Durres
Durrës kept the largest Roman amphitheatre in the Balkans under its houses until the 1960s. Twenty thousand seats and a Byzantine forum, half an hour from Tirana.
Durres in a nutshell
Durres: what to expect
What follows sits on 93,000+ stops planned in Albania on Stippl.
Durrës was founded as Epidamnos around 627 BC and it is one of the oldest cities on the Adriatic. The Roman amphitheatre is the largest in the Balkans, built for about twenty thousand people, and it sits half-excavated among ordinary houses because the city grew over it and it was only found again in 1966. The Archaeological Museum holds the country's biggest collection, the Venetian tower anchors the surviving wall, and the beach strip south of the port is the busiest sand in Albania.
Durrës is the only Albanian coastal destination where most stays are a single night. Sarandë, Ksamil, Himarë and Vlorë all sit at two, and Durrës behaves like an inland transit town rather than the beach city it looks like on a map. It has exactly one real relationship, Vlorë up the coast, and one real opposite: Theth in the mountains, the single pairing in the country that reads below chance from both directions.
One night, taken between Tirana and the coast, which is what almost everyone does with it. The motorway takes thirty minutes and there is a train as well. Walk the Vollga at dusk when the whole city does, and swim off the rocks at Currila rather than on the strip if you want clearer water. Do not plan a Riviera holiday around Durrës, because the Ionian is a different trip, and do not come here in August looking for quiet.
Who Durres is for
History travellers
for the amphitheatre and the largest archaeological collection in the country
A night on the way south
which is what our data says most people use it for
Budget beach travellers.
The strip is cheap and enormous
Ferry passengers
to or from Italy
Not for a Riviera holiday.
The Ionian destinations are a different trip and our data shows it, Sarandë and Ksamil both sit below this destination's floor
Not quiet in August
it is the busiest beach in the country. It is the busiest beach in the country
When to go to Durres
Mild and wet
November–March
115–186 mm, and the city functions normally.
Opening
April–May
warm and dry, and the beach still empty.
Peak
June–August
57.5% of planned starts, and the busiest sand in Albania.
The good window
September
15.4% of starts, warm sea, 116 mm.
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Things to do in Durres
Photo by Kirsten C. Staring via Pexels
Photo by Eva Hamitaj via PexelsThe Roman amphitheatre.
The largest in the Balkans, built for around 20,000 people in the 2nd century, lost under the growing city and only rediscovered in the 1960s, which is why it sits half-excavated among apartment blocks. A Byzantine chapel with wall mosaics survives inside it
The Archaeological Museum
holding Albania's largest archaeological collection, on the waterfront beside the Byzantine walls
The Venetian Tower
the round tower anchoring the surviving city wall, rebuilt by Venice in the 15th century and now partly a bar
The Byzantine Forum
a circular colonnaded plaza of the 5th or 6th century, open and free in the middle of the street grid
The Fatih Mosque of 1503
among the oldest surviving Ottoman buildings in Albania
The Vollga at dusk
when the whole city walks it
The neighbourhoods of Durres
Old Town & Amphitheatre Quarter
history
The historic core: the Roman amphitheatre embedded among residential blocks, the Archaeological Museum, the Byzantine Forum, the Venetian Tower, the 1503 Fatih Mosque and a stretch of medieval wall, all flat and walkable in an afternoon
The largest Roman amphitheatre in the Balkans, half-excavated among flats.
Plazhi i Durrësit (beach strip)
beach stays
Kilometres of sand south of the port behind a wall of hotels and beach bars. Albania's busiest beach, and where almost all the accommodation is
Kilometres of sand behind a wall of hotels, and Albania's busiest beach.
Currila
quiet stays
The rocky coast north of the harbour where the water clears and deepens. Cliff-top restaurants, small coves and the city's more expensive hotels
Rocky coves north of the harbour where the water clears and deepens.
Seafront Promenade (Vollga)
evenings
The waterfront boulevard between the old town and the beach strip: palms, cafes, ice-cream counters and seafood restaurants, and where the city does its evening xhiro
The waterfront the whole city walks at dusk, lined with seafood and ice cream.
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Where to stay in Durres
Almost all of it is on the beach strip, and almost all of it is family-run villas and mid-rise hotels rather than chains
Old Town & Amphitheatre Quarter
The historic core: the Roman amphitheatre embedded among residential blocks, the Archaeological Museum, the Byzantine Forum, the Venetian Tower, the 1503 Fatih Mosque and a stretch of medieval wall, all flat and walkable in an afternoon
Plazhi i Durrësit (beach strip)
Kilometres of sand south of the port behind a wall of hotels and beach bars. Albania's busiest beach, and where almost all the accommodation is
Currila
The rocky coast north of the harbour where the water clears and deepens. Cliff-top restaurants, small coves and the city's more expensive hotels
Seafront Promenade (Vollga)
The waterfront boulevard between the old town and the beach strip: palms, cafes, ice-cream counters and seafood restaurants, and where the city does its evening xhiro
What to eat in Durres
Flaky filo pastry with spinach and cheese, meat and onion, or pumpkin
Adriatic seafood over pasta, reflecting the city's Italian influence
Adriatic fish soup
City ice-cream institution operating since the 1930s
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Durres customs and what not to do
The *xhiro* is on the Vollga
is the city's fixed ritual
2,600 years and counting
which is longer than anywhere else in Albania
Daily budget in Durres
Budget
€40–55
Dorm bed or basic guesthouse, buses and furgons, market food plus a €5–10 restaurant meal, free hikes and beaches
Mid-range
€90–130
Private room or small hotel, a share of a hire car, restaurant meals, paid sunbeds, entry fees and a boat trip
High-end
€200+
Boutique hotel or Riviera resort, private transfers or an automatic hire car, beach clubs, guided treks
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Fun facts about Durres
The amphitheatre is the largest in the Balkans and was lost for centuries. The city built over it and it was only rediscovered in the 1960s, which is why houses stand on its rim
Founded around 627 BC as Epidamnos, later the Roman Dyrrachium and the western terminus of the Via Egnatia, the road to Constantinople started here
The pine forest behind the old beach was planted under the communist regime to hold the coastline
Albania's second city ranks tenth in planned stops, roughly level with Theth, a mountain village of a few hundred people. This country is travelled by appeal, not by population
Durrës and Theth are the only Albanian pair that reads below 1.0 from both directions. 0.81 measured from each side independently, the Adriatic resort and the Alps are effectively mutually exclusive
Local tips for Durres
The easiest day trip
Durrës is the easiest day trip from Tirana in the country, thirty to forty minutes by road
A flat old town
The old town is flat and compact, which none of Albania's other historic centres is
The port runs to Italy
and sits beside the old town
A transit town
But easy access is what caps the stay. A one-night typical stay and a 52.9% one-night share, the profile of a transit town rather than a beach destination
Safe, petty theft aside
Albania is consistently reported as safe for visitors, petty theft aside
August crowds
The beach strip is crowded in August and the road behind it carries heavy summer traffic
Durres questions, answered
Only if the timing suits it. Durres carries 3.74% of everything planned in Albania on Stippl, near the bottom of the list, because most routes head straight past it to the south. Put it into Stippl as a morning out of Tirana rather than a night of its own.
One, or none at all. Travellers planning Durres on Stippl give it 1 night, the only place on the Albanian coast where that is true, because the Riviera two hours further south is what people are actually driving towards.
Easily, and plenty do: 11.8% of Durres stops planned on Stippl are same-day. It is thirty to forty minutes by road from the capital, less than the wait for a bus heading anywhere further. Go for the amphitheatre and the sea air and be back for dinner.
For convenience and price, yes. For the water and the setting, no: the Riviera two hours south is a different sea entirely, clear where this is silty and backed by mountains rather than apartment blocks. Durres beach is where Tirana goes on a hot Sunday, and on those terms it works.
The largest in the Balkans, and only half dug out, so it sits in a hollow with apartment blocks looking down into it and a small Byzantine chapel with mosaics set into one wall. It takes half an hour to walk and it is the one thing here that nowhere else in Albania has.
They sit several kilometres apart, so decide before you book a bed. The old town has the amphitheatre, the museum and the Venetian tower and almost no sand; the beach strip is hotels and restaurants and almost no history. A taxi between the two is short and cheap.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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