We didn’t hear the best things about Albania’s second-biggest city before visiting, but I’m happy to say that Durrës enchanted us pretty quickly with its many historic buildings and the pretty location by the Adriatic Sea.

That said, the main complaint of other visitors seems to be that the city gets crowded with beach-goers in the summer time. We visited at the end of September, when most tourists were gone, and also focused more on the city centre, as we’re not the biggest fans of overdeveloped beaches.

The varied buildings in the Old Town, on the other hand, gave us an amazing glimpse of the city’s past from Roman times to the Ottoman Era and into the Communist Regime. Here’s everything you need to know to make the best of your visit to Durrës.

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Guided Tours of Durrës

If you’re short on time or just want the company of a knowledgeable local guide while exploring the city, there are tons of guided tours to Durrës available, which might be a good idea if you’re on a day trip from nearby Tirana. Have a look below for some of the best-rated options.

What to Do in Durrës, Albania in One Day

This one-day itinerary should give you a well-rounded introduction to the city, and I’ve tried to include sites from all important eras of Durrës 2,500-year history, starting from ancient times, when it was founded as the Greek Colony Epidamnos.

Apart from the places mentioned here, the Archaeological Museum came highly recommended, but was closed for renovation when we were there. So, while I can’t give you any first-hand information, you might want to check it out once it reopens.

Breakfast Near the Venetian Tower

Like most cities we came across in Albania, Durrës is full of bars and cafés and the ones with the nicest views are located at the southern end of Bulevardi Epidamn, the city’s main shopping boulevard. Our favourite was the Café of the Hotel Bizant, which sits on a terrace overlooking the pretty Veliera Square and the 5th-century Venetian Tower.

The historic tower itself contains an interactive visitor’s centre, where you can learn about the city’s history and culture via VR Goggles and a multimedia art installation. We thought it was a kind of fun, but the price is quite steep for what you get, and the included view from the top isn’t that much better than from the nearby terrace, given the tower’s modest height.

The Historic City Wall and Fatih Mosque

Durrës’ city walls were first built in the 5th century by Emperor Anastasius I., who was actually born here. They once stretched around the entire old city, but only a small part of the western wall remains, and it’s a bit of a jigsaw puzzle of original stones and restored sections.

You can follow the wall north-west from the Venetian Tower along Rruga Anastas Durrsaku. If you turn right at the first opportunity, you’ll come to the historic Fatih Mosque, which we found worth dropping into for the nicely decorated mihrab (prayer niche) and doorways.

The Old Hammam Art Centre

Across Boulevardi Epidamn, tucked behind the modern shops, is the Old Hammam, an Ottoman-era bathhouse that now holds a tiny art centre with rotating exhibitions featuring local artists. The one we saw was quite interesting, but even if you’re not that much into art, I think it’s worth stepping in for the architecture.

There are some information signs explaining how the various rooms were used exactly. You can also listen to recorded conversations recreating the medieval gossip that might have taken place here, which we thought was a fun idea. The entrance is free.

The Roman Amphitheatre

Just a few minutes north up Boulevardi Epidamn, lies one of the more impressive ancient sites that we came across in this part of Albania. The Roman Amphitheatre dates back to the 2nd century AD and once had room for up to 15,000 people.

The excavated stone terraces of one half of the site remain and there are several underlying cells and tunnels to explore. In one of them is a small Byzantine Chapel with mosaics of saints, which was an interesting reminder of how ancient sites were often used quite differently in later times (*Cough* Roman Forum *Cough*). The entrance fee is 300 Lek.

Sheshi Liria Square and Great Mosque

From the theatre, it’s only a short stroll to Durrës’ modern fountain-filled main square, known as Sheshi Liria. At the northern end sits the city’s main theatre, while the red building at the southern end is the city hall. Directly to the east of the latter is a tiny remaining bit of the Ottoman-era city wall.

The Great Mosque sits at the western end of the square, and even though it’s a modern reconstruction (the original was destroyed during communist times), it’s worth to take a quick look inside for the beautifully-painted domed ceiling.

The area around the square is full of cafés and bars that are good for a short break and caffeine fix before continuing. We can recommend the cozy Sophie Café at the corner of Bulevardi Dyrrah and Rruga Varoshi north-east of the square.

The ‘Peeping Tourist’ Museum

This small private museum behind the theatre is one of Durrës’ newer attractions, and we found it super fascinating. The focus is both on the day-to-day life in communist Albania and on the early tourism initiatives of the Hoxha regime. There’s a recreated 1970s living room and tons of old-style tourist brochures and photographs.

The young woman who guided us through the museum did an excellent job of explaining some of the more bizarre state rules for foreigners. For instance, long-haired male visitors to Albania would have to cut their hair and shave off their beards, so they wouldn’t look too unconventional. I would have been unrecognizable afterwards 😂.

She also demonstrated how the hotel rooms were bugged, as the paranoid Albanian government basically assumed everyone to be a foreign spy. The visit also includes a short video, which is shown in a former civilian bunker on the grounds (which was only ever used for drills) and a glass of Rakı or Mountain Tea in the pretty backyard.

The entrance fee was 500 Lek, which we thought very reasonable for what we got. You can book a visit on their website or just drop by like we did, but in that case you might have to wait for a few minutes if someone else is getting a tour at the moment.

The Byzantine Forum

The old forum might not be as impressive as the Roman Amphitheatre, but it used to be the most important square in the city for centuries, so it’s worth walking a short detour to check out the overgrown remains of the marble floor and the few Corinthian pillars that are still standing.

The circular elevation in the centre of the forum is speculated by some people to be the starting point of the ancient Via Egnatia, which connected the Adriatic Sea with Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul).

To the south-east of the forum, next and partly underneath the modern building, you can see the remains of the Roman Baths, although only a few foundational walls remain. The forum is directly to the west of the ‘Peeping Tourist’ Museum

The Durrës Old Doors Trail

If you still have some energy left, you can follow at least part of the Old Doors Trail, which (you guessed it) leads to some interesting doorways of historic buildings in the city centre. There are signboards explaining the history of the respective buildings and woven wool recreations of the doors by local artists.

While it might seem like a very specific theme for a tourist trail, we found that it lead through some nice residential parts of the city, which we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. You can find a map of the trail at the north-eastern corner of the theatre building.

King Zog’s Villa

This abandoned villa sitting on a hill to the west of the city centre was probably my favourite sight in Durrës. It was originally built in 1927 for King Zog I., who reigned Albania in the 20s and 30s, and changed hands several times, at one time also serving as a residence for Communist president Enver Hoxha.

Nowadays, you can visit the villa to explore the crumbling interior and overgrown gardens. There are some really beautiful architectural details and some hidden passageways and rooms, including a secret observation room above the grand dining hall.

One of the coolest features is that you can climb all the way to the top of the building’s highest tower and have a great view of the bay and city centre. At the entrance, a guy will collect a fee of 300 Lek, which we thought more than fair for this awesome place.

You can get to the villa by following the streets up the hill through the residential quarters to the west of the New Mosque. After visiting the Villa, you can make your way back down to the city centre or to the beach promenade for some well deserved dinner.

Other Things to Do in Durrës

Durrës Beach

The beach in Durrës is said to be one of the most famous and popular ones in Albania, although I have to admit that I didn’t quite understand why. There are certainly much prettier and quieter ones in the country.

The seemingly endless Durrës Beach, which starts to the south of the harbour, was far too packed with umbrellas and sun loungers for our taste, and the mass of huge hotels lining the promenade didn’t help either.

Sill, if you don’t mind the huge overdevelopment and just want to take a short swim in the Adriatic Sea, you should check it out. We found that the beach got slightly quieter the farther south we went, but quiet is still relative here.

Minor Sights in the City Centre

If you have some more time to spend in Durrës, there are some smaller sights, which I wouldn’t consider must-sees, but which we still found interesting to check out.

One of them is the Martyr’s Monument from the 1970s, which commemorates the Communist Partisans who fought the Italian Fascists during WW2. There’s a socialist realist mosaic and a colonnaded walkway that contains lots of memorial plaques with the names and faces of martyrs. The monument lies to the north-west of the city centre at the western end of Rruge e Dëshmorëve.

I also found the Orthodox Cathedral of Apostle Paul and Saint Asteios at the southern end of the city centre worth checking out. Just across the road is the former Durrës headquarters of the Bank of Albania, which we found to be one of the prettiest buildings in town. Both buildings can be found a few hundred metres east of the Venetian Tower.

Map of Durrës

All of the sights mentioned in my itinerary can be found in this map of Durrës.