Mount Dajti and the Grand Park: Tirana’s green escapes, the back story

About Mount Dajti and the Grand Park: Tirana’s green escapes, the back story

By the ULTIMATE Tirana Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Mount Dajti rises to around 1,600 metres immediately east of the city, and on clear days it seems close enough to touch. To the south, the Grand Park wraps around an artificial lake built in the 1950s.

Mount Dajti

Dajti National Park covers the mountain above Tirana, with beech and pine forest, meadows and caves. The Dajti Ekspres cable car climbs from the city’s eastern edge to a plateau with viewpoints, restaurants and walking trails; in winter snow sometimes covers the top.

The Grand Park

The Grand Park (Parku i Madh) surrounds an artificial lake created in the 1950s. Paths loop around the water through pine woods, past monuments and cafés, and in the evening it is the favourite place for a run, a walk or the xhiro.

From the top of Dajti you can see the city, the plain and, on clear days, the sea.

The Lana and the city parks

Closer to the centre, the Lana river runs between tree-lined banks, the Rinia park sits by the Taiwan complex, and smaller gardens surround the Pyramid and the National Gallery.

Our advice: take the cable car up Dajti on a clear morning and walk for an hour along the plateau, then spend an evening walking around the Grand Park lake, as the locals do. Bring water and a layer: it is cooler on the mountain.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Mount Dajti and the Grand Park: Tirana’s green escapes, the back story before you go.