Food Tour of Tirana
Love Local Food ? Join our City & Food tour of Tirana to taste the best of Albanian cuisine in some of the most interesting local hidden gems.
Do not hesitage to give us a call. We are an expert team and we are happy to talk to you.
+355 69 27 08 552
goaslocal@gmail.com
This food tour will introduce you to local Tirana and Traditional Albanian cuisine. Tirana is an urban metropolis, full of contrasts in which can easily be noticed the scars from the past and the present. Above all, it is the crossway of different periods of Albanian Modern History.
It is a city where the fine delicate art of the beginning of the 20th century is mixed with the cold rectangular shapes of the communism period. In addition, the modern new buildings are blooming. Furthermore, in this food and city tour, we will discover some of the most interesting parts of the city. Everything combined with a lot of local flavors, interesting stories, and friendly locals.
Hotel Pick Up in Tirana
09:00
After the pick up the first destination of the tour will be one of very few least typical breakfast restaurants, or “Mengjezore”. It is where we will have the chance to taste “Pace” a traditional thick, spicy soup made of cow head or bone marrow. Located at the “Bicycle Market”, a very typical local neighborhood this Restaurant, since 2004 has kept alive the tradition of “Breakfast Restaurant” and Pace.
After an energising breakfast, passing by the “New Bazaar” we will get introduced with some of the most typical Albanian Fruits, vegetables and souvenirs. The area of the New Bazaar is one of the most interested in Tirana, Shortstop in a Local Pastry. From 1998 they are bringing the same recipe of the Merengue Cake. For the owner, all started as a good memory from the childhood happy days.
Passing from the Old Part of the city and getting nearer to the city center we will spot the Communist Influence on the buildings and Architecture. It is time for some coffee and we will stop by a local coffee shop. It will be hard to choose as they provide more than 25 different types of coffee from all over the world. Of course, if you would like to sounds local go with the small espresso or Turkish Coffee.
The tour continues in the Main Boulevard of Tirana “Deshmoret e Kombit”. You will learn more about its Architecture, Style and History. It is where Piramida and most famous buildings of Tirana are situated. Walking along the former communist part of the city, Blloku. It uses to be the residential area of the Former Communist dictator, Enver Hoxha.
Lunch at a traditional grill restaurant when we will have the chance to taste 2 of the most famous dishes of Tirana, “Fergese” and “Qofte”.
Walking through the “Pedonale” the pedestrian Artistic Boulevard we will visit the Castle of Tirana. Situated in the center of Tirana it has been an administrative point in different ruling systems. Recently renovated, now it is one of the most interesting attractions with unique shops and bars.
Visit at a Specialised Olive Oil Shop, when we will get professionally introduced to the history of the Olive Oil. Olive trees and how to taste Olive Oil.
Opportunity for buying Olive Souvenirs.
Next Stop will be a small 100 % Made In Albania Shop. It is where all the products are coming from different regions of Albania bringing at us an Albanian Bouquets of Flavors and tastes. Introducing to different Jams, Cheese, Herbs and Raki Tasting.
It is also the last Stop of the Tour and where this tour ends.
Visit at a Local Restaurant where we would have the chance t try a full local Grill meal. Albanians and their Traditional Cuisine are famous for having plenty of meat in their menu and being vegetarian here is hard job 🙂
It will be a full meal where you would be able to try Fergesa, a Tirana’s Speciality, Meatballs, Suxhuk (Kosovo’s sausages) and more, all combined with local drinks.
Linda, my tour guide, was very knowledgeable & enthusiastic! We walked, explored & ate our way around the city trying everything from local byrek, a kind of spinach pie, to lamb stew, to mini lamb burgers, a drink w/ice cream & a pastry like baklava & even tasting Raki. Linda told me a lot about the culture of Albania & answered many of my questions too. My advice to you is to take this tour as a great introduction to Albania, but don’t eat breakfast before you join the tour!
I did the food and city tour in Tirana with Go as Local and it was truly a wonderful experience. Andi was an amazing host, not only showing historic facts of his city but also sharing traditions and cultural heritage through food and visits to the most important sights. I learnt a huge deal of a country and society I knew nothing about before my trip, so I truly believe this is the best introduction you can get to the thriving and exciting things Albania has to offer. We tasted several dishes, being the most surprising one, the Albanian breakfast! Treat yourself with a completely local experience!! Thanks Andi!!
Tolles Essen, viele Infos, top Guide
Eine tolle Tour mit guter Mischung aus leckerem, traditionellem Essen und interessanter Stadtführung. Andi weiß alles über Kultur und Geschichte und nimmt dich Zeit für Fragen. Die Restaurants sind gut ausgesucht, kein Touri Mist und man wird mehr als satt. Wasser, Kaffee und auf Wunsch auch Bier ist inklusive. Kann man wirklich nur empfehlen. Die Tour geht von 9h (Abholung am Hotel) bis ca. 15h. Man sollte bequeme Schuhe anziehen, da schon viel gegangen wird.
Knowledgeable and enthusiastic
Great service and day. Andi and his sister showed tremendous knowledge, engagement and enthusiasm both in advance of, and during, our tour.
We only had a few spare hours between arriving by bus in Tirani from the north and grabbing our hire car to move on to Ohrid. With my wife being vegetarian Andi also had to adjust his normal tour. He did this superbly by combining his food / walking tour with a nice cookery class, which worked really well and enabled us to sample his family made wine at 10.00am in the morning!
Very well organised, Andi met us punctually off our bus, adapted well at the last minute when I told him we had found 2 others who were keen to join the day, and made sure the whole day was adapted to us.
Tirana is never, frankly, going to be a tourist hotspot, but for those with time to spare and looking to use it interestingly in Tirana I would warmly recommend Andi. Good value and excellent service.
This was the first of our three days spent with Andi while in Albania. The City and Food tour was definitely worth our while. Andi has an amazing knowledge of Albania, both present and past. We were able to visit all of the highlights of the city and experience local food and drink throughout the day. Andi gave us time to stop and shop when we wanted and kept our energy up with frequent visits to eat and drink the local specialties. We had only planned this one day but, after spending the day with Andi, we decided to add the Berat Tour and Cooking class to our stay in Albania as well.