The most visited attraction in Tirana is the unusual Bunk'Art Museum, which has two branches in the city. The first of these is located under the cable car up the Dajt mountain and is known as BUNK'ART 1.

The Bunk'Art 1 museum takes you to an extraordinary fallout shelter complex built in 5 underground floors in 1978. It was during the 1970s-80s, under the rule of the communist dictator Enver Hoxha, who was directly obsessed with the idea of an external enemy attacking Albania, that over 173,000 (!) underground atomic shelters were built in the country.

What to expect at the museum?

Bunk'Art 1 is a really large complex and most of the original areas are open to the public. It opened in 2016 and quickly became the most popular tourist attraction in Tirana.

In 5 floors you will visit practically the entire underground city, from huge halls for large numbers of people, to private residences for the then communist dictatorship, to rooms with technical facilities.

Part of the space is used as a modern art gallery with frequently changing exhibitions, and part of the rooms are used as a permanent exhibition for the museum of 20th century Albanian history.

In the centre, then, be sure to visit the other branch of Bunk'Art 2, which focuses mainly on the secret police and the communist regime as such.

Entrance fees and opening hours

Open daily from 9:30-16:30.

Ticket prices are as follows:

900 all Bunk'Art1 only
1 000 all Combined ticket for Bunk'Art 1 + Bunk'Art 2

Official website: bunkart.al/1

How to get there?

The Bunk'Art 1 complex is located on the eastern outskirts of Tirana under the cable car to Dajt in the Porcelani estate. You can get here from the centre by bus line 11, which leaves from the bus stop opposite the bus station to the airport (see location on the map).

On the way there, it is convenient to get off the bus at this stop and walk about 200 metres through the estate. On the way to the centre, the bus stops on the same street where the exit from Bunk'Art is located. Line 11 runs approximately every 15 minutes, see the Transport section for more information on buses and ticket prices.