For the longest time, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of doing a holiday for £100 and 48 hours in Tirana felt like the perfect place to test it out. And we’re not just talking about covering flights and accommodation…
Literally everything!
So here’s my 3 day Tirana itinerary and how I managed to squeeze an entire city break out of £100 – with change to spare.
This article may include mentions of products from one or more of our affiliate partners. Unless explicitly stated, we are not being paid to include these. To learn more about our advertising policy, please refer to our Terms of Service.
Why did I want to do a cheap city break for under £100?
Let’s face it, holidays are more expensive than they used to be. BUT does that mean you can’t get a good deal anymore? Granted, it’s my actual job to find cheap holidays, but I am here to tell you that you can ABSOLUTELY still find affordable holidays. Yes it takes a bit of planning and preparation – and you may need a spreadsheet! – but it can be done.
My hope was to prove to that you don’t need to have a lot of money to see the world!
What exactly was included in my cheap city break for under £100?
If you’ve been following my escapades for a while, then you’ll know that when I do a challenge, I like to do it PROPERLY.
So, for my 48 hours in Tirana, I had to get EVERYTHING in for less than a 100 quid.
That included:
- Transport to and from the airport
- Flight
- Transport to and from the city centre
- Accommodation
- Meals
- Drinks
- Snacks
- Activities
Who did I travel with?
I did this city break solo, which was an important part of my challenge since prices are normally always cheaper if you travel in a duo.
Like I said, I like to do things properly, OK?!
What kind of cabin bag did I use?
Well since you ask, I actually combined my city break challenge with a packing challenge. Two challenges in one, the absolute dream! And the second challenge was… could I fit everything I needed for a weekend city break into my Uniqlo sling bag?
My 48 Hours in Tirana Itinerary
So let’s get to it – here’s what I did and how much my £100 holiday to Tirana cost! Perhaps you can follow my itinerary to recreate this trip for yourself?!
Day 1 - £100 in the pot
Bus to the coach station
Since my flight was early in the morning, I needed to catch a night bus at 04:55am to get me to my coach transfer.
Whilst painstakingly early, at least it didn’t cost me too much!
Transport for London bus – £1.75
£98.25 left
Coach to the airport
Arriving at Golders Green coach station, I was ready to catch my 5:50am National Express coach to Luton Airport which I’d booked in advance to nab the best possible price.
The only problem was… It was full up and so I had to wait for the next one!
It was at this point, I thought that my challenge was over before it began since I had been cutting it close already.
Fortunately, I just about got on the next coach which left 20 minutes later and made it to the airport 50 minutes before my flight – yikes!
National Express coach – £6
£92.25 left
Once I got through security, there was only 8 minutes until my gate my due to close so I had to get a sprint on!
Fortunately, I got there just in time and boarded the flight. It was here that I really regretted not bringing a bottle of water but on the off chance, I asked the crew if they did free water – and they did! Result.
Cup of water – £0.00
Flight to Tirana
My Wizz Air flight was a bargain, thanks to only taking a small cabin bag with me and opting for random seat allocation.
Flight – £9.99
£82.26 left
Bus to Tirana city centre
Landing on time, I headed straight to catch the bus into the city centre and managed to bag the last seat on it! It was supposed to take only 30 minutes, but took almost an hour due to traffic!
I really wished I had water on that bus!!
Bus to Tirana – £3.43
£78.83 left
Coffee and cake stop
Finally getting off the bus, I was starving and so headed to Mulliri Vjeter, an Albanian cafe chain, to buy a coffee and a muffin to keep me going.
Coffee – £0.94
Muffin – £1.02
£76.87 left
Check into accommodation
I booked 2 nights accommodation at Vanilla Sky Boutique Hostel.
It was near the Bllok district, and this was SUCH a nice part of town. The streets reminded me a bit of another Balkan city I’ve already been to – Sofia in Bulgaria.
I saw loads of nice bars and restaurants around here – if I hadn’t been doing a budget challenge I could have happily spent hours chilling at these having some nice drinks and snacks.
The hostel was really nice, and had free tea and coffee in the kitchen area which was super budget-friendly for me. Plus it had a kitchen if I wanted to prepare my own meals, though I decided to eat most of my food out since it would have cost me a lot to buy food in from scratch for just 2 days. That, and I wanted to try some local food too!
I booked a 4 bed female only dorm which had a locker to keep my things safe. There was a shared bathroom too!
2 nights accommodation – £25.34 (£12.67 a night)
£51.53 left
More accommodation options in Tirana
Eat dinner
For my first meal in Tirana, I needed cheap, cheerful and filling. I also really wanted to sit down somewhere, and so the chain OPA caught my eye. Not only did it have a deal for a chicken skepasti with fries and a soft drink, but I could also get a free dessert of loukoumades (little greek doughnuts) if I left them a google review! Result.
Meal – £5.06
£46.67 left
More food and drink options in Tirana
Do a supermarket shop
After my meal I headed to the closest supermarket that was big enough to give me some choice – I find that smaller options can work out more expensive!
I bought a bottle of water and breakfast for two mornings. However, I stupidly said yes to a bag which ended up costing me a whopping 17p!
Groceries – £1.88
Paper bag – £0.17
£44.42 left
Have a drink
It’s not a proper holiday without a little drink to toast out the first evening, right?
I headed to Bar My Way where I found a double gin and tonic for just under £3.
Double gin and tonic – £2.98
£41.44 left
Day 2 - £41.44 in the pot
Eat breakfast
After a restful sleep, bar a mosquito buzzing around my room and nibbling on my limbs, I got up and tucked into my supermarket breakfast of a banana, yoghurt and free hostel coffee.
Go on a free walking tour
Onto my first activity – a free walking tour of Tirana!
Now I absolutely love these and try to do one everywhere I go. You get so much great info, and often lots of extra insights too from a local guide.Of course, the ‘free’ part is only true if you decide not to tip them but as this particular tour group’s website confirms, “tips are voluntary and we will not pressure you to tip”. Though of course, they ask you to tip what you think the tour is worth in the realm of what you can afford.
I think this is a great approach because it means that anyone can access learning, no matter what their budget! And I’m a firm believer that as you can afford more, you tip more.
Since I was part of a group of 25 and was on a very small budget, I only tipped a small amount.
For those saying it’s too small, this is the risk these free walking tours take when they advertise it as so!
Walking tour tip – £1.71
£39.73 left
More Tirana tours
Eat lunch
For my lunch I went to Byrektore that did byrek, a cheap flaky pie fill of cheese and spinach that was DELICIOUS. In fact, so delicious and so cheap, I had to have two!
2 byreks – £0.86 (£0.43 each)
£38.87 left
Do some work
I had some work to crack on with for a few hours and whilst I could have gone back to the hostel, I wanted to soak up the city!
I headed down the street to a cute coffee shop I’d spoted, and was surprised to find that my americano cost over twice more this time! I guess that’s what you get for heading somewhere for the aesthetics!
However, I made sure to make the coffee last a while whilst sat out in the sunshine doing my work – so it all worked out just fine.
Now on a regular trip I would of course have ordered more than one drink whilst I was there, but since I didn’t have the budget on this trip, I made my one coffee last me!
Coffee – £2.05
£36.82 left
Visit Tirana Park
Tirana is a super green city and in May, it was lovely and warm, so I just enjoyed walking around the streets and soaking up the atmosphere.
Tirana Park is massive and the perfect place to hang out with some beer and crisps I’d bought from the supermarket.
Crisps – £0.46
Beer – £0.68
£35.68 left
Enjoy a spontaneous gig
Before dinner, I popped back to Skanderbeg Square, the main square where the free tour had started the day before. It had a really nice vibe as people milled about in the early evening.
Then as I wandered over to the place I wanted to go for dinner, I ended up discovering a free music concert near the Old Bazaar market!
Have a traditional dinner
Well, the music had only just started as when I rocked up to Oda Garden, it was alive with traditional music and dancing!
The only bad news was that it was fully booked – but thanks to a very welcoming host, I was squeezed onto a table with two lovely Italian women. In fact, we all got a free shot to ‘help us become friends’. How nice is that!!
I went for the cheapest dish on the menu, Fërgesë, which is cottage cheese with peppers. Now yes I did essentially have a plate of cheese for dinner, but it was HUGE – enough for 2 or 3 people really – and came with free bread.
I loved the music but found there was a cover charge added to the bill due to this. It was more than fair, but it wasn’t a cost I had factored in!!
Shot – £0.00
Bread – £0.00
Beer – £2.56
Fërgesë – £4.10
Music charge – £0.62
£28.40 left
Enjoy a final cocktail!
Now, I’d heard about Radio Bar from so many people but thought I wouldn’t have enough money to myself!
However, as I was getting ready for bed, I thought I may be able to just about include one cocktail before my trip home the following day.
I opted for a martini which was amaaaazing, but perhaps put a little too much pressure on the budget.
Whoops!
Martini – £6.82
£21.62 left
Day 3 - £21.62 in the pot
Eat breakfast
Time for my final banana and yoghurt!
Catch bus back to the airport
And just like I’d done on the way, it was time to jump on the bus back to the airport!
My top tip here is to get to this early as it left 10 minute before it was scheduled to!
Bus – £3.43
£18.15 left
Flight home
This leg also cost me £9.99 but plot twist – as I was getting to the airport, my app told me that an electronic boarding pass wasn’t available and I’d have to get one printed…
But I didn’t have a printer!!
I knew I could print at the airport, but often airlines charge you an arm and a leg for this so I was NERVOUS.
I crept up to the check in desk and… They printed it with no charge. Phew! In fact, because Tirana is one of those anomalies where they don’t allow you to use electronic passes, they shouldn’t charge you for printing – no matter what your airline is!
Flight to London – £9.99
£8.16 left
Coach home from the airport
Again, this was a repeat of the way out and fortunately my National Express was not full, and I was able to get on the one I’d booked in advance back to Golders Green coach station.
National Express coach – £6
£2.16 left
And my final cost – a bus back home!
Transport for London bus – £1.75
And so that brings our final total to…
Total spends = £99.59
The Final Cost Breakdown
So there you have it! I successfully did a 3 day trip abroad for less than £100.
Here’s a recap of what areas I spent in to get the total of £99.59:
Category | Cost |
|---|---|
Public transport | £22.36 |
Flights | £19.98 |
Accommodation | £25.34 |
Food and drink | £29.58 |
Activities | £2.33 |
Would I recommend Tirana for a cheap weekend break?
I totally accept that my costs are personal to me and not everyone can do a cheap city break for under £100 for lots of reasons – you may not live by an airport, have frequent cheap flights, or perhaps it’s the fact that you have dietary or mobility requirements, or perhaps health conditions or other individual circumstances which have costs attached.
However, as I mentioned at the top, this challenge was all about getting away for less than usual, and so even if £100 isn’t realistic for you, I hope this shows that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get away!
I would 100% recommend Tirana for an affordable weekend away, whether you want to be like me and try to do it for under £100, or whether you have a some more budget for travel.
It’s such a gorgeous city and the vibe is really laid back.
Don’t sleep on the rest of Albania either – the popular resort town of Sarande has a reputation for great beaches and stunning clear waters. And you can even catch a ferry from there to the Greek island of Corfu!
