Written in by BikeTirana Team
COP31 Bike Ride Arrives in Tirana: Join the Ride, We're Lending the Bikes
The COP31 climate bike relay reaches Tirana on 3 September 2026. An 11 km community ride from Skanderbeg Square at 18:00, a film at the Pyramid at 20:00—and free loan bikes from BikeTirana.
On Thursday 3 September 2026, the COP31 Bike Ride reaches Tirana. Riders arrive at Skanderbeg Square around 17:45, a community ride sets off at 18:00 for roughly 11 km around the city, and a film about the relay screens at 20:00 at Micro-Folie in the Pyramid.
If you want to join and do not have a bike, we will lend you one, free. There is no rental charge or deposit for this ride. Message us on WhatsApp and we will put one aside. A helmet and separate chain lock are included; lights are not available on every fleet bike, so ask us to confirm one if you expect to ride after dark.
What the COP31 Bike Ride actually is
It is a cycling relay towards COP31, and the organisers describe it as the biggest bike relay ever staged for the climate: from Belém, Brazil, to Antalya, Türkiye, carrying ten proposals for using cycling as climate policy. The slogan is Ride Slower—Change Faster.
Riders do not complete the whole route. The relay moves in stages, and people join for an hour, a day or a week. Every kilometre counts toward the total. The full route and registration are at copbikeride.org.
Albania sits on the Balkans branch, which comes across the Adriatic from Bari, lands at Durrës, and works north through Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia before joining the main branch in Belgrade on 16 September.
The Albanian stages
| Scheduled date | Stage |
|---|---|
| Thu 3 September | Durrës → Tirana (43 km) |
| Fri 4 September | Tirana → Milot (49 km) |
| Sat 5 September | Milot → Shkodër (62 km) |
| Sun 6 September | Shkodër → Podgorica (65 km) |
The organiser notes that stage dates can move by a day, so check the current schedule before travelling specifically to meet the relay.
From Podgorica the relay continues through Nikšić and Gacko into Bosnia, reaching Sarajevo on 11 September, then Han Pijesak, Srebrenica and Valjevo, arriving in Belgrade on 16 September. After that it runs through Romania from 20 September, Bulgaria from 29 September and Türkiye from 7 October—reaching Antalya on 6 November 2026.
Thursday 3 September in Tirana, hour by hour
17:45–18:00 · Festive arrival. The riders coming in from Durrës arrive at the I ❤️ T sign on Skanderbeg Square. This is the moment to turn up if you just want to welcome them.
18:00 · Community ride, about 11 km. The event is open to the public and planned at a social pace. The announced Tirana route connects:
- Skanderbeg Square
- Dëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard
- Rruga Abdyl Frashëri
- Rruga Dëshmorët e 4 Shkurtit
- The Artificial Lake loop, via Garda at the end of the bike lane
- Mother Teresa Square
- Dëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard back toward the centre
If you have ridden with us before, you will recognise most of it. It is essentially the city’s best cycling infrastructure strung together, which is rather the point—we have written before about Tirana’s bike lanes and where they actually go.
20:00 · Film screening. A film about the COP bike ride screens at Micro-Folie inside the Pyramid.
Our part: free bikes
Bikes should not be the reason anyone misses this. We are lending bikes free of charge for the ride—city bikes fitted to you, with a helmet and separate chain lock, from our shop at the New Bazaar. Ask us to confirm a light if you expect to ride after dark.
To reserve one:
- WhatsApp us with your name, height and the number of bikes you need.
- Collect from the shop on Rruga Qemal Stafa before the ride. We are open until 17:30, so come by 17:00 to leave time to reach Skanderbeg Square.
- Bring photo ID, as with any rental.
- Agree the return plan with us before collection. Same-evening or next-day return is available for these event loans only by prior arrangement.
Numbers are limited by the size of our fleet, so it is first come, first served. Message early rather than on the day.
Why we are doing it
We have worked with Iden Petraj, Tirana’s Bike Mayor, before—she was behind the city’s first cargo-bike conference, which we attended and wrote about. She has been one of the more persistent voices arguing that Tirana should be a city you can actually cycle across, and this relay is the same argument on a continental scale.
We rent bikes and run tours for a living, so we have an obvious commercial interest in more people cycling. We also just think a city with more bikes on it is a better city to live in. Those two things happen to point in the same direction, and an evening like this is the cheapest possible way for someone to find out whether they like riding in Tirana.
If you are visiting Tirana that week
The ride is free and open to anyone. You do not need to be fast or wear special cycling clothing. Riders should still be comfortable controlling a bike in a public group ride and follow the organiser’s instructions.
If you would rather have the city explained while you ride it, our guided bike tour runs daily and covers much of the same ground. If you just want a bike for the week, use our rental page.
Thursday 3 September · 18:00 · Skanderbeg Square · about 11 km · free. Check the latest schedule and register through copbikeride.org, then message us if you need a bike.