The low-cost Balkan city break with some of the world’s best cocktails, for £6.50

详细摘要

Tirana's compact centre makes it easy to bar-hop and try eclectic recipes featuring fortified wine and staples from the communist era ...

It felt like a hangover from another era in an otherwise fast-developing city. For around 50 years, until the early 1990s, Albania was closed off to the world. Decades later, Tirana is buzzing and Albania has become a popular tourist destination. The country saw visitor numbers grow by 85 per cent between 2019 and 2025, and its capital features on many itineraries. It’s still affordble, however. For instance, restaurant prices in Tirana are around 49 per cent lower than in London, according to cost-of-living database Numbeo.

For now, Tirana retains plenty of character. The city’s parks, for example, are home to repurposed bunkers such as Rruga Abdi Toptani’s Bunk’Art 2 (filled with art installations highlighting past political persecution) and still serve as meeting places for huddles of older locals who gather around concrete chess tables.

But I visited to enjoy one of its more recent attractions: a new generation of cocktail bars run by master mixologists with a passion for innovation. Tirana’s compact centre makes it easy to plan an evening of bar hopping, although some of its establishments take a bit of work to find.

I took a punt and knocked on the heavy door before a slot slid open to reveal a pair of eyes. I was asked the reason for my visit and replied (after some prompting) that I was there to fix a camera. This was the key phrase for the thick door to be slid open. Inside, candles stuffed into antique holders cast a warm glow over the bar, behind which was an apothecary-like display of bottles.

My bartender at this Tirana speakeasy, which has its own “laboratory”, was Henry, whose cocktails cost around L700 (£6.50). A dapper dresser with a supersized beard, Henry was a skilled mixologist with a passion for local ingredients. On paper, my pisco, salted pineapple and honey-based Blotto didn’t really appeal, but its smoothness converted me.

“That’s down to the whey,” explained Henry, who sources the ingredients from local farms.

From Spy Speakeasy, it was a…

This…

文章开头，摘自i News。如需阅读全文，请前往媒体网站。