Road Trip Around Albania: How To Make The Most Out Of Your Visit To Europe’s Next Tourist Hotspot

After seeing all the viral posts on Tiktok and Instagram comparing Albania to the Maldives, and knowing how affordable travel in eastern Europe is, it wasn’t hard to convince a friend to come to Albania with me for a week. Visiting the first week of June, we were very early for the season and saw alot of beach bars still under construction in Ksamil (the viral destination spot of the country). The weather for the week sat comfortably between 26 and 31 degrees dependant on where we were. This seems to be typical temperatures for July and August aswell. Various waiters recommended we returned in September if we wanted to miss the crowds again.

I truly feel like we saw as much of the country as we could in a week. Without budgeting too intensely we spent under £700 each for the week long trip. In this post I’ll break down what you can expect to spend in Albania in 2024 staying in 3 star hotels, driving an automatic diesel, eating out twice a day and having a few beers along the way. Yes you could do it for even cheaper, but I don’t personally think it would be worth the cost saving.

If you’re under 21 and can’t drive, or are looking for a long weekend in Albania instead, I’ll be uploading a post soon with two alternative, shorter trip plans.

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Currency

In Albania cash is still king. Albania’s national currency is the Albanian Lek symbolised by ALL. Lek is not traded outside of Albania so you will need to get cash out when you have arrived in the country. I’d recommend doing this after you have left the airport. Although Euros are accepted pretty much everywhere, and card payments are available in a lot of places, paying in Lek is always preferred. So take any Euros you have lying around with you, and try your best to spend any cash you get out before you leave the country.

You can get Lek from ATM’s or from currency exchange shops which are common around Albania. ATM’s will charge you a fee ranging from 400 to 850 Lek per transaction, while currency exchanges typically charge no commission.

100 Lek is always equivalent to 1 Euro. So while the GBP to EUR exchange rate is £1 to €1.18, 100 ALL is £0.84 and £10 is just under 1200 ALL.

Driving in Albania

I really had the fear of god put into me before arriving in Albania about what driving there would be like. This trip was the first time myself or my friend had hired a car abroad and I can honestly say after the first 10 minutes of getting used to being on the wrong side of the road (and the car), driving in Albania was a breeze. There has been a large amount of investment in national infrastructure since tourism has started to increase in the country. This means lots of new roads, motorways and resurfacing of existing roads. There are still some unsurfaced gravel roads, but your hire car provider should show you where these are to tell you not to drive on them in order to prevent damage to the car.

Poor google maps does get a little confused sometimes, thinking you’re driving through farm land instead of on a highway. She also frequently confuses intersections for roundabouts and visa-versa. But we weren’t mislead by our directions ever, and road signage across the country is frequent and easy to read. I can’t comment on Apple Maps ability to navigate Albania but I expect its very similar.

We personally chose to hire an automatic to make our lives a little simpler, but if you’re comfortable driving abroad I’m sure hiring a manual would be a little cost saving.

Your car hire provider will include 3rd party comprehensive insurance within your hire fee, but they will also offer an additional insurance of around 15 euros a day. This is not required but recommended by them. We chose not to pay this because of the cover included in my travel insurance. Please do check what your travel insurance includes, print any documents and save contact details for your insurance provider before you travel.

The People

The national language of Albania is Albanian (unfortunately not available to learn on Duolingo), but a third of the population additionally speak English (primarily younger people) while half speak either Italian or Greek. We found people to be friendly, especially older people, and felt safe our whole trip. Female travellers, other than in Ksamil where their is the largest amount of foreign tourists, we didn’t feel like we received any unwanted attention from men. This honestly surprised us in the capital. Because of this I personally would feel comfortable travelling solo in Albania.

The Food

Eating out in Albania is really cheap in comparison to most of Central Europe. Most mains will be €7 – €12. The whole grilled sea bass pictured was only €9! Another night we had a grilled octopus tentacle for €12. Albania really does do seafood right, and for a price you won’t find anywhere else. You’ll also find tonnes of homemade Italian food. We will say we did get a little bit bored of pizza, pasta and fish by the end of the week though. Because of the balmy Mediterranean climate, Albanian farmland is abundant. You’ll see stalls on the side of the road across the country side selling honey, olive oil, fig jam, cherries and much more.

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Itinerary

Day 1: Fly into Tirana

Tirana is the country’s only airport, located about a 30 minute drive outside of the capital. We had an evening flight so decided to pick up our hire car from another location the following day. I’m glad of this as I think it would have been very overwhelming to drive away from the airport, and parking in the city centre of Tirana can be limited dependent on the street due to parking permit rules. We recommend getting a bus from the airport to the city for 400 ALL (€4). Buses can be found outside the airport, past all of the car hire providers. You can’t pay for a ticket beforehand – Just get on the coach and someone will come round for you to pay in cash or card once you leave the airport. Buses leave about once an hour (they seem to partially work on entirely their own schedule).

Whilst in Tirana at the start and end of our trip we stayed at a hostel called Vanilla Sky. A private double room was only 40 euros a night, and the hostel is right by a whole strip of bars and restaurants. We didn’t go for a night out whilst in Tirana, but there’s a massive range of bars and coffee shops open late. I also saw a club called The Magic Club on the same strip which was recommended by a local for its live music. Beers are usually around 300 ALL, and cocktails between 400 ALL and 1100 ALL dependent on how fancy a place you got to!

There isn’t a massive range of tourist attractions in Tirana, but enough to fill a day or two. Unfortunately the National Museum was temporarily shut whilst we were there, but this looks like the best thing to see if you want to learn more about the countries history whilst in Tirana. We did go to Bunk’art 2. There are hundreds of bunkers all over the country that were built during the cold war, in preparation for nuclear war. This bunker is underneath the government buildings in Tirana, next to Skanderbeg Square, and has been converted into a museum that focusses on the rise of the Police state in Albania during its time as a socialist state. Entry is 700 ALL (cash only) and we spent an hour and a half here. There are a few other specialised museums in the city you might like to visit. But I would definitely not bother going out of your way to see the Pyramid of Tirana – we walked past and were completely underwhelmed.

Day 2: Drive to Vlorë via Berat

The drive directly to Vlorë from Tirana is only a little over 2 hours, so we decided to detour to Berat for lunch on our way. Berat is an idyllic town in the centre of the country with a river running through it and rows of houses built into the side of the valley. We parked at the Castle at the top of the valley and walked down to the town but I would massively recommend against this. The walk back up to the castle was painful to say the least.

Fun Fact: On the way in and out of Berat you’ll see the Albanian NATO Tactical Airbase.

Day 3: Stay in Vlorë

We stayed for two nights in Vlorë at Le Palazzine for only €124, including breakfast for 2 people. We loved our stay here. The view from the hotel’s terrace across the bay was absolutely gorgeous and gave us ample opportunity for some golden hour photos. And we spent a whole day by the pool. Drinks at the bar are 300-600 ALL. The hotel restaurant served some great pizza’s for less than 1200 ALL, aswell as an Italian menu full of pastas. The rooms and the breakfast were basic but for the price we had nothing to complain about. The hotel also had free parking out front. Both of us said we would stay here again in a heartbeat.

Day 4: Drive to Ksamil via Himarë

I think my favourite part of the whole holiday was the drive we did from Vlorë to Ksamil. We drove through the Llegora National Park and then along the coast, up and down the mountains. On the way to Himarë for a obligatory lunch time stop, we drove past a viewing platform in the mountains. It was incredible looking out along the coastline while being up in the clouds – definition of awe-some.

Coming into Himarë I think it’s worth stopping at Himarë Castle. Less of a touristy spot, we gave 200 ALL to an old man in a car park to walk around Himarë Castle. Its incredible how untouched parts of the castle are and some of my photos from here are my favourite the trip.

Day 5: Stay in Ksamil

Ksamil made us very glad that we hadn’t come at the height of the summer season. I can imagine this place absolutely packed with tourists and extremely overwhelming. But if you’ve enjoyed a holiday in Malaga or something similar then this could be the place for you! Alongside the various beach bars and restaurants, there’s a handful of clubs in Ksamil that I’m sure you could have 1 or 2 good nights in when its busy.

We stayed at Vila Bello about a 15 minute walk from the beach front strip of Ksamil and couldn’t have wished for lovelier hosts and views. We paid around £200 to stay at for 3 with breakfast for two of us. Tucked away from the crowded beach bars during high season, with a new pool and the most incredible views, I would 100% recommend staying here if you come to Ksamil. Another 3 star lodging, the room and breakfast are basic, but with so many restaurant options in the town it didn’t matter one bit to us.

Day 6: Drive back to Tirana via Gjirokastër

A slightly spontaneous detour in our drive back to Tirana, Gjirokastër is a staple of Albanian history that shouldn’t be missed. A UNESCO Heritage Site, parts of the castle in this town have been dated back to 600 AC! The Italian architecture makes you completely forget you’re in Albania. My favourite thing in this town is the bunkers underneath the castle. Ordered to be built by the dictator in the 80’s, they took so long to build that he never saw them finished. These can’t actually be accessed from the castle, so head back down to Topulli Square and you can buy a ticket to a guided tour of them from the Municipality.

Day 7: Fly home from Tirana

Albania is one of the only countries that do not accept electronic boarding passes. Due to confusing communication from Ryanair, we payed for early check in order to print our boarding passes at home. This was completely unnecessary. Just ensure you’re at the airport at least 2 hours before your departure time and check in at the desk. They will print your boarding passes there with no issues.

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Budget

The below budget is an estimate based on the trip I did sharing double rooms with my friend. I definitely think you could do the trip for closer to £500 per person if you stayed at 2 star hotels and ate out less.

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This guide took quite some time to put together so if you’ve found it useful please let me know your favourite part in the comments. And if you’ve already been to Albania let me know about your experience! Is there anywhere else you would like a comprehensive travel guide like this for?

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