The Ultimate Albania Road Trip Travel Guide

If you’re planning an Albania Road Trip, this page is a great place to start.

This fascinating country was closed off to the world under a communist dictator for over 40 years. In the last few years Albania has emerged as a new European hotspot.

With it’s beaches, historic cities, intriguing history museums, archaelogical sites, hidden canyons and stunning mountains, Albania has something for everyone.

There are a few stereotypes about Albania – stray dogs everywhere, rubbish littering the beaches, dangerous roads…

But just what is this country really like for travellers? Is Albania safe for tourists?

Download our FREE 2-page ALBANIA ROAD TRIP CHECKLIST HERE

We spent three months in Albania in early 2025. We travelled around Albania in our campervan staying in local campsites and a few wild camps, visiting all the main towns and places that are probably on your list. We returned in October to visit a few places we’d missed, and just because we really love it. I’m sure we will be back again!

What we found is a country full of warm, kind, friendly people who welcomed us and gave us some of our most memorable travel experiences ever. We found incredible history and culture; we found sad stories of life under a deluded, paranoid leader.

Yes, there are street dogs and litter, and the Albanians drive like crazy. Every country we’ve visited has it’s issues. If you can look beyond those things, you’ll have one of the most amazing trips of your life.

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Albania Road Trip Travel Guides

As we travelled through Albania we produced Adventure Travel Films and City Guides for our YouTube Channel. We have also written travel guides and blog posts which are listed below. Make sure you join our newsletter list to be kept up to date.

How to get to Albania

Albania is located in the Balkans. It has coastline on both the Ionian and Adriatic Seas. It’s bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo and North Macedonia to the east, and Greece to the south.

By Air

There is currently only one airport in Albania. The Nënë Teresa (Mother Teresa, yes – the nun, she was Albanian) Airport, which is located just outside the capital of Tirana.

A second airport is under construction at Vlorë, Albania’s fourth largest city and gateway to the Albanian Riviera. The airport was due to open in summer 2025, however, the terminal still hasn’t been completed!

Many visitors to the southern Riviera (Sarandë and Ksamil) choose to fly into Corfu, Greece, and take the fast ferry across to Sarandë)

By Car

You can drive into Albania from Montenegro in the north, Kosovo or North Macedonia in the East and Greece in the south. Be prepared for wait times at the borders, and we have heard of people having their campervans searched when entering from Greece and Nth Macedonia. However, we’ve entered from both those countries (and Montenegro) and never had more than a 15 minute wait.

By Ferry

In addition to the afore-mentioned ferry from Corfu, there are several vehicle ferry routes to Albania. We caught an overnight ferry from Bari, Italy to Durres. The ferry takes 9 hours and cost us around €300 for the two of us, our campervan, and a cabin for the night.

There is also a ferry that runs from Brindisi, Italy to Vlorë. We book all our ferries at Direct Ferries, which is a site that compares timetables and pricing across the different ferry lines.

By Train or Bus

There are currently no trains operating within Albania. You can catch an international bus from any of the neighbouring countries. Check Omio for timetables and to book.

Getting around Albania

Driving around Albania

Driving in Albania is not as bad as you may have been led to believe. The motorway system is being upgraded, with toll roads added. At the time of writing, there is one toll-road leading just north-east from Tirana to the Kosovo border. In October 2025 we travelled on a new road near Lake Ohrid that bypassed the city of Pogradec. This road wasn’t even on Google Maps!

You may also drive on a section of this road if you are heading to the northern city of Shkoder. Tolls are payable in cash.

The main highways are designated SH, and are often dual carriageways. Many rural roads are narrow and winding – especially the coastal road along the Riviera. Most roads to the main tourist areas are now paved, including the notorious road to Theth in the Accursed Mountains.

Albania is a great country for a road trip!

Fuel

If you’re driving in Albania, the fuel there is more expensive than most neighbouring countries. Diesel is around 170 lek per litre (about €1.70) If you’re arriving from Montenegro, North Macedonia or Greece make sure you fill up before driving over the border!

Public Transport in Albania

Public buses travel between the main cities and towns. Some of these are comfortable coaches, some are mini-buses. It’s not normal to book a bus ticket in advance, you simply get on the bus and a conductor will come and collect the fare in cash.

The bus fares are very cheap, we caught the local bus from where we were staying in the Tirana suburbs to the city centre for 80 Lek (around €0.80). We also took the bus between Sarandë and Butrint which cost 200 Lek (€2).

Aerial view of the berat viewing platform, albania flag

Albania Road Trip Travel Guide – Essential Information

Download our FREE 2-page ALBANIA ROAD TRIP CHECKLIST HERE

Language

Albanians speak Albanian or “Shqip”. They call the country “Shqiperia”. Albanian is an Indo-european language, related to Greek and Armenian.

Some useful works are “Përshëndetje” for Hello, and “Faleminderit” for Thank you.

You’ll see the “ë” a lot, this letter is pronounced “Uh”, as in UP. Often words are translated to English with an A instead of the Ë. For example Vlorë is often written Vlora, Sarandë as Saranda, and even the capital Tirana is spelt Tiranë in Shquip.

In tourist areas you’ll find some people speaking English, (especially younger people). Older people may speak Italian as the two countries were closely linked up until the communist times.

Currency

The Albanian currency is the Lek (plural Lekë). Most people usually just say Lek, even when talking about amounts of more than one. The Lek is a closed currency, meaning you can’t buy or sell Lekë outside the country. 100 Lekë is roughly equivalent to 1 Euro, making conversions easy if you are used to Euro.

Cash is definitely king in Albania, and most smaller shops will only accept cash. We had to pay cash on the buses, in markets, and even for the Dajti Express cable-car. Many establishments do accept Euros, and will give you change in lek.

ATMs are EVERYWHERE! Especially in the beach towns. However, be aware that they do charge a hefty fee (the lowest fee we found was at Credins Bank – 600 lek). For this reason we advise withdrawing fewer larger amounts of cash.

Another tip – if the ATM asks to do the conversion for you, always decline – this will cost you another 5-10% of the amount you’re withdrawing. If you decline, the exchange will be worked out by your home bank, and will be much more favourable.

We found the supermarkets (Spar, Big Market etc) and some restaurants would accept credit cards. We use and recommend the Wise card – although you can’t load Lek onto the card, we just loaded our home currency (AUD) and let Wise take care of the exchange.

Visa and Entry Requirements

Albania is NOT part of Schengen. This makes it an attractive choice for non-EU travellers like us, who need to spend time outside the Schengen zone, waiting for our 90 day limits to reset.

Albania allows European, UK, Australian, Canadian and NZ passport holders to enter for 90 days within a 180 day period without needing to obtain a visa. USA passport holders are allowed to enter for one year without a visa.

As always, check your home country’s immigration pages for up-to-date information.

Phone and Internet

Mobile (cellular) service is really widespread throughout the country, although we only connected to 4G (LTE) services. I don’t believe 5G is available yet. Our Europe wide eSIM didn’t cover Albania, so we bought a destination specific eSim which connected to the Vodafone network.

We use and recommend HOLAFLY eSIMs which have unlimited data. Use this link and the code NIGELANDSUE for an exclusive discount.

You can buy physical SIM cards at the airport and close to the borders. Vodafone and One seem to be the most popular.

FAQs

When is the best time to visit Albania?

Tourism in Albania is developing quickly, and currently many tourism operations are only open during the summer season. The season lasts from May to September, with July and August being very busy in the beach towns.

The summers can be very hot (fine if you’re on the beach) and the beach towns will be crowded.

We chose to visit most of Albania during the winter and early spring. Visiting Tirana, and historic towns like Berat, Gjirokaster and Kruje was fine, but once we got onto the Riviera almost nothing was open in the smaller towns.

While it was nice to see the beaches without the crowds (and the music blaring out of all the beach clubs), it would have been good to have more restaurant choices!

We finished our initial Albania Road Trip in late May, visiting Shkoder, the Accursed Mountains and Theth, and the Komani Lake. The roads to the mountains are often impassable before May. The weather was beautiful when we visited and the Alps became one of our favourite areas in Albania.

In October we returned to Albania to explore Lake Ohrid and Korça, which are both hidden gems well worth checking out.

Sue hiking in Langarica Canyon, Permet Hot Springs

Is it safe to travel in Albania?

Albania is one of the safest countries we’ve ever travelled to. I (Sue) spent three months in Albania, two months of that alone, and at no point did I feel threatened or unsafe.

The Albanian people were all kind and friendly and most seemed to genuinely want to help. There were a couple of occasions where we probably paid a “tourist tax”, for example we were charged €10 to park at Krujë. But on the whole, we found Albania to be a very safe country – don’t believe everything you saw on the movie “Taken”.

Of course, you should always use common sense, especially when walking around alone and after dark.

How long do you need to visit Albania?

While we spent months in the country, we did meet people who were just visiting for a week. Its important to know that while Albania is a small country and the driving distances might seem short, most of the roads are narrow and winding, meaning travel times can be longer than expected.

We would recommend spending between 2-4 weeks if you want to see most of the country and not feel rushed. If you have less than 2 weeks, we would recommend focussing on either the north or the south. Check out our 7-day itinerary for Albania’s south and beaches.

What is the food like in Albania?

Albanian food is delicious! You’ll find traditional Albanian restaurants everywhere, and the local cuisine is tasty and fresh. Some of the main dishes to try are Byrek (flaky pastry with cheese, meat or spinach – usually eaten in the morning), Tavë Kosi – lamb and rice in a yoghurt sauce, Fergesë – peppers in cottage cheese, stuffed eggplant, stuffed vine leaves and grilled meats.

Is Albania good for vegetarians?

While its true that a lot of Albanian dishes involve meat (especially Zgarë – or grill), as a vegetarian I (Sue) found plenty of delicious dishes. I usually ate two appetizers rather than one main course. Grilled vegetables and baked kakavell cheese were definite favourites!

Can you drink the water in Albania?

While our campsite host in Tirana told us the tap water was potable, we chose to drink bottled water after Sue had a stomach upset on the first day – not sure what from. You can buy large bottles (6 or 7 litres) in the supermarkets for around 120 Lek.

Is Albania cheap or expensive?

We found Albania to be a very affordable travel destination. Eating out is cheap at around €20-30 for two people, museum entry prices were under €10, and a beer usually around 200-300 Lek.

Prices are more expensive around the popular beach towns, especially Ksamil.