3 Days in Durrës: My Tried and Tested Itinerary

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Planning 3 days in Durrës and quietly worried you’ll run out of things to do by lunchtime on day two?

I had exactly that worry before my last trip.

I’d written this city off years ago and genuinely didn’t think it could fill three days.

I was wrong.

I’ve lived in Albania since 2017, and I spent five days here working out what’s actually worth your time and what isn’t.

This is what I’d hand a friend with three days, no car and a mix of interests.

At a glance

Nights: 2 to 3
Best time to go: May, June, September or October
Car needed: not for days one and two, only for day three
Getting here: roughly 40 minutes from the capital, every option in my tirana to durres guide

2-3 days is enough to properly get under this city’s skin.

But you could technically just spend 1 night here and move onto your next destination to be honest.

Just don’t cram in more than this or you’ll rush the bits that deserve your time!

Day 1: The old town and the Roman ruins

Spend your first day on foot in the centre.

You can realistically see everything here in a single day.

Start at King Zog’s Villa

Go here first, and go early.

Looking out through a large circular window opening in King Zog's Villa across pine trees to the city of Durrës, the port and the Adriatic beyond.

The Royal Villa sits up on Kodër Vilë hill.

King Zog I finished it as a summer palace around 1937, fled two years later when Italy invaded, and it went on to serve as an Italian occupation residence and then a communist state guesthouse that hosted Khrushchev.

It was looted in the 1997 unrest and has sat mostly abandoned since.

I paid the guard 300 lek at the gate and spent two hours inside just photographing it.

It was my favourite thing in the entire city.

Be warned, it closes at random with no notice, which is exactly why it goes first in your day rather than last.

The amphitheatre

Now walk down into the centre.

The amphitheatre is the largest Roman one in the Balkans, built in the early 2nd century AD under Emperor Trajan, seating around 20,000 people and buried until 1966.

Here’s my honest take though. I paid 300 lek, spent twenty minutes and found it a little underwhelming.

It sits surrounded by apartment blocks, so you can get a decent look at it from above without paying.

Go inside if you love Roman history. Otherwise look down at it and keep your money.

The castle, the forum and the rest of the centre

Pale stone bell tower with arched openings and a cross on top, rising against a clear blue sky with palm fronds in the corner of the frame.

The Archaeological Museum in Durrës, a long modern building with tall square columns and a red Albanian flag, palm trees and steps in front.

The Angevin Watchtower is a two minute climb and you get views over the harbour and out to the Adriatic. The Venetian Tower next to it is 15th century and has been restored into Albania’s first Heritage Interpretation Centre, so there’s a proper interior to visit.

The Byzantine Forum is a scatter of Corinthian columns from the late 6th century wedged between apartment blocks. Free, ten minutes, and it sums this city up perfectly.

If the ruins leave you wanting context, the Archaeological Museum is the largest in Albania and it’s right on the seafront.

Byzantine mosaic on a gold ground showing a haloed figure in robes with Greek lettering beside the head, the tiles worn and patched in places.

There’s more of it in my full list of things to do in durres.

Lunch, the promenade and the evening

Eat at Liriada, which is my favourite restaurant I went to in the city.

A full traditional spread with drinks came to around 20 euro for two of us.

The rest of my picks are in durres restaurants.

The Vollga promenade in Durrës, a wide paved walkway lined with tall palm trees running beside the beach, with white apartment towers along the seafront.

Then walk the Vollga promenade, where beach-side cafés run the whole length and it’s lovely at golden hour.

You can swim off the central beach but I wouldn’t. More on that tomorrow.

Finish at the town square as it gets dark, when locals are out doing their xhiro, the traditional evening stroll. It’s one of my favourite things about Albanian city life and it costs nothing.

Day 2: A proper beach day at Currila

Here’s where I have to be honest with you.

The central beach in Durrës is not good. It’s polluted and it’s just not a nice place to swim.

So head to Currila Beach instead, over by the old port.

Rows of straw umbrellas and sunbeds on the sand at a Durrës beach, with flat turquoise water stretching out beyond and a few swimmers in the shallows.

Sunbeds run around 1,000 lek for two with an umbrella, and there are beach bars along the front.

Here’s a tip most visitors miss.

Keep walking past the main stretch and you’ll find small coves with nothing on them at all.

No sunbeds, no bars, nothing. Worth the walk if you want your own spot for an hour.

A lot of Albanians head to Golem instead, a bit further out of the city.

It’s a solid alternative though I personally found Currila prettier, and I’ve compared them all in my guide to the beaches in durres.

An honest warning on both.

These are decent beaches but they are not Albanian Riviera standard.

If beaches are the whole point of your trip, save those days for Saranda.

Head back into town at around 3.30pm and do a cooking class with Erti.

Round glass dish of bamje, the Albanian okra stew, in a deep red tomato sauce with sliced onion and whole okra pods.

You’ll get to learn how to make incredible Albanian dishes and that will be your dinner sorted!

It’s four hours from market stall to plate, and I’ve written the whole thing up in my albania cooking class review.

Book the Durrës cooking class here

Afterwards finish with a cocktail at Oborri, which is the spot I kept coming back to.

Day 3: The Cape Rodoni day trip

Save the best for last.

Aerial view of a green wooded headland jutting into calm turquoise water, with a scattering of white houses along the coast road below.

Cape Rodoni is one of my favourite places in the entire country.

There’s a castle sitting right out on the cape, good beaches and a small church.

You’ll want a car or a taxi for this one, and it’s comfortably doable in half a day, which leaves you an afternoon back in the city.

If you’d rather stay closer there are other good daytrips from durres worth considering.

What if you only have two days?

Drop day three.

Keep the old town and the Currila beach day, because those two cover what makes Durrës worth coming to at all.

What I’d add with a fourth day

Two things I didn’t manage and I’m annoyed about both.

Kepi i Palit, the second cape near the city, which a local recommended to me and I never reached.

And a wine tasting and vineyard tour. I tasted local Durrës wine at the cooking class and it was great, so a proper vineyard trip went straight onto my list. The one I’d book runs about five hours through hillside vineyards and a winery cellar, then out on a boat across a forest lake while you taste four wines made from native Albanian grapes.

Book the Durrës wine tasting and vineyard tour here

Where to base yourself

I stayed up near King Zog’s Villa and I’d do it again, though it’s a hill climb. Around 50 euro a night with breakfast.

My full breakdown of where to stay in durres covers the two places I actually booked and which suits which kind of traveller.

Before you go

If you’re still choosing dates, the best time to visit durres is shoulder season, not August. I went in 35°C heat and wouldn’t do it again.

And if you’re not yet sold on the city at all, I’ve been honest about whether is durres worth visiting, including the parts I don’t rate.

Are you planning 3 days in Durrës?

Tell me in the comments and I’ll help you tweak it!

3 Days in Durrës: My Tried and Tested Itinerary

At a glance