Description - What to expect

Start your Tirana sightseeing experience with a convenient pick-up from your hotel and a short drive to the Bunk’ Art Museum. Listen to your guide and uncover the fascinating history of this unknown Balkan country. The massive ex–nuclear bunker, was built to accommodate Communist leader Hoxha and his associates in the event of an attack.

Next, head for some local qofte (meatballs) complete with yogurt sauce, potato chips, and local beer, a combination of which comprises Tirana’s typical street food. After enjoying your lunch walk towards Skanderbeg Square and get to know about the historical buildings such as the Et’hem Bey Mosque and the clock tower, which surround the main square of Tirana.

Then, enter the National Gallery of Arts, which is home to socialist and realist art. See powerful images which provide an insight into how “realistic” art was used to create propaganda throughout history. You can also view the pyramid, the former Enver Hoxha Museum, whose once-white-marble walls are now decaying.

Have a break to rest and try some raki which locals are proud of or some optional coffee. Then walk through the Blloku area, to discover the home of Enver Hoxha and other senior members of his regime. Next stop at the Post Blloku Memorial, which honors former political prisoners, in an area that was once forbidden to enter.

Your final stop for this Tirana sightseeing is BunkArt 2. This museum reconstructs the history of the Albanian Ministry of Internal Affairs from 1912 to 1991 and reveals the secrets of “Sigurimi”, the political police that was the harsh persecution weapon used by the regime of Enver Hoxha. It is the first major video museum exhibition dedicated to the victims of the communist era.