Total Trip: what I spent over a (very) affordable long weekend in Tirana, Albania

23.08.2023 - 17:27 / lonelyplanet.com / Long / Art

I’m a travel and food writer based in London. Long intrigued by all I had heard about up-and-coming Albania, my partner Dan and I booked a four-day weekend in the capital, Tirana.

Though I hadn’t done much research on the city, I was aware that the country as a whole was much cheaper than the UK, so we were looking forward to indulging ourselves with meals out, some bar hopping and a little culture without feeling like we’d have to remortgage our (tiny) flat. 

We saw decent hotels starting at around $45 – but we chose to splash out a little more on somewhere independent that had a bit more personality.

Accommodation: It cost about $270 for three nights at the charming Areela Boutique Hotel, located in a quiet, leafy, residential neighborhood and just a 15-minutes walk from the central Skanderbeg Square. Stylish rooms had vibrantly colored walls hung with Vogue-style photographic portraits of actors and singers (ours featured Boy George). The room rate included a “traditional Albanian breakfast” of eggs, sausage, sliced tomato and cucumber, which was served in a small but stylish, plant-filled space next to the reception area on the ground floor.

Total: $270 

Airport transfer: We landed at around 1:30pm and came out of the baggage hall…just in time to miss the bus into the center of town. So we hopped into a metered taxi ($28).

Aperitivo: After spending the afternoon exploring the center, we headed back to the hip Blloku district for drinks and dinner. First up, an aperitivo at the Colonial Cocktail Academy, whose outdoor terrace, draped with foliage and the odd Buddha head, had a laid-back Southeast Asian-y vibe. We had two rounds of drinks each, our bill (with a small tip) came to $28.

Dinner: The first restaurant had a queue; we ended up at Mystic 2, with a menu of Mediterranean cuisine. A hearty slab of baked local cheese, a Greek salad, spaghetti carbonara, grilled octopus and a couple of beers and glasses of wine (again, plus a small tip) came to $28.

Drinks: After a nightcap at the buzzy outdoor courtyard of Radio Bar, (two beers and two margaritas cost $24), a metered taxi back to the hotel cost us $5.

Total: $112

Street art tour: After our Albanian brekkie we set off on a more leisurely stroll to take in Tirana’s sights; the center is highly walkable. I’m mad about street art, and we found plenty of murals adorning tall buildings on the streets leading down to Skanderbeg Square. We admired the exterior of the impressive Namazgah Mosque and the nearby modern, abstract Orthodox Resurrection Cathedral, then explored what remains of Tirana Castle, a medieval fortress that now houses a selection of restaurants and artisan stalls. On our way back to the square, we peered around the intriguing Reja (or Cloud