Essential Durres info for budget slow travelers

Durres is Albania’s second largest city, and largest coastal city. It’s easy to reach in a country where public transportation still has challenges despite its European location. Durres is a beach destination more affordable than European beaches for budget slow travelers like us, who want a break from the Asian travel circuit — especially during shoulder seasons.

Prices won’t stay ‘low’ forever because Albania is embracing capitalism — and foreign investment. Price examples for Durres (and other places) on everything from rental apartments to food prices can be found in this previous post.

Essential Durres info for budget slow travelers

Durres City Overview

The city has Roman ruins smack dab in the middle of modern Durres. An amphitheatre, a trading plaza, the old city wall and ramparts. Group tours often hit these spots on a day tours through the city, but you can find them easily enough yourself. All of these spots are marked on Google maps.

Durres City has a lovely short promenade on the Adriatic Sea, along with a large park. The city has countless cafes, like everywhere in Albania. It’s main streets are lined with more upscale shops and palm trees, which remind me of California.

An unusual spot to explore is the old summer residence of King Zog – a monarch who went into exhile in 1939 when Italy invaded Albania. It’s called “Vila e Zogut” or “King Zog Villa” on Google maps. It’s been abandoned and looted, but it’s fun to explore for a 3 euro or 300 Albanian lek entry fee. The views from the ruins, however, are priceless.

You could stay in the city and have enough to keep you busy and amused. However, we opted to visit the city now and then, and stay on the beach.

Durres Beach Overview

When we stayed in mid-September to mid-October 2025 (shoulder season), the jogging and bike path along the beach was completed (Google Earth hadn’t been updated to reflect this yet). It’s a lovely softer pathway that goes the entire length of the beach, adjacent to the traditional concrete walkway.

A video tour of our Airbnb rental in Durres two blocks from the beach can be found in this previous post.

A beach umbrella and two lounge chairs were discounted from 5 euros (500 lek) to 3 euros (300 lek) by the time late September rolled around and most tourists left.

By early October, dump trucks started to bring sand onto small sections of the beach; you can still relax in chairs and enjoy the warm sun. The extra sand is needed to fight beach erosion each winter, at strategic spots along the three mile beach.

Restaurants on the roadway away from the beach are less expensive than the beachfront eateries.

And for shoulder season budget travelers who need warmer clothing: look for thrift shops off the main beach road. Unlike in the rest of Europe, you won’t find any Humana stores in Durres (yet).

Durres public transportation

The Durres-Plepa bus runs from Plepa (just south of Durres) into Durres City. It gets crowded, as it’s the only public transit line. The fare is 40 lek (.40 euros), and you buy the ticket from the conductor.

The bus runs approximately every 10 to 15 minutes in summer months, and every 20 minutes during shoulder seasons. I was out walking and saw them running by 6:00 a.m., during shoulder season, but they stop at 8:30 – 9:00 p.m. during shoulder season. (They run later in the summer time.)

Your other options are taxis (super expensive — 1,100 to 1,500 lek (11 to 15 euros), walking, or renting a bicycle. Uber is non-existent. There are other taxi apps, but they are not any cheaper and you need an Albanian SIM/phone number with most of them.

Durres is easy to reach from Tirana

Durres is the easiest beach destination to reach coming from the capital Tirana. By car, it’s only 30 to 45 minutes. Taxis will charge 30-35 euros. By regional bus, it’s about 45 minutes from the western edge of Tirana (the South and North Bus Terminal) to the Durres city bus station for 2 euros. If you’re starting in the center of Tirana, then add a city bus on that end, including another 45 minutes and another .40 euros.

The schedule is on this site: etransport.al. However, Albania still has public transport challenges so allow extra time, travel by day, and you might find a translation app to be handy.

Once in Durres at the city bus station (which is a parking lot with no amenities), it’s another 10 to 30 minutes south down the Durres beach road on another city bus for another .40 euros. That bus can be standing room only headed south down the beach road towards Plepa. Get the bus from the starting point if possible, which is on Google maps on Adria Road (Rruga Adria) near Hafiz Podgorica Road (Rruga Hafiz Podgorica).

Wherever you end up in Durres, enjoy the ride because Life is Now!

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