Where to Base Yourself in Albania as a Digital Nomad

The capital is loud, colourful and changing fast, with painted apartment blocks, new towers and a cafe on every corner. Blloku, the former communist leaders’ quarter, is the expat favourite for cafes, bars and modern flats; the streets around the Grand Park and its artificial lake are calmer and greener; and the centre around Skanderbeg Square is handy for everything. It has most of the country’s coworking spaces, the best hospitals, an international airport and the biggest community of foreigners. Traffic, summer heat and winter air pollution are the downsides. See the Tirana digital nomad guide.

A seaside town in the far south, facing Corfu across a narrow strait, with a long promenade and apartments climbing the hills above the bay. It has the coast’s largest year-round group of foreign residents, ferries to Corfu, and Butrint and the Ksamil beaches nearby. Summer is crowded and noisy; winter is mild but many restaurants close. Serious medical cases go to Tirana, about five hours away, or to Greece.

Albania’s third city sits on a wide bay where the Adriatic meets the Ionian, with a long, rebuilt seafront and beaches running south towards the Llogara Pass and the Riviera. It is a working city, so shops and services stay open all year, and rents are lower than in Sarandë. It is a good choice if you want the sea without a resort feel.

Albania’s main port and oldest city has a Roman amphitheatre, a long sandy beach lined with hotels, and an easy one-hour drive to Tirana. Outside summer, beachfront apartments are cheap, which makes it popular with people who want the sea while keeping Tirana close for paperwork, flights and healthcare. The beach is busy and built-up in summer.

Small villages on the southern Riviera with some of Albania’s best water. Himarë, with its old town on the hill and quiet coves, and nearby Dhërmi are lovely in May, June and September. Ksamil, near Sarandë, has white sand and tiny islands just offshore. Both are seasonal: in winter most businesses close and there is little to do, so they suit a summer stint rather than a year-round base.

A hillside stone town in the south, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a huge castle and Ottoman houses with slate roofs. It is cheap, quiet and full of character, and an hour from the coast at Sarandë. Nightlife and services are limited, and the steep cobbled streets are slippery in rain.

The “town of a thousand windows”, another UNESCO town, with white Ottoman houses stacked on a hillside below a castle that people still live in. It has a growing cafe and guesthouse scene, wineries nearby and very low costs. It suits nomads who want a calm base with day trips, but it is small and has few foreigners.

A northern city on the shore of Lake Shkodër, with cycle-friendly streets, a lively pedestrian centre and Rozafa Castle above town. It is the gateway to the Albanian Alps, including the hikes around Thethi National Park and the Valbona Valley. It is cheap and friendly, though winters are wet and cold.

• Start in Tirana to sort your permit, bank account and SIM, then decide.
• Rent the coast outside summer. Monthly rents from October to May are far lower, but check whether the landlord wants you out by June.
• Check heating and internet before you rent, especially in coastal and old-town apartments.
• Think about healthcare. Outside Tirana, serious cases need a long drive.