Durrës is Albania's second-largest city and the oldest continuously inhabited one — Greek colonists founded it in 627 BC as Epidamnos. Today it is the country's main port and also its most accessible beach resort: Tirana airport is just 35 kilometres away and the capital less than an hour by bus. In the middle of town lies a Roman amphitheatre that held 15,000 spectators, discovered only in 1966 when builders started digging foundations for new houses. South of the centre, fifteen kilometres of sandy beach with a very gentle slope into the sea run through the Plazh district to Golem, where most of the hotels are. The sea is calm and warm, but the beachfront is heavily built up and packed in August, when half of Tirana and Kosovo come to the coast. Prices are far lower than in Croatia or Montenegro, and Krujë, Berat and Cape Rodon are all easy day trips.
The places worth your time in Durrës, and what to expect at each
centre
The largest amphitheatre in the Balkans, built in the 2nd century AD for roughly 15,000 spectators. Much of it still lies buried beneath the houses of the surrounding neighbourhood. In one of the passages under the seating is an early Christian chapel with wall mosaics.
Tip: The chapel mosaics are hidden in a dark passage beneath the stands — ask the custodian to unlock it, otherwise most visitors walk straight past.
seafront by the port
Albania's largest archaeological museum, filled with finds from ancient Dyrrachium: Roman tombstones, mosaics, statues, pottery and small objects from Adriatic trade. It stands on the seafront just behind the port, and the collection shows how large and wealthy the city once was.
Tip: Pair it with the amphitheatre for a single morning — they are ten minutes apart on foot and both are pleasantly cooler than the beach at midday.
centre
A round tower from the late 15th century at the corner of the medieval walls, which the Venetians and Byzantines built on older Roman foundations. Stretches of the walls survive along the streets of the old town, and the tower now houses a café overlooking the port.
Tip: Come up to the tower for a coffee before sunset, when you can watch the ferries arriving from Italy.
centre
A circular 6th-century square ringed by the remains of columns, uncovered in the middle of modern buildings a few steps from the main boulevard. The remains of Roman baths can also be seen next to it. It is freely accessible and easy to miss if you do not know where to look.
Tip: It sits below today's street level in an open pit between apartment blocks — look for it behind the town hall building, as there are no signs.
Liria Square
The city's main mosque on Liria Square, built in the 1930s and reopened after the fall of communism, when religion was banned in Albania. With its minaret and dome it is a striking landmark in the centre between the amphitheatre and the port.
Tip: Outside prayer times tourists may go inside — women need a headscarf and covered shoulders, and shoes are left at the entrance.
hill above the centre
King Ahmet Zog's summer residence from 1937 on the hill above town, later used by the communist leader Enver Hoxha. The building has been under restoration for years and is closed inside, but the walk up leads through a park with the best view of the bay.
Tip: Walk up from the amphitheatre along the street behind the port — twenty minutes uphill, and the view along the whole coast to Golem is worth it, especially in the evening.
seafront
The seafront promenade running from the port along the shore, where the Albanian xhiro takes place every evening — the whole town out for a stroll with children, ice cream and coffee. It is lined with cafés, fountains and leftover bunkers from the Enver Hoxha era.
Tip: It is liveliest between 8 and 10 pm, once the heat eases — have your coffee at a café on the pier, where it costs half what it does on the beach.
10–15 km south
Fifteen kilometres of fine sand south of the city with an exceptionally shallow entry into the sea, lined with most of the resort hotels. The further you get from Durrës, the cleaner the water and the less built-up the beach. Sunbeds belong to individual hotels and bars.
Tip: The water at Golem is much cleaner than on the town beach by the port — if you are staying in the centre, take the bus towards Golem, which runs every fifteen minutes.
45 km north
A wild headland north of Durrës with the ruins of a castle built in 1463 by the national hero Skanderbeg. Part of the walls has already collapsed into the sea. The cape is also home to the Church of St Anthony, surrounded by pebble coves without any hotels.
Tip: The last few kilometres are a dusty track — drive slowly and park by the church; the castle is a ten-minute walk along the shore. Bring water, as there is nothing to buy here.
Photos: Roman Amphitheatre — Pudelek (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Archaeological Museum — Unknown authorUnknown author (Public domain) · Venetian Tower and City Walls — Musli Berisha (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Byzantine Forum — GentiBehramaj (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Great Mosque — Fabiola Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fabyd/ (CC0) · King Zog's Villa — Andis Rado (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Taulantia Promenade — Redon Skikuli (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Golem Beach and Shkëmbi i Kavajës — Tomasz Lewicki - @Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stalkerpl/ (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Cape Rodon and Skanderbeg's Castle — Albinfo (CC BY 3.0)
Areas and districts, matched to the kind of trip you are taking
Best for: sightseeing and cheap restaurants
The old town around the amphitheatre, museum and promenade, with the best choice of restaurants and cafés at local prices. The beach here is a town beach and the water by the port is less clean, so people take the bus south to swim. A good base if you want to mix the sea with day trips.
Best for: a beach within reach of town
The district along the beach just south of the centre, with hotels packed close together and plenty of restaurants. The old town is a twenty-minute walk along the seafront. The beach is crowded and noisier, but everything is within walking distance.
Best for: families and all-inclusive stays
The main resort strip ten to fifteen kilometres south of the centre, home to most package-holiday hotels. The sand is fine, the entry into the sea very shallow and the water cleaner than in town. Outside the hotels there is less going on, and you reach the centre by bus or taxi.
Best for: peace and newer hotels
The southernmost part of the coast beyond Golem, with newer resorts, a less built-up beach and pine woods behind it. It is the furthest from town and the airport, but also the quietest. Without a car or a hotel transfer you depend on the bus along the main road.
The nearest airport is Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza at Rinas, 35 kilometres from Durrës. In summer it has charter flights and scheduled services from across Europe, and the transfer to a hotel in Golem takes 40 to 50 minutes. Driving from Central Europe means around 1,500 kilometres through Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro — allow some eighteen hours at the wheel. Durrës is also Albania's main ferry port, with sailings from Bari, Ancona and Trieste; the overnight ferry from Bari takes nine hours.
Tirana – Mother Teresa Airport (TIA) · 35 km
A city bus runs between the centre and the resort strip along the main beach road every fifteen to twenty minutes; you pay the conductor in cash. Buses and furgon minibuses leave for Tirana from the station by the port roughly every twenty minutes, and the journey takes an hour. Taxis are cheap but have no meters, so agree the fare before you get in. A hire car pays off for trips to Krujë, Berat and Cape Rodon — just be ready for the unpredictable local driving style.
Useful apps: Google Maps, Maps.me, XE Currency, Booking.com
The swimming season runs from June to September, and in August the sea reaches about 26°C. July and August bring heat above 30°C and beaches full of domestic visitors from Tirana, Kosovo and North Macedonia — and the highest room rates. June and September offer the best balance of weather, warm water and free sunbeds. From November to April the coast is rainy and many hotels in Golem close.
Best time
June and September
What to avoid
November to March, when it is rainy and the resort is asleep
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | 13° | 14° | 16° | 19° | 24° | 28° | 31° | 31° | 27° | 23° | 18° | 14° |
| Night | 5° | 5° | 7° | 10° | 14° | 18° | 20° | 21° | 17° | 13° | 9° | 6° |
| Rainy days | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 12 |
| Sea | 14° | 14° | 14° | 16° | 19° | 23° | 25° | 26° | 24° | 21° | 18° | 16° |
Food in Durrës combines sea fish with Balkan grills and Ottoman recipes. In the port restaurants, fish and seafood are chosen by weight and are much cheaper than on the Croatian coast — a portion of grilled prawns or octopus costs around 1,000 lek. Corn on the cob and byrek are sold on the beach, and the centre has no-frills grill houses serving qofte. Albanians eat dinner late, around 9 pm, and drink Korça or Birra Tirana beer with their meal.
Tavë kosi
The national dish: lamb baked with rice under a crust of yoghurt and eggs. It comes from Elbasan, and traditional restaurants bake it in an individual clay dish.
Byrek
Filo pastry filled with cheese, spinach or minced meat, the country's most common breakfast and snack. A piece from a bakery costs 100 to 150 lek and is washed down with ayran or kefir.
Fërgesë
A baked mix of roasted peppers, tomatoes and gjizë cheese, sometimes with liver or meat. It arrives piping hot in a clay dish and is mopped up with bread as a starter for the table.
Qofte and zgara
Grilled minced-meat rolls with herbs and a platter of mixed grilled meat. The cheapest hot meal around — about 500 lek with chips and salad in a local grill house.
Albanian salad
Tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives and a slab of white cheese, dressed with local olive oil. It is ordered with every meal and costs 300 to 500 lek.
Grilled fish and seafood
Sea bass, sea bream, octopus and prawns from the Adriatic, grilled with olive oil and lemon. Port restaurants charge by weight, so ask for the price per kilo first.
Bakllava and kadaif
Ottoman sweets made from filo or shredded pastry with nuts and syrup. The best come from a pastry shop, where they are baked in trays and sold by the piece.
Raki
Grape or plum brandy that your host will pour as a welcome and again at the end of the meal. Homemade raki is often over 50 per cent, so sip it slowly.
Espresso in a café
100–150 lek
Byrek from a bakery
100–150 lek
Dinner in a restaurant
1,500–2,500 lek per person
Beer, 0.5 l
250–400 lek
Two sunbeds and a parasol
500–1,000 lek
Bus to Tirana
200 lek
Amphitheatre entry
300 lek
Night in a 4-star hotel in Golem
€70–130
Indicative prices that change over time — treat them as a guide, not a price list.
1 day
2 days
3 days
Tirana
38 km · 1 hr by bus
The capital, with its colourful buildings, Skanderbeg Square and the Bunk'Art nuclear bunker turned museum of the communist era. Buses leave Durrës every twenty minutes, so you do not need a car.
Krujë
45 km · 1 hr by car
A mountain town with the castle from which Skanderbeg held off the Ottomans for a quarter of a century. Below the castle is a covered bazaar selling antiques, rugs and handicrafts, and the view reaches all the way to the sea.
Berat
90 km · 1 hr 45 min by car
The UNESCO-listed City of a Thousand Windows, with white Ottoman houses stacked on the slope above the Osum River and an inhabited castle on the hill. Ideal for a full-day trip — in summer set off early to beat the heat.
Yes, the beaches south of town are sandy with a very gradual entry into a sea that is calm and warm in summer. Golem suits families best, with hotels right on the beach. Bear in mind that the coast is crowded and noisy in August.
Tirana's Mother Teresa Airport is 35 kilometres from central Durrës; a taxi takes around 35 minutes and costs from 3,500 lek. Golem is about ten minutes further. On a package holiday the transfer is included.
EU citizens can enter with a valid national ID card and stay visa-free for 90 days. Albania is not in the European Union, though, so EU roaming does not apply — switch off mobile data or buy a local SIM card at the airport.
The official currency is the lek, at roughly 100 lek to the euro. Hotels and beach bars often accept euros, but round the rate against you. Withdraw lek from a bank ATM rather than a standalone Euronet machine, and keep small notes for sunbeds and taxis.
Near the port and the town beach the water is poorer because of shipping and urban runoff, and locals swim there less. The further south you go, the cleaner it gets — at Golem and Shkëmbi i Kavajës the water is fine. For crystal-clear sea, head south to Sarandë or Ksamil.
Yes, from Central Europe it is roughly 1,500 kilometres via Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro or along the Croatian coast — two days with stops. You need a green card insurance certificate valid for Albania and Serbia, and should expect an aggressive driving style on arrival.
The Roman amphitheatre for 15,000 spectators, the Archaeological Museum, the Byzantine Forum, the Venetian Tower and King Zog's Villa. One day is enough for all of it. Durrës is also a handy base for day trips to Tirana, Krujë and Berat.
June and September: the sea is 23 to 25°C, daytime highs are around 27°C and the beaches are not overcrowded. July and August bring heat over 30°C and peak prices. From November to March it is rainy and the resort is shut.
Check the latest visa requirements for entering this country. Some nationalities may need to apply for a visa or e-visa before travel.
Check visa requirementsLanguage
Albanian
Currency
ALL
Timezone
Europe/Tirane
Dial Code
+355
Population
2.8M
Area
28,748 km²
Voltage
230V / 50Hz
Driving Side
Right
