. But as well as a leisurely exploration of the handful of museums, monuments, historic buildings and parks, make some time to marvel at the city's concrete housing estates. Yes, really. Painted in rainbow colours, they add brightness to what was once a rather monochrome cityscape.

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Brightly painted apartment buildings in Tirana © Ligak/Shutterstock

Albania might not be famed for its cuisine, but that’s no reason not to make food a focus. Look out for the excellent coffee and beer (Islam is the predominant religion but it is practised in a very tolerant way), as well as decent pastries and good gelato.

Cafés are the perfect place for people-watching — set to a soundtrack of Albanian and Euro pop. If you want to make sure that you get a chance to try all the tasty traditional food that Tirana has to offer, make sure to book one of the food tours, so you don't miss a thing.

Visiting Skanderbeg Square, named after the national hero who briefly ensured Albania was independent of the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth century, is undoubtedly one of the things to do in Tirana.

There is a large bronze statue of Skanderbeg on horseback (imagine Alexander The Great meets Thor) in the middle of the square, and the Et'hem Bey Mosque, one of the nation's most treasured buildings that dates back to the late eighteenth century, sits in the southeast corner. Also situated here are the nation's major museums, including The National Historic Museum adorned with a huge socialist mural of victorious partisans.

The National Museum in Skanderbeg Square © RossHelen/Shutterstock

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