3 hours
Daily Tour
Unlimited
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See the highlights of Tirana on a tour that features a guided walk through the city center. In this tour, you will discover the uniqueness of a city that is considered to be one of the most colorful capitals of Europe.
Tirana, situated in the heart of Albania, surrounded by mountains, lakes, and greenery, gives you the idea of a calm city that nothing ever happens. But once you get in Tirana, you feel the buzz of the cars from miles away, you hear people walking and chatting, and coffee shops full of people who seem to have a story, a secret, and a thought they never said out loud. Then as you walk around Tirana, you will see a city filled with street art everywhere you step on, and no one bothers to erase them, as they represent the youth, the tourists, and the artists.
The highlights of Tirana tour will give you an insight into the history of Tirana. We will take you to walk on Scanderbeg Square, which is located in the heart of the city, with the statue of a hero that will always overlook his country proudly to see how far has it come. The Scanderbeg square is one of the main highlights of Tirana. It is a place where everyone goes to meet someone or a place of orientation. The square consists of two parts, one made of stone tiles that come from each corner of Albania, and the other one is the green part, where you can sit and rest during the hot summer days.
From Scanderbeg Square you can see the clock-tower build during the Ottoman Era, by the same person who built the Et’hem Bey Mosque that is situated just right beside the clock-tower. Two relics of the past with the same story to tell. They give Tirana a sense of a vintage city that always wants to look modern.
You will learn about the Ottoman past of a city whose tradition hasn’t changed even though it was conquered and invaded for 500 hundred years. You will also discover the Communist Era architecture where you will find out how Enver Hoxha, this man alone isolated a whole country and everyone who did something against his word was sent to internment camps.
In the highlights of the Tirana tour, you will learn the reason why the bunkers were built, how they were built, what happens to them now. Find out how the city changed after the fall of communism, why it is now a colorful city, why the ex-mayor decided to paint the buildings.
Also, we will take you to take a quick look at the National History Museum and you will learn about the significant periods in Albanian history. A three-story building that is divided into parts that show differents periods of a country that suffered oppression but now stands on its feet without the help of anyone.
This tour will not only show you the history of a city, but it will unfold in front of your eyes the story of a whole country. Since the beginning of Albania’s existence. A tour that will show you about the famous Illyrians, how the Albanian language emerged, and how it is a unique language. It will tell you the story that you only see in movies. You probably have seen superheroes who save their city from unknown enemies, but this story includes a man, saving a country with a few people from a great threat, the Ottoman Empire. A man and his soldiers against a whole empire.
What is a better reason to book the highlights of Tirana tour?
The first thing you’ll hear about on this tour is how Albania changed in 1991, with so much happening in such a short time. As you cross the street with your guide you’ll find yourself in the middle of Scanderbeg Square. The square was named after an important Albanian figure of the 15th century, who successfully resisted Ottoman invasion for 25 years.
As you look around the square you’ll see an interesting complex of building which reflect the periods that have influenced Tirana’s architecture. Only the Clock Tower and Et'hem Bey Mosque remain as reminders of the city’s Ottoman past. The communist government left its own footprint by destroying the Ottoman Bazaar and building the new Opera and Ballet House on the site.
The next stop on the itinerary is Et'hem Bey Mosque, where you’ll learn about the difficulties faced by the clergy, especially after 1967 when freedom of religious expression was prohibited. The mosque was built in 1793 by Et'hem Bey in typical Turkish style.
Continue on your walk to King Zog’s Palace, National Martyrs Boulevard, and the former residential quarter for Communist party leaders.
At the end of the walking tour you’ll visit the National History Museum to learn about the history of Albanians, and this is where the tour ends as well.
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