Top 8 Things to Do in Tirana - Albania
Posted: August 9, 2020 | Tagged: The Balkans
8 Great Things to do in the vibrant city of Tirana, Albania, plus getting there and away tips.
This is my second time backpacking in Tirana. I was here last September on a 10-day trip to the Balkans. Tirana, Shkodra, Kotor and Dubrovnik. I hadn't envisaged being back so soon.
Thanks to Corona, here I am again: Luckily, I had left some things for the 'next time'. It's a cracking city anyway!
Thanks to Corona, here I am again: Luckily, I had left some things for the 'next time'. It's a cracking city anyway!
Things to do in Tirana:
1. The Pyramid:
Built in the late '80s as a mausoleum for the former dictator, Enver Hoxha. After the fall of the communists, the Pyramid became a cultural centre, named after Pjeter Arbnori, an Albanian gulag survivor. It was also Tirana’s most famous nightclub.
During the 1999 conflict in Kosovo, NATO set up a humanitarian headquarters inside the building and in 2001, Albanian television station Top Channel moved in.
In 2011 former prime minister Sali Berisha wanted to demolish the building, to make way for a new parliament.
The local population fiercely opposed the move. While other countries tore down former communist monuments, the fact that the pyramid had been built relatively recently meant that the majority of people associated the building with Tirana as a city rather than with the communist regime or with Enver Hoxha.
It was announced that it will be renovated and become the Albanian Education Center. Work has yet to begin.
During the 1999 conflict in Kosovo, NATO set up a humanitarian headquarters inside the building and in 2001, Albanian television station Top Channel moved in.
In 2011 former prime minister Sali Berisha wanted to demolish the building, to make way for a new parliament.
The local population fiercely opposed the move. While other countries tore down former communist monuments, the fact that the pyramid had been built relatively recently meant that the majority of people associated the building with Tirana as a city rather than with the communist regime or with Enver Hoxha.
It was announced that it will be renovated and become the Albanian Education Center. Work has yet to begin.
Read the latest about the Tirana Pyramid on Bloomberg UK (2025).
2. The Kombinat Stalin Textile Factory:
Thanks to @VisitTirana for the tip, I walked out to the Kombinat district some Ks Southwest out of town. Kombinat is at the end of the L.15 Kombinat - Kinostudio bus route.
The Kombinat Stalin Textile Factory once employed up to 2000 workers and could produce up to 2,0000,000 square meters of cotton cloth a year.
It's hardly a riveting place but you can take a coffee at the cafe next to the factory arch or a Birra Stela at the cafe bar on the corner and take in the nostalgia.
The Kombinat Stalin Textile Factory once employed up to 2000 workers and could produce up to 2,0000,000 square meters of cotton cloth a year.
It's hardly a riveting place but you can take a coffee at the cafe next to the factory arch or a Birra Stela at the cafe bar on the corner and take in the nostalgia.
3. The House of Leaves:
One of the more popular 'things you must see in Tirana' is House Of Leaves: Museum of Secret Surveillance (external link to their own website). This is right up my street and I have no idea why I didn't pay a visit last time. It is literally around the corner from the Sombra Hostel. Sadly photos are not allowed inside. Entrance fee is normally 700LEK but Corona price is just 200. A bargain.
4. "Eternal Glory to the Martyrs of the Fatherland monument":
Couldn't resist going back to Mother Albania. "Lavdi e perjetshme deshmoreve te Atdheut" - "Eternal Glory to the Martyrs of the Fatherland":
5. #Tirana 100:
Tirana celebrates 100 years as the capital of Albania, #Tirana100 at the Skanderbeg Square in the centre of Tirana.
6. Skanderbeg Square:
More images taken at Skanderbeg Square:
7. Independence Monument:
Independence Monument, built in 2012 to mark 100 years of Albania's independence:
8. The Peace Bell:
The Peace Bell, a reminder of the past. Built from spent bullet cartridges from the unrest in 1997:
Tirana - getting there and away:
The North and South bus stations are closed, and buses to all destinations leave from the new terminal:
International buses depart and arrive from another terminal:
Buses to and from the Nene Tereza International airport can be found here:
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