Albania: practical info + itinerary
To be honest, Albania wasn't my dream destination, but in October we needed to soak up some more sun and the tickets were pretty good, so we just gave it a try. I was even more surprised at how incredibly diverse this country is. Sea, mountains, lakes, canyons, cities, monuments... I just didn't know what to do! In the end, I somehow got the hang of it (see itinerary section below) and it turned out to be a great week just to our liking. So if you're interested in general info about Albania like how to get there, how much money to prepare, what the transport is like or where is worth a trip, you've come to the right place and keep reading :)
Flight tickets
The capital city of Tirana is perfectly accessible from Prague thanks to direct flights with Ryanair and Wizzair. And if nearby airports are also affordable, you can search for departures like this:
- Nuremberg (Wizz)
- Katowice (Wizz)
- Vienna (Wizz + Ryan)
When departing from Prague, just make sure you depart from Terminal 1, as Albania is not in Schengen. In fact, they applied for accession in 2009, and in 2014 they were on the list of candidate countries... and that's where they stayed. Even though Albania is not in the EU, you still need an ID to travel - you'll go through passport control, but no visas are issued.
Rent a car
It was clear from the beginning that we would not be staying in one place, but that we would be moving, so we did not consider any other means of transport. Being flexible is simply priceless, plus both kids were able to sleep beautifully during the transfers. There are a huge number of car rental agencies at Tirana airport, so it probably won't be a problem to find something locally, but for me it's better to explore the terrain from the warmth of home. Just compare prices and conditions without someone imposing something on you.
We chose Surprice, which had really low prices and good reviews. A larger SUV (real MG brand) for 8 days cost us €148 including a child seat. Just a heads up then that they don't have an office right at the airport, but you have to cross the street, which is a bit of a detour due to the fence located there. No problem for adults, you just walk, but with kids I would rather choose another rental agency with a branch located in the airport hall next time.
See below for additional car-related fees (within our itinerary):
- petrol - €112
- motorway - we didn't pay anywhere
- parking - €1 (we only paid in Belsh, and we didn't have to pay that either, we were just too lazy to cross)
Driving in Albania - within southern Europe, expect the standard of not speeding, not respecting lanes, not putting on your turn signals and honking your horn frequently. The icing on the cake is stopping in towns and cities, basically wherever the driver pleases, perhaps to do a spot of shopping or just a chat. The result is then an entire street is blocked because other cars have to go around him by crossing into the oncoming lane... which will probably be clogged anyway because of a similar ignoramus. Well, it's a bit of a vicious circle, in cities it just takes steady nerves and sufficient time reserves.
It has flashed through my mind several times that Albania reminds me of Jordan in many ways. Not only in the "first come, first served" driving style, but also with the aforementioned halabala parking, the selling of fruit and vegetables by the roadside, the animals running around (you will meet stray dogs, goats, sheep, etc.) and also unfortunately the large amount of rubbish strewn (not only) by the roadside.
Currency
I must admit that before my flight I was a bit confused, or rather distrustful, about the information about paying in Albania. You can read everywhere that in most places you can pay in euros. Like what if they're not in the EU?! But yeah, it's true. The euro is just kind of automatic here, and you can pay with it without any problem, and you often get money back in their currency = Albanian lek. The conversion is very simple: 100 Lek = 1 Euro.
So that leaves us with option number one - bring a supply of euros. The second option would be to withdraw from an ATM, which of course has the disadvantage of a fee. We have tried, so from our experience this fee is in the rather large range of 600-1200 leks. You will come across plenty of ATMs in the bigger cities, so you can compare them with each other. Just note that it's time consuming due to the fact that you only find out the fee at the end of the withdrawal :) Whichever way you choose, always carry cash, because you definitely can't pay with your card everywhere like we are used to from the Czech Republic.
As for prices, it is definitely cheaper here than Czech. The difference used to be more noticeable, but with the increasing tourist traffic it is starting to even out. However, even so, I think the prices for accommodation and food in restaurants are still reasonable. I was most surprised by the local cafes. I didn't expect them to be so nice, modern, with a great selection, and I certainly didn't expect to get a cappuccino for €1.50 and a luxury cake for less than €2.
Another chapter is shopping in Albanian supermarkets, where I found most of the assortment (except maybe fruits and vegetables) more expensive. And what completely blew me away were the prices of baby food and snacks, where a jar of salty food for the little one came to more than €4 and a fruit pocket to about €2. I went to a lot of these stores from Interspar to BigMarket to Conad and everywhere was the same, until the last few days I came across a Rossmann drugstore (watch out, they are not everywhere) where the prices were finally similar to ours. So moms, look for Rossmann, otherwise you won't end up paying, you're welcome :)
Accommodation
We spent a total of 7 nights in Albania, each of them in a different place. Yes, 7 times we drove over, 7 times we packed things into backpacks, 7 times we loaded it all into the car. Yes, we are completely normal :) As always, I booked everything through booking, and my requirements were: price under 2k, rating at least 8,5 and possibility to rent a cot. The last mentioned is always the most limiting when it comes to choosing accommodation, but Jonik is (currently) used to sleeping in his own. Nina is welcome to stay with us, it's not a problem for her :) In the end, everything was priced at €40-60 per night with breakfast (+ once for €72 without breakfast or the problem of finding a cot in the area).
ATTENTION! Several times it happened to us that the accommodation had the possibility of payment by card, but in reality it was not. Unless it is a larger hotel or resort, always count on cash payment.
Itinerary
Albania would certainly deserve more than one week, but our time possibilities are unrelenting in this respect. I knew from the beginning that we would definitely not be able to visit all the interesting places from north to south, and that I had to choose very carefully where to direct our steps. The main dilemma was the fact that to the north lay the Albanian Alps and to the south the supposedly most beautiful beaches, the kind you see in travel agency catalogues. Both were out of the question because of the long crossings. So, how do you think that worked out? :)
Of course, the hills come out the winner of this battle for me, so mountains vs. sea 1:0. A contributing factor to the decision was that the road to the mountain village of Theth got a new asphalt surface as of 2024, so you can drive through it in a conventional passenger car and don't have to have a 4x4 like you used to. And with Theth now accessible to all, it's only a matter of time before this formerly remote village becomes the next Disneyland.
Even though the mountains took precedence, we ended up going swimming too, mainly because Nina was really looking forward to the water, so I included Lake Skadar in the program. The sea as such would be offered in the seaside resort of Drac, which is the closest from Tirana... which is why pretty much anyone who wants to get wet in the sea and doesn't want to drag themselves all the way down to southern Albania comes here. Moreover, even Drac itself didn't impress me, so we just drove through it and pulled our swimsuits up to the town of Vlora, where we liked the sandy and very gradual entrance to the water. And the fact that there was hardly anyone here in October :)
Of the towns, I would definitely highlight Kruje and Berat + Skadar and its surroundings certainly have a lot to offer. I'm a bit sorry that we didn't make it to Gjirokaster, which would have been an unnecessary detour for us. On the other hand, I would completely minimize the time spent in Tirana, I definitely don't need to come back here. If we were to return to Albania again when the kids are a bit older, I would like to see Lake Komani and the Holta and Osum canyons. But now with the little ones, some wading in a gorge or a three-hour boat ride didn't quite make sense for me and we preferred to keep it real :)
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