Toptani, Petrelë & Prezë Castles: Ancient Fortresses Tour from Tirana

The tour begins at Tirana's own castle — a partially surviving Byzantine and Ottoman fortress in the pedestrianised centre of the capital, now integrated into a cultural park and garden. The original Byzantine fortification dates to the 5th–6th century AD; the Ottomans rebuilt and expanded it significantly in the 17th–18th centuries, and the Toptani family — the Albanian noble clan from whom the castle takes its secondary name — held it as their administrative centre during the late Ottoman period. The castle walls, towers, and mosque foundations within the park area are covered in a 1.5-hour guided session, with the guide setting Albania's Byzantine and Ottoman layers in the context of the broader Illyrian-to-Albanian historical narrative.

Persqop Castle, near the village of Petrelë southeast of Tirana, is a pre-Roman Illyrian hilltop fortification — one of the rare accessible sites in the Tirana area where the defensive tradition predating Greek and Roman colonisation is visible in the landscape. The Illyrian tribes of what is now Albania (principally the Taulantii and Dassaretii in the central region) built hilltop fortifications from the 4th century BC onwards, using cyclopean stone masonry techniques that distinguished their constructions from the later Roman and Byzantine work overlaid on the same sites. Persqop preserves traces of this earlier layer alongside later medieval phases.

Petrelë Castle stands on a rocky spur above the Erzen River valley, approximately 15 kilometres southeast of Tirana. The existing structure is medieval Albanian, built on earlier foundations; the castle is associated with the Thopia family, the Albanian noble clan that controlled central Albania in the 14th century, and with the broader resistance to Ottoman expansion in the region. The site is one of the better-preserved medieval fortifications in the immediate Tirana hinterland, with standing walls and towers and wide views over the valley. A commercial zipline operates in the vicinity of the castle for visitors wanting an optional activity.

Lunch at a local restaurant serving traditional Albanian cuisine — byrek (flaky pastry with cheese, spinach, or meat), fergese (a Tirana speciality of tomatoes, cottage cheese, and offal), tave kosi (baked lamb with yogurt), and seasonal vegetables with village bread. Lunch is included in the tour price.

Prezë Castle, on a hill above the village of Prezë northwest of Tirana, is among the most complete surviving medieval fortifications in the immediate Tirana area. The castle preserves intact curtain walls, towers, and an internal cistern system across its hilltop site, with panoramic views over the Tirana plain to the east and the Albanian coastal lowlands to the west. The castle's strategic position — commanding the route between Tirana and the Adriatic coast — made it a significant fortification during the medieval period; the guide covers its role in the Albanian resistance to Ottoman expansion in the 15th century. Return to Skanderbeg Square follows.