Vogue: Tirana has transformed into a lively, affordable destination

The prestigious world-known magazine ‘Vogue’ has dedicated a very good article about Tirana.

The author Alia Akkam visited the capital of Albania and enjoyed all the good things that Tirana offers and has really captured the spirit of the capital. “The positive and carefree vibe is palpable, and it is echoed in restaurants, bars, and cafés throughout the neighborhood and across Tirana. Invitingly peculiar, this former stronghold of Communism is lively and affordable, its residents open and friendly”, writes Akkam.

Photo: Alamy

This article presents the highlights of the city; museums, restaurants, bars and friendly people.

Everyone who visits Tirana can’t leave without experiencing the busy nightlife of Blloku. “There is nowhere to sit at the roomy Radio in Tirana, the capital of Albania. It’s a Thursday night, a New Orleans–style band is cranking out swing tunes, and the tables, surrounded by a vintage stash of the bar’s namesake electronic contraption, are filled with revelers sipping Aperol Spritzes.”

Tirana it’s probably the most unique capital city in the Balkan region due its turbulent history.

“Interest in Balkan countries has soared significantly in recent years, with curious travelers now regularly seeking out the serenity of the Adriatic Sea and medieval, stone-walled cities like Dubrovnik in Croatia and Kotor in Montenegro. Tirana does not embody such traditional, picturesque allure. Instead, it impresses as a soulful, urban hub with a strong personality shaped by a turbulent history. Much like Sarajevo remarkably moved past the atrocities of the 1990s to evolve into a thriving Eastern European capital, Albania is looking past its own decades of horror and isolation to the future.”

Photo: Alamy

Delving into this twisted past is essential to understand present-day Tirana, and a prime starting point is the National History Museum on Skanderbeg Square, a chronologically organized trove of archaeological artifacts. Even more gripping is Bunk’Art, one of those covert, nuclear war–proof bunkers on the hillside fringes of Tirana that has been transformed into a museum. Here, in a warren of galleries, wander through Hoxha’s preserved clubby office, and watch a hypnotic video of his funeral. In the city center is the Bunk’Art 2 outpost, a memorial to victims of the Hoxha regime packed with more insightful photographs and documents. It’s fittingly located across the street from House of Leaves. Once the headquarters of Hoxha’s Sigurimi secret police, the petite museum illuminates fascinating surveillance tactics of the era.

Armed with knowledge of Albania’s heritage, one riddled with death, tyranny, and espionage, it perhaps becomes clearer why Tirana is now so convivial, its people so joyous: They are finally living lives of freedom and creativity, inspired and buoyed by the very nations they were forbidden from interacting with for decades. Tirana is not yet a tourist haven, undoubtedly part of its charm, but vacationers are seeing the potential in spending time here.

See full article here: https://www.vogue.com/article/where-to-go-in-tirana-albania