The best bars and cafés Albania

Timetable

Coffee is drunk all day long, from 8am in the morning. But the terraces can be busy for a long time. In Tirana, the summer months offer urban scenes that are a pleasure to observe. Keeping up with the locals, strolling the avenues, parks and café terraces from 7pm when the heat dies down, you'll share in the Mediterranean activity of strolling and chatting in the evening. Younger people call these convivial evenings Xhiro.

Budget & Tips

An espresso, often very good thanks to the Italian influence, will cost you between 70 and 90 lek, or less than €1. A pint of local Birra Tirana fluctuates between €2 and €3, and a bottle of local wine remains in the same price range.

Another tip we often repeat: there are coins in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 and bills in denominations of 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 5,000 lek, but it's important to keep small denominations for everyday payments. You need to keep a few "large" bills for paying at restaurants or hotels, and don't forget that many establishments don't (or don't prefer to) take credit cards.

Age restrictions

Alcohol, as elsewhere, is still prohibited for those under 18, although in practice it is a little more flexible.

What's very local

As in neighboring Balkan countries, you may be invited to drink raki, either in establishments or in local homes. Distilled from grapes, plums and even blackberries, commercial raki contains around 40% alcohol... although you may find stronger, homemade versions. Much lower in alcohol content, beer(birra) production in Albania is dominated by the two national brands Birra Tirana and Birra Korça, brown or amber lagers that are not bad without being exceptional.

Watch your consumption, however. This is another local custom that's not to be trifled with. While alcohol consumption is not a problem in this Muslim-majority country, alcoholism is frowned upon and little tolerated. In fact, it's rare to see Albanians inebriated on the streets. Self-control is the rule everywhere.

Kids

Children are accepted and tolerated in cafes and some bars in Tirana and throughout the country.