Tirana, Albania turned out to be one of my favorite stops on my road trip through the Balkans due to its diverse architecture, which juxtaposed the styles of Italian fascism and Soviet realism.
Read more of my classic trip report through the Balkans
Introduction: Road Trip Through The Balkans
Review: US Airways A330-300 Business Class Philadelphia To Munich
Balkans Day 1: Sick In Belgrade
Balkans Day 2: Belgrade – Sarajevo
Balkans Day 3: Sarajevo – Dubrovnik
Balkans Day 4: Beauitful Dubrovnik
Balkans Day 5: Accused Of Espionage In Montenegro
We departed Podgorica in the late morning for a relatively short four-hour journey to Tirana, arriving in the middle of the hot afternoon. It was nearly 100ºF, the warmest day of our trip and frankly quite miserable to be outside.
We passed an “In-N-Out” near the Montenegro/Albania border. Who would have thought In-N-Out would have licensed a franchise there. Had we not been in the bus, I certainly would have stopped…
Border formalities were easy, with a quick stamp out of Montenegro and shortly thereafter into Albania.
We found a little apartment behind a mini-market in the heart of Tirana that was only about $30 and perfect for our one-night stay. Looking at hotel options today, there are still no chain hotels but several very nice choices.
After a nice afternoon nap with the air conditioning cranked up and blackout shades lowered, we ventured out into the scorching late-afternoon sun.
I suspect that most would not use “beautiful” to describe Tirana. That said, there is fascinating history behind the style of the city.
The Architecture of Tirana, Albania
The city blends the styles of two totalitarian regimes with new modern minimalist high rises springing up. Many government buildings were designed by Florestano Di Fausto and Armando Brasini, Benito Mussolini’s top architects. Italy occupied Albania during World War II before becoming a communist state. Skanderbeg Square, once the heart of Stalin Boulevard, provides a dose of Soviet Realism, with artwork and friezes that are an ongoing testimony to the communist era.
The pyramid pictured below was built in honor of Enver Hoxha, the strongman who ruled Albania from 1941 to 1985. It was used as NATO base during the 1999 Kosovo War but now sits abandoned.
President George W. Bush was the first American president to visit Albania. During his visit in 2007, a street was re-named in his honor.
Albania is a majority Muslim nation, though just a slim majority. Officially a secular state, there is great religious diversity, which you can see by the juxtaposition of mosques and churches in Tirana.
We stopped for dinner at an outdoor café and enjoyed kabobs. The owner was not used to seeing American tourists and brought us beers on the house.
Overall, I quite enjoyed our brief stop in Tirana. My only regret was not trying more authentic local food. We’d depart for Kosovo early the next morning.
For anyone using this report to plan a trip it’s worth noting that Skanderbeg Square has been completely redone since Matthew was there. There are no more roads through it (though there is cheap underground parking below it) and they’ve converted the whole thing into a gigantic plaza with some trees for shade and a splash pad that the local kids (and mine!) were happily playing in the day I was there. It looks really good and had a great feel to it. For reference, I was there in June 2019.
Thanks for the helpful data point. I hope those Soviet-era murals are still there.
They definitely are!
United around the flag with one desire and one goal let us pledge our word of honour to fight for our salvation only he who is born traitor averts from the struggle he who is brave is not daunted but falls a martyr to the cause with arms in hand we shall remain to guard our fatherland round about our rights we will not bequeath enemies have no place here for the Lord himself has said that nations vanish from the earth but Albania shall live on because for her it is for her that we fight.
Curious why you made all the stops so short, especially between the long bus rides. What’s the value you personally feel you get from visiting a place for such a short amount of time
We had about two weeks overall and wanted to get a taste of each place enroute to our final goal of Thessalonki, where we relaxed for a few days. Quite honestly, I also wanted to add several nations to my country count. Would I have loved more time in each place? For sure. Was the “rushed” trip worthwhile? Without a doubt.
That makes sense; sometimes I have a similar approach of hopping around but short stops to me usually means 2-3 days somewhere new. Anything in particular about Thessalonki that made you allot a lot more time there?
The real answer is there was a Hyatt there. But do I sound more cultural if I just say I love Greek history and we wanted to explore Mount Athos (though we failed)? 😉
There is a Hilton garden inn there. Pretty nice and inexpensive. Breakfast was super good.
Matthew has been switched by the Albanians. The real Matthew is still there, in prison, while the fake Matthew with a slight Albanian accent is here. Look, he even changed his avatar from a photo to a line drawing to make it harder to see.
Such is a time to call James Bond 007 and his CIA counterpart, Felix Leiter, to the rescue.
Don’t laugh. Albania is very war-like. Under Hoxha, more than half of the country’s money was spent building hundreds of thousands of concrete bunkers. They are all over the place.
Derek you have no clue about Albania so don’t write about it
Love those Soviet-inspired friezes. I’m sure they’re protected in any redevelopment.
They’re reminiscent of the wonderful ones lost when the Bonwit Teller Department Store in NYC was demolished by a developer who wouldn’t wait one extra day for them to be relocated to The Met. We lost a magnificent Deco building and got the original Trump Tower instead….
Since Albania took a go it alone approach, and was decidedly anti-Soviet, what would the correct term for the art and architecture be? Is all revolutionary style art from Eastern Europe in the 20th century supposed to be called “Soviet?”
I’m not trying to be pedantic, I’m generally curious.
Very fair question. I’d like to use the terminology as well. As Paolo mentioned, that style popped up in the USA too and I hardly think we’d call it “Soviet” or “communist”.
“My only regret was not trying more authentic local food”
Based on your trip reports, that can apply to more than Albania…
The different architecture styles do make it an interesting city to visit, that’s for sure.