Tirana Travel Tips As First Timers

Adam & Yaz land in Tirana with zero firsthand experience of Albania and walk away surprised by how easy, friendly, and good value it feels. Their first time vlog is a mix of airport logistics, local food, cable cars, lakeside walks, and small details that say a lot about the city’s character, and this article walks through their day in order, focusing on what stood out to them and what it means for anyone planning a first visit.

Arriving in Tirana

Their trip starts at Tirana airport, where the approach over the Adriatic already sets the tone with mountains, rivers, and much more of a view than they expected from “just” a capital city. On landing, they head straight to the ATMs and get a rude introduction to airport fees when one machine tries to charge them 800 Lek just to withdraw cash, roughly £7 on a single transaction. They end up with a crisp 10,000 Lek note and quickly realise Albania may still be cash leaning, so having some money on hand is useful even if cards work in many places.

Outside, finding the city bus was simple, they mentioned. They turn left out of the terminal and walk about 30 seconds to a basic coach that costs 400 Lek each and takes around 45 minutes to central Tirana. The first road is calm, but once they hit the city limits, the traffic and horn-happy driving immediately match everything they’d heard about Albanian roads (busy but functional).

Central Airbnb and Value for Money

For this stay, they’ve booked an Airbnb right in the centre for around £35 per night, and the flat sets up their “value for money” theme right away. Inside, they find a living area with a sofa, a proper coffee machine, a separate bedroom with a soft bed, a huge wardrobe space, and a clean, modern bathroom with a walk-in shower instead of a shower over a bathtub setup. When they open the windows and realise they can see mountains from the middle of Tirana, they’re surprised.

They also make it clear how much having data from the moment they land helps everything feel smooth, using an eSIM to skip local SIM queues and navigate straight to the bus and apartment. For a first-time visitor, they said, getting from the airport to the centre is cheap and straightforward if you know where the bus is and sort out data in advance.

First Albanian Dinner and Local Beer

Once they’ve rested and freshened up, food becomes the priority. Adam finds a nearby spot serving Albanian dishes, and within a couple of minutes, they’re sitting inside what they describe as a proper traditional restaurant. They start with local beer, Koccha, whose name they learn with help from the waiter, who also tells them it is brewed in a southern city he insists is one of the nicest places in the country. The backstory and pronunciation lesson add a bit of personality to the drink, and they’re both impressed with the taste to call it one of the better “first beers” they’ve had on a new trip.

The food is what really wins them over, though. They order stuffed peppers filled with tomato-style rice, cabbage rolls standing in for out-of-season vine leaves, a plate of lima beans, and a big tray of house bread that looks so thick and square they joke it resembles school cake. Once they dig in, Yaz calls the bread stodgy and cakey in the best possible way, while both of them are shocked that something as simple as rice inside a pepper can taste so good. The cabbage rolls have a different flavour profile rather than feeling like a repeat of the peppers, and even the beans turn out better than Adam was expecting.

Morning in Scanderbeg Square and a Coffee Stop

The next day dawns bright and clear, and after a basic breakfast in the apartment (tiny sliced toast that amuses Yaz enough for a whole bit), they head outside to get their first proper look at central Tirana. Scanderbeg Square, the main plaza. Stalls are being set up for what they later discover is a food and wine festival, and they’re pleasantly shocked by how much is going on. The weather hovers around 23°C, which feels like late summer to them, even as locals walk around in jackets and winter clothes.

For coffee, they choose a street-side spot called Mulliri i Vjeter and order an oat iced latte and a strong local coffee. They comment on how many people speak English fluently, making early interactions with locals easy. They also share one of the more interesting cultural facts from the vlog, Albanians don’t call their country Albania but Shqipëria, “land of the eagles,” with locals referring to themselves as shqiptar, “sons of the eagle,” a reference backed up by the double headed eagle on the national flag and even on some pedestrian traffic lights in place of the green walking figure.

Pyramid of Tirana

From the square, they walk over to the Pyramid of Tirana, a large, angular structure that once held the title of the most expensive building in the country. They are expecting to pay to climb to the top, but find that access is completely free and that staircases have been added on multiple sides so visitors can safely walk up. The climb only takes a minute or two, but the payoff is a full 360-degree view over the city, with mountains on the horizon.

They mention that if you are nervous around exposed staircases, the criss-crossing steps might not be your favourite, but if you can manage it, the view is worth the mild nerves. For them, it is another example of Tirana giving you something interesting without much effort or cost, no ticket queues, no long hike, just a quick climb.

Bus Ride and the Mount Dajti Cable Car

Later, they hop on a local bus (the number 11 blue line) to reach the outskirts of Tirana and the Dajti Ekspres cable car. The bus is crowded enough, but the cost is low, about 40 Lek each for roughly a 20-minute ride, and the process is simple. Hand over cash to the conductor and get change on the spot. At one point, they accidentally head towards a military base and then through a tunnel that turns out to be linked to the Bunk’Art bunkers rather than the cable car station, a reminder that you still need to pay a bit of attention to signage even when you have data.

Eventually, they reach the real base station, which is almost eerily quiet despite a car park full of vehicles, and buy return tickets for 1,500 Lek per person. They acknowledge it is not the cheapest attraction, but position it as paying for what is probably the best city view you are going to get in Tirana.

On Top of Mount Dajti

The cable car ride itself is long, and they really enjoy the hush and steady motion compared with a bus grinding its way up a mountain road. At one point, they pass above a helicopter and laugh at the oddity of being higher than a chopper mid-flight, all while the angle of the ascent becomes so steep that they agree it is the steepest cable car they have ever ridden. At the top, the air is cooler, about 14°C compared with roughly 24°C in the city, and they find themselves chasing patches of sun to stay warm.

From the main viewpoint, Tirana expands in every direction, and they can even see all the way toward the distant coast on a clear day. They settle into a restaurant with floor-to-ceiling glass, order 2 large glasses of white wine and big bowls of pasta, and are happy at how good the dishes are for somewhere that could easily coast on its location. The bill for wine, pasta, and live Albanian music in the background comes to around 1,900 Lek, which felt way cheaper for a restaurant on top of a mountain.

Evening at the Lake and Food and Fest

Back down at street level, they head to the artificial lake and park in Tirana just in time to catch the late light, even though they miss the moment of the sun dipping behind the mountains. They describe the park as one of those “pockets” that change how you feel about a city.

From the lake, they walk back toward Scanderbeg Square, realising that distances which looked long on the map are very manageable on foot, about 25 minutes for the route they take. There, they discover that the stalls being set up earlier were for Tirana Food and Fest, a 3-day event filled with local producers, wine, food and a line-up of Albanian beers they had not realised was so extensive. They try a second beer brand, Elbar, and find it cold, crisp and easy to drink, and joke that they will probably be back every night the festival is on to work their way through more labels.

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By the end of the vlog, Adam and Yaz make it clear that Tirana has surprised them on several fronts. Between traditional restaurants, square side coffee, a free climb up the Pyramid, a cable car to mountain views and a lakeside sunset, they manage to cover a lot of ground in no time.

For anyone who follows Travel Vlogs on YouTube or looks to creators like Adam and Yaz and other YouTube Travel Vloggers for honest first impressions, this Tirana episode is a useful introduction to a capital that feels underrated. It shows a city that is busy but walkable, affordable without cutting corners, and full of small details, like eagle-shaped traffic lights and food festivals in the main square, that give you a strong sense of place from day one.