Guides written for what people actually search for in Durrës: good fish, a view worth the drive, an evening that lasts, and — in Albanian — a table above the sea all winter. Each one is written for a specific person, not for everyone.
Guides · New
Guide · For two
Sunset over the bay, fish by the kilo, Italian and Albanian wine — for couples who want an evening that matters in Durrës.
Guide · Families
High chairs, 132 tables and food for every age — for Sunday lunch in Durrës, winter included.
Guide · Birthdays
Cocktails over the sea, a long table for your friends, Prosecco for the toast — aperitivo and dinner in the same place.
Guide · From Tirana
About forty minutes on the motorway, coffee above the sea and lunch with the fish of the day: a different Saturday without going far from Tirana.
Guide · Albanian cooking
Labëria lamb, strained yoghurt, village eggs: tavë kosi and the other Albanian dishes cooked at Porto Vivo.
Guide · Fish and seafood
Fish that changes every morning, by the kilo, in an open kitchen: the species, the prices and what to order at Porto Vivo.
Guide · Italian cooking
Rummo pasta, Carnaroli risotto, cuttlefish with pistachio cream and Italian wines — Porto Vivo's Italian kitchen, above the sea.
Guide · Durrës
How to tell a place that buys fish well from one that doesn't: whether the list moves with the deliveries, whether whole fish is sold by the kilo, whether the kitchen is open to the room. Written for the traveller who has one dinner in Durrës and does not want to waste it.
Guide · View
The open Adriatic under the tables, the sun going down into it, the beach below and Durrës along the bay. Which floor to ask for, when to arrive for the sunset, and why the coast in front of you is also what the kitchen cooks.
Guide · Evening
Dinner first, music after: how an evening on the rooftop at Porto Vivo actually runs, when the live music starts, and what to order if you are staying until late. Written for the group that wants one place for the whole night instead of three.
The plan behind it
Nobody searches as "a customer". They search as a father of two on the third day of a holiday, or as somebody choosing where to take a birthday in February. Each guide is written for one of these people and answers the question they actually typed.
The family on holiday
Needs: early enough, space, something the children will eat, no surprise on the bill.
→ fish guide · view guide
The group of friends
Needs: one place for the whole night — dinner, then music, then late.
→ rooftop & music guide
The young couple
Needs: the sunset, a photograph worth keeping, a price they can plan for.
→ view guide
The couple marking something
Needs: an occasion. Anniversary, birthday, the dinner that has to be right.
→ view guide · winter piece
Tirana, at the weekend
Needs: a reason to drive forty minutes in November, when the coast is shut.
→ winter piece · Sunday lunch piece
The diaspora, back for August
Needs: somewhere to bring the family that is both Albanian and properly done.
→ fish guide · traditional dishes piece
The business dinner
Needs: a wine list, a quiet table, service that does not need chasing.
→ wine piece
The eight o'clock coffee
Needs: a coffee on the sea before anything else is open. Already searched for.
→ coffee piece
