- Digital Nomad Trip Reports
- Posts
- Vlore, Albania 🇦🇱
Vlore, Albania 🇦🇱
Verified Digital Nomad Trip Report 📄
Chris Cerra
April 26, 2024
In partnership with
What’s Vlore, Albania like for Digital Nomads?
Find out in this Digital Nomad Trip Report, where Chris shares his experience of this beach-side-city! 🌊
📆 Time Spent
2 months
👥 Traveling As
Couple
📍 Location / Area
Lungomare
🏡 Accommodation
2 bed apartment (Airbnb)
🏡 Cost of Living
According to Numbeo:
Meal (inexpensive restaurant) - $8.51
Bottle of water - $0.88
Cinema ticket - $3.19
Monthly gym membership - $35
Monthly sim (calls + 10gb data) - $15.99
Apartment (1 bed, city centre) - $330.66
TODAY’S SPONSOR - DOLLAR FLIGHT CLUB
Get Up to $2K Off Every Flight
Want flights to Paris from $282 or Hawaii from $161 roundtrip this summer? For the next 12 hours, get 93% off Dollar Flight Club’s lifetime membership and save up to $2k on every flight for life!
🌐 Internet / Working
Wifi at the apartment was very fast (80-100mbps), but every few weeks the power went out for around an hour.
The cafe bars along the Lungomare all have wifi - mostly very fast there, too.
They didn't all have power outlets, but plenty of the table set ups were work-friendly
There is a co-working space in Vlore, but we didn't go. It was small, and we found no one else really used it - which left limited opportunity to network and socialise (this may be different throughout)
🗣️ Language: Albanian (Shqip)
English was fairly widely spoken along Lungomare
Italian is also widely spoken here!
If you go a couple of streets back, it dips a bit, but everyone can make themselves understood.
a few streets back is where you also find everyone has chickens and other animals on their land
🌤️ Weather
This varied! We experienced crazy storms & beautiful sunshine
Highs of 26/27 on a good day
Can get windy along the beach
Sunglasses & rain coat are both required here (especially Jan/Mar time)
🎟️ Public Transport & Infrastructure
Lungomare is entirely walkable!
For convenience you can take the bus in and out of town - it comes every 20 mins (ish!) and is 40 LEK per journey (about $0.45)
Bikes are another popular option - there is a cycle lane along the entire length of the Lungomare, and into the main streets of the city.
Bikes are used by many locals (especially the older generation), so traffic often yields, too.
We rented bikes on a monthly rate. We got quotes between €50-90 per month.
Things to do
Hike up to Kanine Castle (incredible viewpoint)
Spend time at the beach - either along the Lungomare, or a little further South where there are many smaller beaches
Go Paragliding!
Visit the Monastery at the Narta Lagoon
Watch a local football game (1,000 Lek / 10usd)
If you are into nightlife, the bars are quite good along the beach
If you are into nature, look inland for hiking and cycling trials
🤭 PSST…. SHARE DIGITAL NOMAD TRIP REPORTS 💙
It’s easy! And makes you feel warm inside 🙂
Just copy/paste this link to your friends (or your enemies!)
https://www.digitalnomadtripreports.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER
📈 Best things
Ease - we quickly found routine here, and went back to our favourite bakeries, restaurants & beach spots
It's super safe! Families let their children 'roam free' along the Lungomare and it wasn't uncommon to see young kids
There always seemed to be something going on. One weekend a basketball court was put up next to the beach - complete with seating, and there was an international basketball competition - followed by a huge concert. The stage was taken down, but they left the court up for weeks, so people could use it.
📉 Worst things
There were lots of local/traditional restaurants, but after 2 months the food all felt kinda same-same.
There are many supermarkets, but they are all quite small. You have to visit the supermarket, the bakery, the butchers and a fruit/veg stand all separately. This was nice when you have the time, but can be a bit inconvenient if you want to do a quick shop.
Cash is king! Paying with a card is rare, often with a 1,000 Lek minimum (about 10usd)
An international airport is currently being built, but until it opens you have to fly to Tirana, or Corfu, and take transport between 2-3hours to get here. It's a shame, but it does keep it low-key.
Anything Else?
I really felt part of the local community in Vlore, and found the locals to be quite open and welcoming.
Walking around the town we would often see people we know: Maria from the bakery, Angelo from the coffee shop or Dennis, my barber.
Everyone waves and says hello. It's nice!
And this kind of openness extends to strangers, too.
One evening we were sat at a cafe bar playing cards, and a kid - maybe 8-10 years old - comes over, pulls up a chair, and wanted to get in on the game.
His family were a few tables away, and I'm pretty sure they had no idea where he was.
He spent 10-15 mins laying down cards, and proclaiming victory in loose English, and teaching us how to count to 10 in Albanian.
Then off he went, back to his family.
The whole thing cracked us up!
✅ Go here if…
You want an easy life with everything a city offers, but with a beach
You like to speak with locals and don't mind if there is only a handful of digital nomads / internationals around.
You don't want distractions, per se, but you want options for when you do have downtime.
❌ Avoid here if…
You're a major foodie
You hate carrying cash
You only want to speak to meet and speak to other nomads.
That’s all for this time.
See you right back here next Friday, with another community-sourced Digital Nomad Trip Report 🔵
👏 A Big Thank You To…
Chris, from the UK 🇬🇧 for submitting today’s report! 🎉
Chris has been living nomad life since 2018, and runs the RemoteBase newsletter - sharing top accommodation deals with thousands of nomads.
Connect with Chris on Linkedin or Instagram for more nomad life funsies!
This Report Was... |
👉️ Contribute Your Own Report
If you enjoyed today’s report please pay it forward by submitting your own.
Past contributors say it takes 10 mins
We share your report with 1,000+ nomads
It can be for anywhere in the world you’ve visited
Share anonymously, or link back to your website, product, socials, etc.
DNTR is powered by RemoteBase - the free newsletter sharing curated nomad accommodation deals 📥️
Want to reach nomads & remote workers?
Sponsor DNTR 💼