A Day in Tirana: Unraveling the Beauty of Albania’s Capital

Our journey to Albania was solely about discovering a new destination, no more, no less. I’ll detail our experiences, but this won’t be a blog post filled with recommendations.

We decided on this trip after stumbling upon incredibly affordable flights on Skyscanner, costing less than £40 per person. Considering the exorbitant train fares in the UK, flying to another country for less seemed logical. As long as budget flights are available, we’ll continue to seize the opportunity.

Once again, we opted for the National Express coach from London Victoria to Stansted airport, with the flight to Tirana lasting approximately three hours.

Admittedly, this was a day trip, and I’m not advocating for such expeditions due to their environmental impact. However, recognizing that the flight would operate regardless, I chose to take advantage of the cheap fares. Whether you label me a “shitty influencer” or hurl other insults (I’ve heard it all lol), it doesn’t faze me one bit!

I’ll keep this blog post short since our experiences in Albania weren’t extraordinary. It was mostly about exploring a new country. Since Albania isn’t in the EU, data charges apply. I’m with O2, and while they usually include roaming in my package, it doesn’t apply here. This info is specific to O2; check with your own provider.

For O2 Pay Monthly, you can opt for the O2 Travel Bolt On at £6 per day in certain places. If you’re on Pay As You Go, it’s £1.99 per day in selected destinations. At the airport, there was a Vodafone shop offering 40 GB for £23, but I found it a bit pricey.

Here’s another useful tip: most places in Albania prefer cash over cards, so make sure to withdraw some euros or the local currency before you go.

In Tirana, we did a few activities:

Took the Dajti Express cable cars (not recommended for those afraid of heights).
Found horse rides for the kids at the opposite end of the Dajti Express.
Enjoyed playgrounds.
Ate at Nur restaurant.
Took a land train around The Grand Park of Tirana.

You can see everything on our tiktok.

We arrived at the airport three hours before our departure and grabbed KFC from outside. It’s important to arrive early because the security line was chaotic—no organized queue, just scattered pushing and no staff managing it.

At the airport, we noticed they still had their Christmas decorations up, which was amusing. There was also a Hamleys arcade with coin-operated machines.

This trip was our first experience with a plane diversion. Unfortunately, someone fell ill on our flight, and we were diverted to Timan. While inconvenient, the safety of the passenger was paramount. I hope they received the necessary medical attention and are doing better now.

Travelling while black

I’m glad to hear that discussing race can make people uncomfortable because it makes me uncomfortable having to research countries to see if they’re safe for black person. I have to say I felt very safe and comfortable in Albania. There were a couple of stares, but I do expect that because the black population in Albania is probably minuscule. I have to say all the locals that we interacted with were very friendly, especially the taxi drivers—really nice, no complaints. I would definitely go back to Albania again at some point, maybe to a different area that has more fun things to do.