Photos from Durrës
+1Gusto di Mare & Sushi Timerestaurant
+1Durrës Waterfront Promenadeattraction
+1+1Current conditions and the practical reference material that helps turn the saved places into a trip.
7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).
About 76% of the year's rain falls in these months. Typical highs around 16°C, lows around 12°C.
Typical highs around 24°C, lows around 20°C. About 49mm of rain a month.
Public holidays from Nager.Date.
Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.
Operators and modes are aggregated from individual transit-agency GTFS feeds. Route classifications come from each feed’s route type codes.
Durrës is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest continuously inhabited cities, with roughly 2,500 years of recorded history. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of the Erzen and Ishëm at the southeastern corner of the Adriatic Sea. Durrës's climate is profoundly influenced by a seasonal Mediterranean climate.
The links below support the changing or licensed reference material on this page. Personal notes and ordinary geographic facts are not footnoted individually.
Monthly highs, lows, rainfall — long-term averages, NASA POWER.
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My Durres travel guide. The Roman amphitheatre, the long Adriatic beach, getting in from Tirana, where to stay, and where to eat.
Durres is the beach end of an Albania trip, the country's main seaside town, with one of the biggest Roman amphitheatres in the Balkans sitting right in the middle of it. It is 40 minutes from Tirana, so it is an easy add. Here's how I'd fit it in.
Planning brief
Durres is a port city on the Adriatic coast of Albania, the country's second city and its main beach town. It pairs an ancient core, including one of the largest Roman amphitheatres in the Balkans, with a long sandy beach strip. Direct buses connect it with Tirana in about 40 minutes.
The Roman amphitheatre and old core sit north of the long hotel-and-beach strip.
Durres is about 40 minutes from the Albanian capital, with frequent buses and minibuses between them.
Durres has been a port since antiquity, and the Roman amphitheatre sits right in the modern town, alongside a Venetian tower and an archaeology museum.
The beach strip is busy and lively in summer and quiet off-season. Time the trip to the kind of visit you want.
Durres sits about 40 minutes from Tirana, Albania's capital, by road, with frequent buses and furgon minibuses linking the two. Tirana International Airport is the nearest airport, roughly 30 to 40 minutes away.
Durres is also a working ferry port, with services across the Adriatic to Italy. The city itself is walkable along the shore and the old core, with the beach strip stretching south.
For a beach stay, base along the beach strip south of the center, where most of the hotels sit close to the sand. For the historic sights and a quick Tirana connection, the old core near the port and the amphitheatre is the more central choice.
The atlas does not yet carry hotel pins for Durres, so book on the usual sites and read recent reviews for the property.
The standout sight is the Durres Amphitheatre, a Roman arena built into a hillside in the second century, one of the largest in the Balkans and sitting right in the modern town. Nearby, the round Venetian Tower survives from the medieval walls, the Durrës Byzantine Forum hints at the older city underneath the modern grid, and the archaeology museum along the seafront holds finds from the city's long history as a Greek and Roman port.
The beach is the other half of Durres, a long run of sand stretching south of the center, lined with hotels, cafes, and beach clubs. The Durrës Waterfront Promenade is the easy in-between: a place to walk the shore and see the port side of the city. It is busy and lively through the summer and quiet off-season.
Durres eats on Adriatic and Albanian cooking: grilled fish and seafood from the port, Italian-influenced pasta and pizza, and grilled meats.
| Spot | What it is |
|---|---|
| Gusto di Mare & Sushi Time | Seafood appetizers and sushi by the waterfront |
| Westwood Meathouse | A grill and steakhouse |
| Santa Wine Durrës | A wine-focused restaurant |
| Pastarella | A casual Italian spot |
