Durres Travel Guide, Albania

Durres, Travel guide – Location

Durres is a beautiful Albanian city located in the central western part of the country on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. The closest cities are Ohrid, Macedonia 73 miles away, and Dubrovnik, Croatia, 103 miles away.

Durres travel guide includes other useful information presented below.

Durres, Travel guide – Geography

The local topography is dominated by the coastal area with long sandy beaches and the surrounding low hills on which the city is set. The elevation varies from the sea level to about 150m in the highest point of the Durres hills. The city is located in a Mediterranean climate area with mild and wet winters and hot and dry summers, a perfect climate for tourists looking for a relaxing vacation on the shores of the clear water Adriatic Sea.

The local hydrographic network is poor with no permanent water flows, the city’s freshwater resources being located underground.

Durres, Travel guide – Flora and Fauna

Due to intensive economic activities in the city and its surroundings little of the original flora and fauna can still be found in Durres. Still, there are plenty recreational green areas here represented by gardens, parks and the beach where tourists can admire species of eucalyptus, figs and the typical maquis vegetation on the shores of the Adriatic.

Fauna is represented by a few species of mammals and reptiles, numerous fish in the waters of the sea and an important number of sea birds both local and migratory.

Durres, Travel guide – Transports

The city is the most important port in Albania and is located not far from the capital city of the country, Tirana, thus having very good transport connections both on land and on water. Tourists can get here by car on the modern motorway linking the city with the capital city, by air arriving on the Tirana International Airport, by train or bus and last but not least by ferry from any other port at the Adriatic Sea.

Within the city tourists can choose to travel by bus which are quite crowded, by taxi or renting a car or a bike. In spite of all these travel options most of the tourists choose to walk in order to better meet with the local flavors of the city.

Durres, Travel guide – Population and Economy

Durres is a city of about 120.000 inhabitants with small communities of Greeks and Italians but still dominated by the number of Albanians. The official language is Albanian but English, Italian and Greek are also widely spoken. As for the religion we can say that Muslims are predominant followed by the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics.

Economically the city is still developing being helped by its strategic location and important human resources available there. Most of the economic activities are related to the local port but we can also find here a growing food industry, manufacturing industry, flourishing commerce, tourism and agriculture. Tourism is playing an important role in the city’s development due to the large number of attractions in town, beautiful and clean beaches which are much appreciated and a good transport infrastructure.

Durres, Travel guide – Cuisine

Traditional cuisine in Durres is strongly influenced by the Italian and Greek one using similar ingredients like fish, lamb, seafood, olive oil, local vegetables and fruits, Mediterranean herbs and more. Some very popular dishes here, usually served for lunch, are the gjellë, a meat stew served with salad and olives, fërgesë which is veal based dish, lemon soup, stuffed peppers or aubergines, byrek which is a cheese and meat pie and many more.

Their local drink is boza, made of fermented maize and wheat and is usually drunk in summer as refreshment.

Desserts are also a very much appreciated here the most common ones being the baklava, kek and halve, served in any of the city’s sweetshops.

Durres offers a large variety of fine restaurants which welcome tourists with delicious traditional dishes as well as international ones. Numerous Italian and Greek restaurants receive important numbers of tourists offering them besides cozy warm atmosphere also an unforgettable gastronomic experience.