7 Things to Know Before Visiting Albania

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Few places in Europe have seen a surge in interest in the last few years like Albania. More and more travelers are thinking of visiting Albania, excited by the prospect of affordable beach getaways, hiking away from the crowds, and soaking up an unfamiliar culture.

Because this trend is more recent, many people don’t know what to expect from their first Albania visit. Some of the fun of going somewhere new is discovering things about the destination for yourself. However, knowing a little before you go can make the trip go much smoother, so here are some basics that I think you’ll want to know. Got questions for an upcoming Albania trip? Let me know.

Table of Contents

1. More than Beaches

Ksamil

A big reason travellers have been turning their attention to Albania is the country’s beaches.

Albania sits where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea, and it enjoys one of the longest coasts in the Balkans. Destinations like Saranda and Ksamil make the Albanian Riviera quite an inviting place to go for sunseekers, particularly if you’re a budget traveller.

While the most famous beaches are in Albania’s south, there are others, such as at Durres, not far from Tirana.

But this is just a small part of Albania. Beyond its coast, the country has many mountain ranges, river valleys, large lakes, and plenty of cities and towns. These are where I spent most of my time when visiting Albania, but also, where I hope to spend more time when I go back.

Take Tirana, one of Europe’s most unusual capital cities. You won’t find many prominent versions of classic landmarks in European cities, such as a town hall, riverfront, or old town. But it’s still a fascinating cultural city to visit and explore.

Mountains are also a huge part of Albania’s identity. The most famous are in the north around Theth and Valbona, home to villages and hiking routes that are part of the Peaks of the Balkans trail. However, they can be found all over, even by the coast, with Mount Çika near Vlore.

The point is to consider more than just Albanian beaches when planning your itinerary.

2. Getting to Albania

Kruje

Albania may seem like a destination that’s out of the way because it hasn’t always been popular.

But it’s far more convenient to get to than people realize. The options for getting to Albania might even surprise you.

Flying is, of course, an option, with Tirana International Airport being the country’s main airport. It has routes from across Europe, but mostly southern Europe, and also several routes to the Middle East. Budget airlines make up most of your options, so visitors from farther away may have to combine flights to get there.

Interestingly, taking a ferry to Tirana is quite a common approach. The two most common ferries are from Bari in Italy to Durres and the ferry from Corfu in Greece to Saranda. However, these are two very different experiences:

Bari Ferry: Overnight ferry taking 8-11 hours, with a car deck for you to bring your vehicle with you
Corfu Ferry: Frequent high-speed ferry that takes under an hour and can get very busy, with some car options

What’s most common, though, is to cross into Albania by land. Whether you take an international bus or drive a rental car, you can drive to Albania from Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and northern Greece.

I can’t comment on driving into the country, but I know that buses to Tirana are quite easily found from Ohrid, Athens, and Pristina, and there are other common routes such as Podgorica to Shkoder.

3. How to get around Albania

Durres

Once you get to Albania, you’ll probably want to go places. However, your options for that are much more limited.

Albania is definitely a country where having a car makes travelling easier. It may look small on the map, but Albania is larger than you might realise, and there’s a lot of space in between major settlements.

For example, driving from Sarande in the south to Tirana takes 3.5-4 hours. The country’s mountainous terrain makes straight-line travel difficult.

Renting a car for your Albania trip is not only more convenient but also allows you to visit many more places. The main drawbacks are the quality of some roads and the different approach to driving compared to the West.

Your other main alternative is to travel around using intercity buses in Albania.

Buses in Albania are pretty common and frequent enough to be useful. The approach to things is quite casual—my bus from Saranda to Gjirokaster oversold tickets, and many people had to stand until there was room.

You’ll also often need to wander around a bus station (or parking lot, as in Gjirokaster) looking for the right sign in the window. Despite this, they proved to be a reliable and affordable way to get around.

Tirana is the hub for the country’s bus routes, and you can leave from there in any direction. You’ll want cash handy for tickets, normally available at a small kiosk, but drivers will let you know if you can pay onboard.

The option for exploring Albania with the least flexibility is to take a tour, some options being:

4. Budgeting and Money

Berat

One thing many travellers to Albania want to know is whether Albania is an affordable destination to visit.

Short answer? Yes. Albania is relatively affordable, just like so much of the Balkan region.

I typically use a few standard expenses to judge a place’s cost, such as the cost of coffee, the local bus, and the museum entrance. Some prices in Albania are fairly normal, such as coffee, which is usually around the equivalent of €1.5 to €2. But then you look at a local bus ticket, and they’re often only €0.3 to €1, which is nothing in the scheme of things.

Even though the cost of food is more variable, it too is generally very low. Dinner at a restaurant often only comes in around €10, although you can expect nicer venues or restaruants along the coast to cost more.

Accommodation is maybe the one expense that isn’t noticeably more affordable. Like in other Balkan countries, guestrooms and basic hotels are often very affordable. Beach accommodation and hotels in Tirana, however, are closer to general European prices. Still, it’s impressive that you can find bargain options even in Albania’s high season.

Paying for things in Albania

To this point, I’ve been quoting prices in euros.

Albania uses the Albanian lek (ALK), but you do find some stores that accept euros. Just don’t expect the best exchange rate when paying directly with euros.

It’s better to get cash out at an ATM or to exchange money at a currency exchange. In this case, I do think you often get a good rate when exchanging euros since it’s so common. Some accommodation even wanted me to pay in cash with euros, offering a better price than when I eventually paid in lek.

Now, a warning about using ATMs in Albania—prepare for high fees. I got hit with 600 ALK ( €6) each time I got money, plus the fees from my card provider.

The reason I mention all of this is that cash is still widely used in Albania. Most of my card payments related to hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets; beyond that, it was in cash.

5. Layers of history

Tirana

Even though it’s not widely known outside of the region, Albanian history is quite interesting to explore, given the chance.

I know I had a limited understanding of the country’s past before going. I was aware it had a Communist period in the 20th century, much like other places in Europe, but not much beyond that.

You won’t have much trouble finding opportunities to learn about the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania. The House of Leaves in Tirana is an insightful place to go for that, and attractions such as Bunk Art help you realize how recent that period of history is.

For earlier history, much of the focus revolves around the Ottomans and the Albanian national hero, Skanderbeg.

Visit places such as Gjirokaster and Berat, and you can easily see the Ottoman influence on their old towns. As for Skanderbeg, who led persistent resistance against the Ottomans, his name is everywhere, but important attractions tied to him include Kruje Castle and his mausoleum at Lezhë.

Not too much is talked about from the pre-Ottoman period. You can read about it at the National Historical Museum of Tirana or visit ancient attractions such as Butrint outside Ksamil and Apollonia Archaeological Park near Fier.

Hopefully, that shows you that Albania has an eventful past worth diving into, with a good mix of destinations where you can do that.

6. Language

Tirana

I like to think of myself as someone who likes and is good with languages.

But I must admit that I found Albanian a challenging language to learn. This is despite also encountering it when I visited Kosovo and parts of North Macedonia in the past.

Part of the reason for that is that Albanian is in its own branch of the European languages, with no common siblings. This makes Albania quite different from other Balkan countries, with their strong Slavic roots.

Sorry, your high school Spanish or German isn’t much help in providing a shortcut to learning the local language here.

Albanian, which is known as Shqip in its own language, often combines letters that are uncommon in English, and also has letters like ‘ç’ and ‘ë’ to up the difficulty. Reading here is a challenge.

But it’s worth knowing a few basic phrases to endear yourself to the people you interact with. Some useful examples include Mirë for ‘Hello’; Faleminderit for ‘Thank you’; Ju lutem for ‘Please’; and Po and Jo for ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. Listen to the pronunciation in advance, as emphasis can differ from English.

As for getting by in other languages, English is standard enough that you can get by with it, as I did. In some parts of Albania, you may find Italian or Greek useful, because of historical ties and ethnic communities, respectively.

7. Best time to visit Albania

Gjirokaster

Because of its beaches, people often think of Albania as only a summer destination.

June to September is the popular time to visit Albania because travellers come for the sun and heat.

But in my experience, visiting in July during a heatwave made sightseeing anywhere but the beaches unpleasant. For instance, while exploring Gjirokaster, I needed to start first thing in the morning and return just after lunch before it got swelteringly hot.

Many of my afternoons in Albania were frankly wasted because of the summer heat. Even some morning activities, such as going to the un-air-conditioned National Historical Museum of Tirana, were tough to get through.

This probably won’t be as much of a problem in early June and late September, but I’d even consider May and October to be better times to visit Albania than the height of summer.

While I’m talking about sightseeing here, the idea of hiking in this heat is also worrying. I ditched plans to go to the mountains to hike, it was so hot with a long run of days at 40ºC (104ºF).

I know the mountain villages wouldn’t have been quite as hot, but still, that’s harsh weather for long hikes. Instead, visiting Albania after summer may be a less risky pick, as there will probably still be snow if you go in April/May.

Resources for visiting Albania