A friend and I had a long weekend booked in Albania for mid-March 2020, just pre-the UK covid lockdown. We arrived in Tirana to discover that Albania had gone into lockdown the previous day! We were told we could take our pre-booked hire car and drive to our hotel in the centre of Tirana, and by showing our hotel booking would be able to get through the police road blocks. On the return journey we should show our flight bookings to get through the roadblocks and back to the airport. No other car travel would be possible. We had planned a day trip to Durres, so were a bit miffed that we wouldn't be able to make it, but those were strange times!

When we got to the hotel, the reception desk staff were astonished that we had turned up, as just about everyone else had cancelled. We were told that there were a few other people staying, who had been there when the lockdown was imposed, and that the hotel restaurant would remain open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Wandering around central Tirana was strange - all museums, galleries etc. and all shops, other than pharmacies and food shops, were closed, and on Saturday, which was a lovely sunny day, police cars patrolled the streets, broadcasting messages (so we were told) that people should only go out for essential purposes. Our biggest disappointment was not being able to visit the Museum of Secret Surveillance!

To answer your question, I would say Tirana would be better than Durres in mid-February, as a lot of this seaside town's hotels and restaurants are likely to be closed for winter. We stayed in the MonarC hotel in central Tirana and would thoroughly recommend it. It's quite small, with maybe 20-30 rooms and a very friendly feel. The rooms we had were very nice, and all of the meals we ate there were excellent.