Skanderbeg Square and Gov’t Buildings
Flying in from Milano/Bergamo Airport, we land in Tirana’s Mother Teresa International Airport a little after seven o’clock, together with a couple of thousand other travelers and prepare ourselves for a long wait to clear customs and immigration. Lo and behold it took maybe 30 minutes, probably less, to process all these people and get us on our way. Remarkable and a good sign.
The moment we step outside the airport, we see all the popular car rental company offices that you see lined up anywhere in the world’s major airports. This immediately set off some bells with us as we had heard that it was difficult to rent cars in this country because of the facts that credit cards weren’t accepted for security deposits and huge cash deposits were required to secure warranties. Well soon we find out that all alarming and threatening information is severely outdated.
Modern international airport
TJ walking out of Tirana’s Airport
Tirana, Albania International Airport
Albania is a small country that came out of a communist dictatorship in the early 1990s, but has since been on a fast track to modern times. Coming from the US with a valid passport now allows you to stay a full year Visa free in the country. EU citizens can only stay up to 90 days though. Credit cards are accepted everywhere, especially in all coastal tourist cities and the capital. The Albanian people are some of the nicest, friendly and helpful people we have encountered on all our travels and our evening taxi ride through the capital showed accessibility and an international flair that is completely disarming. The 35 minute taxi ride from the airport to our Airbnb in an incredibly luxurious Chinese made BYD (Build Your Dream) car was quoted at $25. We gave a $6 tip and the driver almost got tears in his eyes. One thing we learned during our stay here is to put your destination address in your own Smartphone with Google Maps. Many destinations do not have a street name and number as GPS reference, but an Electric Box number, especially in construction areas. Show the taxi driver your phone when you need a ride “home”.
Our Airbnb in Tirana
Our Airbnb was located up in the hills, southeast of Tirana, in a suburb called Farkë e Vogel, where better-to-do Albanians are currently building their portfolio homes in beautiful landscaped neighborhoods and gated communities. As construction moves up in the hills, services such as grocery stores, coffee shops and mosques follow quickly. The nearby Mosque and Minaret is a landmark and catches us several times a day with melodious chanting and prayers, a few restaurants and small stores are within walking distance, but a real supermarket is a bit farther so we take the local bus to Albania’s largest shopping mall The East Gate – “TEG” and shop at SPAR International and then take a taxi back.
Or we (actually TJ with her iPhone) has learned to use a popular delivery system called “WOLT”. It’s a very slow webpage, but works fine if you have the patience along with google translate on your phone. Even then there was an occasional hit or miss item, like the time TJ ordered way too many tomatoes, but we shared them with our Airbnb hostess as she shared veggies from her gardens with us..
Sunset view from our balcony
The apartment is easily one of the best Airbnb’s we have ever enjoyed during our travels. (Right up there with a gorgeous cabin on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.) A view to die for, down the hills dotted with olive trees, plum trees and other fruit trees, into the valley where TEG and other commercial enterprises provide a lively human balance to the surrounding residential areas. In the next four weeks we would travel down the hill on several occasions, but we were mostly planning a relaxed stay in this fully air conditioned 1200 sf apartment with a huge balcony off the living room, fully equipped kitchen, luxurious bathroom with walk-in shower and a dream of a spacious bedroom. We were perfectly happy just staying there most of the time while outside temperatures hovered around a continuous 95°F.
In the first week of arriving in Albania, my prescription distance glasses broke at the temple/hinge and were irreparable. On the TEG mall website we had found MaxOptica and on Friday morning we took the local bus to TEG. The sales girl in perfect English confirmed that my old glasses were history and irreparable, but she was happy to help me with a new pair. Since we had no recent memory/paperwork of my eye condition, she was taking the optical measurements from my old glasses, which is when the ophthalmologist, a young handsome man from Pakistan came down the stairs from his quarters and offered to do an eye exam, as TJ sat in his air-conditioning office while she was waiting for me to get done. Impressive was the advanced equipment he had at his disposal, possibly more advanced than what I saw during my last eye-exam about three years ago on Amelia Island, Florida. He did a very thorough exam and declared my eyes in excellent shape for a man my age. The eyeglass frames selected, turned out to be Emporio Armani (Georgio Armani’s discount brand) with 2 sets of attachable sunglasses in a posh case. Mind you, designer frames and prescription glasses (not that I care) plus a complete eye exam for $348 is a deal to us. My last eyeglasses, several years ago were close to $500, without the eye exam and it took more than a week to get them. The knowledgeable sales lady would call us when the glasses were ready for pick-up and she figured on two days, however her phone call came the very next day; the glasses were ready to be picked up.
The little bus service is reliable, (…..until it isn’t). For the small fare of $0.44 per person, the bus will take you all the way down into the center of Tirana, where the bus turns around just before it reaches Jean d’Arc Blvd and comes via another loop back up to our neighborhood. The complete loop takes about an hour, which is why 30 minutes off every hour it stops at the apartment.
We used this service on several occasions and took a taxi back from the mall, as the bus service (mainly service workers going to town and back home) calls it a day around 6pm. This worked for us, since we usually carried several bags of groceries home and the taxi ride was only an average $6 one way.
Now the summer of 2026 is globally turning out to become the hottest in recorded history and definitely interfering with the discovery part of our travels. 100°F to 104°F every day, without rain or cooling winds is simply too warm for people our age to go out in the sun exploring historically important sites. It had been hot in Portugal, but we had a pool there to cool off. Here in Tirana we have a gorgeous balcony view down the sloping hills to the city with air conditioning in every room. So on all these hot days we read, wrote, facetimed with friends and family, we cooked or ordered our favorite dishes and groceries via WOLT or enjoyed our host bringing us fresh fruits and vegetables out of her gardens. During the evening on the balcony we caught gorgeous sunsets, watched the numerous (almost daily) fireworks down below and listened to the great variety and strange mix of eastern and western music in the distance. If nothing else we experienced a good understanding of the daily rhythms of Albania and Tirana.
Of course we looked at a handful of day trips to the country’s attractions, all at very reasonable rates, but all had a duration of 12 to 14 hours per day, mostly starting early in the morning. After discussing it quite a bit, we decided it sounded more like torture than fun in the present heat, especially when many buses have no AC or bus drivers don’t use it because of cost. In addition, we also couldn’t get ourselves to get up at 5:00 or 6:00am to get to a bus station into town to leave on a tour by 8:00am and then returning home around 10pm or midnight. We figured that for our next Albania trip, we would include some of the popular beach towns on the Adriatic Sea, but only in late spring or early autumn, because in addition to the heat, the rates in high summer months are heavily affected by vacationers from Dubai and other rich Emirates in the Middle East.
Why is Albania Still So Affordable?
Towards the end of the second week we ventured out on another trip to the TEG mall to enjoy the International Foodcourt, get some groceries from Spar International, enjoy some people watching and enjoy a refreshment out on the open terrace. Life is good and affordable. We noticed lots of families having lunch or dinner at the Court, calculating that the total bill for four runs about $28 to $30 including drinks. The food court offers a nice variety of local specialty restaurants, some Greek and Mediterranean choices as well as American favorites such as KFC and Popeye’s. Popeye’s chicken is remarkably consistent with its Louisiana flavors, but sadly they don’t feature the brand’s famous black beans and rice.
The Foodcourt is busy every time we go there and it seems that many Albanians enjoy Mall Life and its food options. While TJ gets out to explore the mall’s store offerings, I like to watch people in their every day life and get a feeling for how they go about their lives. We had heard that the average monthly net income of an Albanian worker was somewhere between $720 and $950. Knowing that, now imagine that in 1985 the year of communist dictator Enver Hoxha’s death, the average monthly income was $15 and the country was considered the 3rd poorest country in the world. A lot of the old-timers still remember those days.
With help of the internet I compared these numbers to Portugal’s $1,120 to $1,250 per worker and neighboring Montenegro which hopes to enter the European Union in 2028, where workers enjoy an $1,150 per month net average income per month. After dictator Salazar’s reign, Portugal did not begin true economic growth until it joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1986. Membership brought structural funds, market integration, and foreign investment that modernized the country. Albania hopes that the same process will support its growth into a prosperous modern democracy. Currently tourism accounts for almost 25% of Albania’s GDP, which is too risky. Greece and Portugal are sitting at 12-13%, which is where Albania aims to be.
Currently Portugal and Albania are considered to be cheap residential destinations, but the question is always “for how long” and “what makes them cheaper.” The “How Long” part depends a lot on the country’s political ambition and how easily its natural resources can be retrieved and turned into revenue. For example Portugal is already for many years (1986) part of the European Union, while Albania aspires to become a member by 2030. This means that Albania has to comply with a lot of regulations imposed on the country to comply with the EC conditions. No doubt that by 2030 a lot of the price attraction for Albania will have disappeared in favor of improved worker’s salaries and economies of scale, but until then you can pay for a three-course meal for two with an hour of honest labor, especially if the ingredients are locally sourced. You will also be able to find nice, furnished apartments with Seaview balconies or overlooking beaches for $300 to $700 per month including all utilities and services. With a somewhat limited infrastructure the cost of transportation is relatively low and the cost of healthcare and education is worked into taxation systems. Another important aspect of Albania’s standard of living does come from the fact that Albania enjoys a median population age of 37, many of whom are educated, and have learned to speak English as they grew up in the early years after communist dictatorship was removed. The big advantage of the young population average is that social safety nets are financed by a younger group of tax paying workers, with a smaller percentage drawing on social securities. In Portugal the median age is 47, which means the stress on social securities will start at least 10 years earlier.
America was one of the first countries during the Clinton Presidency to help out after the Communist Dictatorship ended
In the early days of Albania’s democratic revival (1992) many countries, companies and charities entered the country to help and develop new socio-economic ties. Americans even have an advantage over European visitors, as they can stay in the country Visa-free for 12 months. Albania is intensely pro-American due to historical U.S. backing for Albanian sovereignty, crucial intervention during the 1999 Kosovo War, and deep gratitude for rescuing the nation from total international isolation after the fall of a brutal communist dictatorship that lasted until the early 1990s. A rapidly growing tourism income will effect the “cheap” factor in the next 5 to 10 years, but for now our view is that Albania offers the best bang for your buck in all of Europe, while the country also feels very Western/European and if you treat Albanians with respect, as you should anyway, you will find them friendly, extremely helpful and very hospitable.
The third week came and we finally gathered the courage to brave the scorching sun and take the bus to the center of Tirana. A list was made of buildings and attractions to visit and without knowing how far the bus would take us, we got on. Swaying through the outskirts of town, we get a good taste of how Albania operates. We see a lot of English companies and stores, several English language universities and schools and even an American and German Hospital and then all at once the bus turns around on the road and stops at a bus stop and we learn that this is the endpoint. We mark the spot carefully, which is easy because on all sides there are drugstores and pharmacies and tree-covered streets leading into the city center. But since it is already past 2pm, we decide on lunch and a refreshment first and right there is an outdoor lounge-restaurant ‘Artisti’ which offered strategically placed outdoor fans that spray the table areas with a dust of refreshing cool mist every couple of minutes. I ordered a Caesar Salad as I craved lettuce and a bottle of water. Total cost about $7, and the Caesar was huge and came with huge clunks of perfectly seasoned chicken breast mixed in. TJ had ordered a pressed (Cuban style)cheese and ham sandwich that came loaded with all types of side veggies and big enough to feed an army. Lunch was a delight at 30% of the price anywhere else we have traveled. When almost done with our lunch a young couple with their son walked in and set down at the table next to us. Turned out they were Albanians now living in London, spending their vacation in Tirana. We had a wonderful conversation with them about Albania, its people and its treasures of history, nature and beaches. He insisted upon treating us to a refreshment. The convo was so delightful and interesting that TJ gave them her last painted Jeeps for Peace Ukraine rock.
Then it was time to get our legs going as we crossed the Joan of Arc Boulevard and got a magnificent view of the Mosque of Namazgah or The Great Mosque of Tirana. Construction had started in the early 1990s, but ensuing Catholic opposition stopped completion for more than 30 years. It was finally inaugurated in October 2024 and now offers a capacity of 10,000 Sunni worshippers, the largest Mosque in the Balkans. From there we walked past a number of government buildings and an interesting subterranean museum named Bunk’Art2, housed in a nuclear bunker built between 1981 and 1985 as a secure underground shelter for the Ministry of Internal Affairs next door during the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. It features 24 rooms with photos, authentic artifacts, surveillance equipment, and audio-video testimonies dedicated to those persecuted, interrogated, or killed by the Sigurimi, the communist regime’s political police.
A little further down the road we reach Skanderbeg Square, dedicated to the country’s medieval warrior/nobleman Gjergj Kastrioti. Skanderbeg’s exceptional battlefield skills had his contemporaries compare him to those of historical emperor Alexander the Great from neighboring Macedonia, and these skills gave him this nickname.(Alexander is Skander)
On the corner of Skanderbeg Square we found the Et’hem Bey Mosque of Tirana and from there we walked down the parks and monuments to reach the Toptani Shopping Mall. It was time for an afternoon cappuccino, totally in conflict with the Italian idea/tradition that milk heavy coffees are only proper for the morning hours. A cappuccino in the afternoon replaces lunch for me, so the milk is perfectly ok.
The Toptani Mall deserves its own chapter and TJ got “lost” for a good two and a half hours exploring the many floors of brand name luxury retailers, while I was sipping cappuccino in the downstairs bar, observing my favorite pastime: People Watching. This mall could sit somewhere on 5th Avenue New York or Champs Elysee Paris and fit right into the street scene. Eight shopping floors over almost 700,000 square feet, with four parking garage levels, many restaurants and fun areas. Actually sitting in this mall with all its Italian Fashion brands represented, makes you realize that Italy, yes the country Italy, is only a short distance away across the Adriatic Sea, with daily ferry schedules to cross from varies points.
Yeah, Han was not thrilled I was gone so long. Mainly because we now share a phone and he had no way to contact me. It is extremely easy to lose track of time in this mall. Toptani has glass interior walkway walls, which can be quite intimidating if you are prone to vertigo. I would look down occasionally but not for a prolonged period of time. I literally purchased one tiny spatula we needed, out of this whole mall. When traveling, you had best learn quickly to shop with purpose, not desire.
Time was getting closer to the start of the daily “Flamingo Revolution” protest marches and rallies against the Albanian government allowing a US – Saudi Arabian investment consortium including Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner to initiate a multi-billion dollar luxury resort to develop on Sazan island, that would ruin a pristine coastal ecosystem that hosts thousands of flamingos, sea turtles and monk seals. From that original theme the protests were expanded into a movement against government corruption and lack of transparency and by now every night around 6-7pm, thousands of Albanians gather near the government buildings and major thoroughfares such as Jean d’Arc Boulevard and march against oligarchic influence, opaque public decision-making and the use of laws for private or politically connected interests, in other words protesting political elites who are accused of abusing power and institutions. It didn’t help that Ivanka Trump called Sazan Island her private island in several podcasts and has angered many Albanians. Another support comes from the European Union who has sent a team of observers, as a warning that Albania’s government needs to be aware of Community guidelines in dealing with these issues.
We walked several blocks back from the mall and decided to first go and see the famous Pyramid of Tirana, which was located close to where the rallies would take place. Now there is a warning when you cross the Lana River, which is nothing more than a tiny canal in the city, expect a stench, most likely left there by high pollution due to wastewater.The Pyramid of Tirana, full in the sun at 7:30pWhen we arrived at the Pyramid, we decided to leave the climb to the top to younger generations. The Pyramid has an interesting life story as it started out in 1988 as a Museum dedicated to dictator Hoxha’s reign. Well by 1991 and the end of communism, no one in their right mind wanted anything to remind them of those horror years under Hoxha. So the building became a congress center for a couple of years, then it became a technology center and finally it turned into a tourist attraction attracting thousand of visitors.
TJ: I really wanted to climb it, especially since it does have hand railings, but the sun was still so baking hot. Heck, even sitting on the stairs about burned a hole on your butt. LOL
On the bottom stairs TJ met a nice local young man who explained more about Tirana’s history and walked with us to an ice cream place on Jean d’Arc Blvd where that night’s protest rally would start. As we were enjoying our ice cream, the group formed right in front of our eyes as police closed the intersections and press started up their coverage. In a wink of the eye it seemed that several thousand people had formed a protest march that peacefully moved forward with anti-government slogans and chants and occasionally we recognized the name for Sazan Island. As I write this, it is 80 days of consecutive marches. Albanians know how to get their government’s attention. After the protest we walked down to a vibrant circle with lots of restaurants and easily found a cab driver, who took us back to our Airbnb up in the hills.
As mentioned before the little bus service from our neighborhood to town was usually reliable, with the exception of Sunday afternoon before departing Tirana and Albania. We took the bus at 2:30pm with only 2 other passengers seated, who got out a couple of stops further downhill. The bus driver, almost by impulse it seemed, decided that it was time for an afternoon pick-me-up; he turned off the engine, stepped off the bus and from an open door spoke to us in a language we had no clue about, made a couple of hand gestures that could mean anything and walked across the street into a local bar. After a couple of minutes we figured he wasn’t coming back anytime soon, so we descended the bus and started our walk downhill to the Mall. Google Maps said it was only a little over a mile down the hill, but the sun was sitting straight above us, cloudless and beamed about 100°F heat down upon us. Very uncomfortable and we were sweaty through and through.
What we had learned so far about Albania, is that we like its people; that its nature offered beauty; that Tirana was a treasure of a city, that there was an attitude of “can do” in the country and that the prices of goods and services were fitting our retirement budget like a comfortable glove. It did help that the temperature stayed high in the 90°F and 100°F’s, as we spend our time mostly inside, reading up on the country’s attractions and history and we were starting to feel a close affinity to Albania’s struggle and future. Before arranging our Schengen inspired departure for Montenegro at the end of 30 days, we already knew, that we would be back soon, to explore the almost 300 mile Seashore and its picturesque towns and fishing villages. Prices for fully furnished apartments, with balcony and Seaview are very attractive, which would make it a strong contender for our European residency choice.
For our trip north to Montenegro’s capital city Podgorica, TJ had done a lot of research and for $200 we selected the most attractive option offered by a company called Day Trip. We highly recommend this company.
Albania is planning, but does not yet have a train infrastructure to its neighboring countries and private bus transportation is available but can be a bit tricky for people with luggage. In addition, most of the reviews on bus transportation were not encouraging. Our monthly budget moving country to country allows for $400-$500, so the $200 fee here worked perfectly. The driver picked us up at our Airbnb, helped with the luggage and drove us in air conditioned comfort to Podgorica, all the while telling us about sightseeing attractions, castles, palaces and a lot about the hospitality of Albanian people.
Amadeus Palace Hotel and Casino
On the way out of Tirana, close to the airport exit, a majestic building like a royal palace appeared out of nowhere. “What is that?” Was my immediate question. Our driver proudly announced that it was the residence of Albanian’s only billionaire Samir Mane, which turned out to be not the case. It actually turned out to be the pipe dream of a rich real estate developer couple that started constructing what was to become the Amadeus Palace Hotel and Casino.
A giant gold and marble edifice for the super rich, that started construction around 2012. Amadeus Palace is an architectural puzzle. It does not fit into one particular style, it fuses elements of neo-Baroque, oriental influences with neoclassical elements, creating a theatrical semblance of imperial exaggeration; a Disney World caught inside of a clover highway system. On the roof stands a massive statue of Albania’s national hero Gjergj Kastrioti, commonly known as Skanderbeg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKtfDR5JdD8
It may never be finished since latest news articles in 2026 state that recent construction bills are delinquent and no request for reactions have been supplied.
We offered our driver a lunch at a roadside restaurant where we re-discovered one of our favorite veal meals from our St.Maarten/St.Martin days in the Caribbean.
The trip up north also led us by Lake Shkoder, the largest lake in the Balkans with a summer surface of 370 square kilometers and a winter surface of 530 square kilometers thanks to the seasonal rains.
Albania is not just a tourist destination, it’s a story waiting to be discovered and we just did.
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