UltimateCity Guide Tirana
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Skanderbeg Square with the Et’hem Bey Mosque

37 of the best · Tirana, Albania

The Best Things to See in Tirana

An Ottoman mosque, Italian boulevards, museums in bunkers and a mountain cable car: Tirana in one walk.

Our 37 favourites, listed A–Z · Updated October 2026

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Insiders' picks

Three of our favourites from this list, vetted by people who know and love Tirana.

  1. The heart of Tirana

    Skanderbeg Square

    Skanderbeg Square·Square

    Tirana’s vast pedestrian main square, paved with stone from across Albania, ringed by the mosque, the museum, the opera and the ministries.

    Sheshi SkënderbejExplore View on map

  2. Frescoes of trees and waterfalls

    Et’hem Bey Mosque

    Skanderbeg Square·Mosque

    A small, exquisite mosque from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, painted with frescoes of trees, waterfalls and bridges.

    Sheshi SkënderbejExplore View on map

  3. Under the city centre

    Bunk’Art 2

    Centre·Museum in a bunker·€

    A bunker near Skanderbeg Square, built for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, now a museum of the police and the secret police.

    Rruga Abdi ToptaniExplore View on map

The full list: Sights, A–Z

Show 19 of 37 places on a map
Neighbourhood

The back story 6

The story of Tirana.

  1. The back story

    Besa: the Albanian promise, the back story

    Tirana·In depth: culture

    Besa, the word given that must be kept, is at the heart of Albanian culture. It explains the famous hospitality, and it explains why Albania sheltered Jewish refugees during the Second World War.

    Explore View on map

  2. The back story

    Colour, concrete and the new Tirana: the back story

    Tirana·In depth: architecture

    In the early 2000s, Tirana began painting the grey façades of its apartment blocks in bold stripes and patterns. Since then, a new square, a reborn Pyramid and a skyline of towers have changed the city again.

    Explore View on map

  3. The back story

    Mosques, churches and tekkes: faith in Albania, the back story

    Tirana·In depth: faith

    Muslims, Orthodox and Catholic Christians and Bektashi dervishes have lived side by side in Albania for centuries. In Tirana a mosque, two cathedrals and a Bektashi world centre stand within a short ride of each other.

    Explore View on map

  4. The back story

    Skanderbeg: the hero on the square, the back story

    Skanderbeg Square·In depth: history

    Gjergj Kastrioti, known as Skanderbeg, led Albanian resistance to the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. His statue stands in Tirana’s main square, and his castle at Krujë is an hour away.

    Explore View on map

  5. The back story

    Tirana: the back story

    Tirana·In depth: history

    A small Ottoman market town that became a capital in 1920, rebuilt by Italian architects, reshaped in the 20th century and painted in bright colours in the 21st: Tirana’s story is written on its streets.

    Explore View on map

  6. The back story

    Tirana’s 20th century: the museums that tell the story

    Tirana·In depth: history

    Bunkers turned into museums, a secret police headquarters with its listening devices, a memorial with a piece of the Berlin Wall: Tirana tells the story of its communist decades factually and without sensationalism.

    Explore View on map

Landmarks 9

The city’s symbols.

  1. Albania’s national stadium

    Arena Center & Air Albania Stadium

    Mother Teresa Square·Stadium & complex

    The 22,500-seat national stadium opened in 2019, wrapped in a shopping and hotel complex with a 112-metre tower.

    Rruga Muhamet GjolleshaExplore View on map

  2. A hundred years of independence

    Independence Monument

    Rinia Park·Monument

    A sculpture in Rinia Park unveiled on 28 November 2012 for the centenary of Albanian independence.

    Parku RiniaExplore View on map

  3. The end of the boulevard

    Mother Teresa Square

    Boulevard·Square

    The square at the southern end of the main boulevard, in front of the University, named after Mother Teresa.

    Sheshi Nënë TerezaExplore View on map

  4. Khrushchev laid the first stone

    Palace of Culture

    Skanderbeg Square·Landmark building

    The long colonnaded building on the east side of Skanderbeg Square, home to the Opera and the National Library.

    Sheshi SkënderbejExplore View on map

  5. The heart of Tirana

    Skanderbeg Square

    Skanderbeg Square·Square

    Tirana’s vast pedestrian main square, paved with stone from across Albania, ringed by the mosque, the museum, the opera and the ministries.

    Sheshi SkënderbejExplore View on map

  6. Tirana from above

    Sky Tower viewpoint

    Blloku·Viewpoint·€

    A tower on the edge of Blloku with a panoramic bar at the top.

    Explore View on map

  7. Italian Tirana

    The main boulevard (Dëshmorët e Kombit)

    Boulevard·Boulevard

    The great north–south boulevard laid out in the 1930s, from Skanderbeg Square to the University.

    Bulevardi Dëshmorët e KombitExplore View on map

  8. Climb to the top

    The Pyramid of Tirana

    Boulevard·Landmark

    The 1988 pyramid, renovated and reopened in 2023 with steps to the top and a technology centre for young people.

    Bulevardi Dëshmorët e KombitExplore View on map

  9. Gherardo Bosio’s design

    University of Tirana

    Mother Teresa Square·1940 landmark

    The main building of the University of Tirana, designed by Gherardo Bosio around 1940, closing the end of the boulevard.

    Sheshi Nënë TerezaExplore View on map

Ottoman Tirana 7

Mosque, tower, bridge and bazaar.

  1. Climb for the view

    Clock Tower of Tirana

    Skanderbeg Square·Tower·€

    The 19th-century clock tower beside the Et’hem Bey Mosque, which you can climb.

    Sheshi SkënderbejExplore View on map

  2. Eight columns from 1817

    Kapllan Pasha Tomb

    Centre·Ottoman tomb

    An eight-columned Ottoman tomb of 1817, the last survivor of the cemetery of a mosque destroyed in the Second World War.

    Rruga 28 NëntoriExplore View on map

  3. Fruit, cheese, raki and terraces

    New Bazaar (Pazari i Ri)

    New Bazaar·Market

    Tirana’s renovated central market: fruit and vegetable stalls, cheese, honey and raki, surrounded by restaurants and cafés.

    Sheshi Avni RustemiExplore View on map

  4. A painter’s 300-year-old house

    Sali Shijaku’s villa

    Selvia·Historic house

    An old Tirana house in the Selvia quarter, home of painter Sali Shijaku, with a café in the yard.

    Rruga Vildan LuarasiExplore View on map

  5. An 18th-century footbridge

    Tanners’ Bridge

    Centre·Ottoman bridge

    A small Ottoman stone bridge, once on the road to the leather-workers’ quarter.

    Rruga ElbasanitExplore View on map

  6. Old walls, new cafés

    Tirana Castle & Murat Toptani street

    Centre·Old walls & street

    Fragments of the old castle walls along a pedestrian street of restaurants and shops.

    Shëtitorja Murat ToptaniExplore View on map

  7. Tirana’s oldest monument

    Tirana Mosaic

    West Tirana·Archaeological site·€

    The remains of a 3rd-century Roman villa and a later Paleo-Christian basilica, with mosaic floors, under a new roof.

    Explore View on map

The 20th century 7

Bunkers and memory.

  1. A bunker under the mountain

    Bunk’Art 1

    Dajti·Museum in a bunker·€

    A vast underground bunker built for the leadership, now a museum of Albanian history and contemporary art.

    Rruga Fadil DeliuExplore View on map

  2. Under the city centre

    Bunk’Art 2

    Centre·Museum in a bunker·€

    A bunker near Skanderbeg Square, built for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, now a museum of the police and the secret police.

    Rruga Abdi ToptaniExplore View on map

  3. A hidden British story

    Commonwealth War Cemetery

    Grand Park·War cemetery

    A small Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in the Grand Park for British soldiers who died in Albania in the Second World War.

    Explore View on map

  4. Now an artists’ residence

    Former residence of Enver Hoxha (Vila 31)

    Blloku·Historic villa

    The villa in Blloku where Albania’s communist leader lived, now used as an artists’ residence and cultural space.

    Rruga Ismail QemaliExplore View on map

  5. European award-winning museum

    House of Leaves (Museum of Secret Surveillance)

    Centre·Museum·€

    The former surveillance centre of the secret police, now a museum of the methods and victims of surveillance.

    Rruga Dëshmorët e 4 ShkurtitExplore View on map

  6. A 12-metre statue

    Martyrs’ Cemetery and Mother Albania

    South-east Tirana·Memorial

    The national cemetery of partisans who died in the Second World War, watched over by the 12-metre Mother Albania statue.

    Explore View on map

  7. Bunker, Berlin Wall and Spaç

    Postbllok – Checkpoint

    Blloku·Memorial

    A memorial on the edge of Blloku with a bunker, a piece of the Berlin Wall and pillars from the Spaç labour camp.

    Rruga Ibrahim RugovaExplore View on map

Churches & mosques 5

Faith reborn.

  1. The world seat of the Bektashi

    Bektashi World Centre

    North-east Tirana·Sufi headquarters

    The world headquarters of the Bektashi Sufi order, with a richly decorated tekke and a museum.

    Rruga Hysen LociExplore View on map

  2. Frescoes of trees and waterfalls

    Et’hem Bey Mosque

    Skanderbeg Square·Mosque

    A small, exquisite mosque from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, painted with frescoes of trees, waterfalls and bridges.

    Sheshi SkënderbejExplore View on map

  3. The new great mosque

    Great Mosque of Tirana (Namazgah)

    Centre·Mosque

    The large new mosque near the Parliament, one of the biggest in the Balkans.

    Rruga KavajësExplore View on map

  4. A modern cathedral

    Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection

    Centre·Cathedral

    The Orthodox cathedral, consecrated in 2012, one of the largest in the Balkans.

    Rruga e KavajësExplore View on map

  5. A modern Catholic cathedral

    St Paul’s Cathedral

    Centre·Catholic cathedral

    Tirana’s Catholic cathedral, opened in 2001, with a stained-glass window of Mother Teresa.

    Bulevardi Zhan d’ArkExplore View on map

Up the mountain 1

Dajti.

  1. Up Tirana’s mountain

    Dajti Ekspres cable car

    Dajti·Cable car·€€

    A long cable car from the eastern edge of the city up Mount Dajti, for views over Tirana and the plain.

    Explore View on map

Out of town 2

A short trip.

  1. 20 km from the centre

    Petrelë Castle

    Petrelë·Castle·€

    A small castle on a crag above the Erzen valley, with views and a restaurant.

    Explore View on map

  2. Across the valley from Krujë

    Preza Castle

    Fushë Prezë·Medieval castle

    A small medieval castle on a hill near the airport, facing Krujë, with a restaurant inside the walls.

    Fushë PrezëExplore View on map

Explore more of Tirana

38 of the best Restaurants26 of the best Cafés22 of the best Bars7 of the best Nightlife44 of the best Hotels20 of the best Culture13 of the best Parks & nature6 of the best Walks15 of the best Shopping3 of the best Co-working16 of the best Health + Wellness6 of the best Property8 of the best New Developments6 of the best MotoringGetting around Getting around

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