Dajti Express – best thing to do in Tirana?

When I was planning our 17 nights in the Balkans, Tirana was the place I was most excited about. One of the reasons was the Dajti Express cable car up to the mountains, but I was secretly a bit worried it would be an anti climax when we went to do it. I’ve written about our day so you can find out if it was, or if the Dajti Express really is one of the best things to do in Tirana.

Getting to the Dajti Express

Getting to the Dajti Express from Tirana centre turned out to be easier than I thought. The number 11 bus on the blue line will take you from Skanderberg Square (near the clock tower) to the Dajti Express Tirana, about a half hour drive out of the city. There’s a quite steep road to walk up, around ten minutes but I managed it in the heat and I have Fibromyalgia so I’d say it’s totally doable for most people. We couldn’t find a timetable, it seemed to be the bus just left when it was full, but buses on the way back seemed frequent, about every ten minutes, so you’re unlikely to be waiting long. You could also get a taxi there and back if you wanted, although I don’t know the cost for this.

What’s at the Dajti Express?

Dajti Express is a 15 minute cable car taking you to the top of the mountain, and it’s been billed as one of the best things to do in Tirana. After our day there I can see why. You get gorgeous views of both the mountain and the city on the way up and back down and I would’ve been happy for the ride to take twice as long.

At the top of the mountain there’s a hotel with a rotating bar, the only mini golf in Albania, a couple of childrens playgrounds, what looked like a rollerskating rink and a restaurant. There’s also, a short walk from the top, an ‘adventure playground’ aimed at kids-a bit like the UK’s Go Ape. On the way to the adventure playground I found what looked like an abandoned hotel I wanted to explore, but got frightened off by a guard dog!

I was surprised there were also horses you could ride, dirt buggies to have a go on, and a shooting range-the website didn’t mention any of this extra stuff.

Following the many little paths around the resort led to some cute finds too-a section called ‘Couples Heart’ where you could leave love locks, a photography balcony with a gorgeous view and even a selfie machine and my favourite, a chicken coop. Hilariously, the chicken coop was filled with rabbits, and the babies were adorable, so definitely let me know if they’re still there if you visit.

How much does the Dajti Express cost?

A cable car into the mountains sounds really expensive doesn’t it? I’d done my research beforehand and was pleasantly surprised. A return ticket costs 1400 lek, about £10 or a return ticket with mini golf included is the same price-you may as well go for that one and see if you like the look of the course. It took us about an hour to complete as some of those holes were HARD and the balls kept rolling down the hill, but it was fun. Kind of cool to say we’ve played the only minigolf in Albania, really.

We weren’t ready for food so didn’t go into the restaurant as they wouldn’t take people just for drinks. There is a small cafe type place for drinks though, or you can drink in the hotels high up rotating lounge-although sadly this was closed when we visited. We paid double the prices we were used to for our two soft drinks, around 600 Lek, which works out to be £3.60. Reasonable for those of us from the UK, pricier for Albania.

I didn’t get prices for the horse riding or shooting range, so can’t comment on these, but would guess they’re not too expensive.

How was the journey?

I’d expected the trip up the mountain to be really scary, and probably the only cable car we’d ever do, as I’m not great with heights. It turns out that wasn’t the case for us and the ride was smooth, the car felt really secure and it didn’t sway at all. If you have a severe fear of heights this probably isn’t the activity for you though, be warned!

So, is the Dajti Express one of the best things to do in Tirana? We thought so!