Tirana City Tour with Dajti Cable Car Ride from Durres

Skanderbeg Square, the heart of Tirana

Every Tirana city tour starts at Skanderbeg Square, and so does ours. This vast pedestrian square, repaved in 2017 with stone from every region of Albania, is named after the national hero whose equestrian statue stands at its centre. Around the edges you see the layers of the city in one sweep: the Italian-designed ministry buildings from the 1930s, the National History Museum with its huge mosaic facade, the Opera, the Palace of Culture and the Et'hem Bey Mosque with the Clock Tower beside it.

Your guide uses the square to explain the story of Albania, from Ottoman rule to independence, the communist decades and the colourful rebirth of the capital. The square is open all the time and free to walk, so the question is not whether Skanderbeg Square is worth visiting but how to understand what you are looking at, which is exactly what the guided walk gives you. Plan on around thirty minutes here, including photo time with the statue and the mosque.

Et'hem Bey Mosque

On the corner of Skanderbeg Square stands the small Et'hem Bey Mosque, one of the oldest buildings in Tirana. Construction began in 1791 and finished in the 1820s, and its slender minaret and painted portico make it the most photographed building in the city. What surprises visitors most are the frescoes: trees, waterfalls and bridges painted on the walls and ceiling, which is rare in Islamic art and found in few other mosques in the world.

The mosque was closed for worship under the communist regime and famously reopened in 1991, when thousands of people entered without permission and the authorities did not intervene, a turning point in the country's return to religious freedom. Outside prayer times visitors may enter respectfully, shoes off and shoulders covered; your guide tells you when it is possible. Together with the adjacent Clock Tower it makes a lovely corner of old Tirana among all the new towers.

The Pyramid of Tirana and the city centre walk

A short walk from the square along the Lana river brings you to the Pyramid of Tirana, the city's strangest and most talked-about building. Opened in 1988 as a museum to the former dictator, it later served as a conference centre, a broadcasting base and a youth hangout, and in 2023 it was reborn as a technology and education hub with white stairs running up its sloping sides so that anyone can climb to the top. From the summit you get a free view over the boulevard and the mountains.

The guided walk through central Tirana also passes the government buildings on the main boulevard, the colourful apartment facades that became the symbol of the city's renewal, and the lively streets around the centre where cafés fill the pavements. The walk lasts about two hours in total and is mostly flat, so comfortable shoes are enough. Your guide answers the questions people usually ask about Tirana: is it safe, where to eat and what to see on a second visit.

Dajti Express cable car

After the city walk you are driven about twenty minutes east to the lower station of the Dajti Express, the cable car that climbs Dajti Mountain, the green wall rising behind Tirana. The ride is about 4.6 km long and takes around fifteen minutes, gliding above forest, farm plots and rocky slopes while the city spreads out below. It is the most popular way to reach Dajti National Park and the only one that needs no hiking.

Our driver takes you to the station and waits while you ride; the round-trip Dajti cable car ticket is bought on site, so bring some cash or a card. Cabins hold a few people each and run continuously. The cable car usually rests one weekday for maintenance and can pause in strong wind, so if the ride is not possible on your day the guide uses the time in Tirana instead. The lower station is about 20 minutes from the centre by car.

Dajti Mountain viewpoint

At the top station, around 1,000 metres above sea level, the air is noticeably cooler and the view takes in the whole of Tirana, the plain stretching toward Durres and, on clear days, the Adriatic Sea. This is the picture most visitors come for: the capital framed by mountains with the cable towers running down the slope below you. There are short walking paths, a wooden lookout, a small adventure park and a restaurant with a terrace.

You have free time at the summit to take photos, breathe the mountain air and, if you wish, have a snack or lunch at your own expense before riding back down. Many people say the Dajti Mountain cable car is the best thing to do in Tirana, and after the city walk it balances the day nicely between history and nature. From the lower station it is about an hour's drive back to Durres or Golem, with drop-off at your hotel by mid-afternoon.