Independent vacation in Albania. Tips and tricks. Albania on Your Own: From Horrible to Beautiful Albania Self-Drive Travel

Albania is the hidden gem of the Mediterranean. Relax on the clean beaches of the Adriatic, the tiny capital of Tirana, beautiful nature and cultural attractions, and also a generous cuisine. Everything about Albania from the intricacies of tourism: maps, tours, photos and reviews of tourists.

• Tours for the New Year Worldwide
• Last Minute Tours Worldwide

The most underexplored Balkan country by the general tourist community, Albania is nestled at the gentle waves of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, surrounded by its more popular coastal neighbors - Greece and Montenegro. For many years, Albania remained isolated from the world, which is why most people know annoyingly little about its rich cultural heritage and beautiful nature with picturesque canyons and beautiful clean beaches. The local population is hospitable in Balkan style, which is expressed in abundant and tasty food, more than reasonable prices for tours and a respectful, if not loving attitude towards everyone who has shown an interest in their humble country.

No wonder the slogan of the National Tourism Office reads: "Albania - new love in the Mediterranean." In a word, they are waiting for us there, which means we must go!

Regions and resorts of Albania

Time difference to Moscow

- 1 hour in winter −2 hours

• with Kaliningrad

• with Samara

• with Yekaterinburg

• with Omsk

• with Krasnoyarsk

• with Irkutsk

• with Yakutsk

• with Vladivostok

• with Severo-Kurilsk

• with Kamchatka

Climate

Albania has a mild Mediterranean climate with fairly hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The average temperature in July on the coast is +28 ... + 32 ° С, in January - +8 ... + 10 ° С. The high summer temperatures on the coast are easily tolerated by the constantly blowing Mediterranean breeze. The tourist season lasts from May to September, but it is also comfortable to be outdoors in April and October. There are about 300 sunny days a year. It rains in early spring and late autumn. In the mountains of Albania, the climate is much colder - in winter the temperature can drop to -20 ° С, and above 1000 m there is snow for most of the year.

Albania maps

Visa and customs

Every year in the summer, Russian citizens can enter Albania without a visa for up to 90 days. The rest of the year requires a visa and medical insurance for the entire duration of the trip.

It is allowed to bring in Albania any things for personal use, including jewelry, photo and video equipment. The import of local currency is strictly prohibited, but foreign currency can be taken with you without restrictions. Tobacco, alcoholic beverages and perfumes are allowed across the border in reasonable quantities: up to 200 cigarettes (or 50 cigars or 250 g of tobacco), up to 1 liter of strong alcohol, up to 2 liters of wine, from perfumery - a maximum of 50 ml of perfume or 250 ml of eau de toilette.

Pets will not be allowed in without a veterinary passport, microchip and a certificate of rabies vaccination.

It is forbidden to import weapons and explosives, drugs, pornography and any materials that offend national dignity. To export items made of precious metals, old coins and scrolls, antiques and art objects, you must present a document confirming the purchase. Antiquities - even stones from archaeological excavations - cannot leave the country: you will have to be content with copies of antique artifacts that are sold everywhere.

How to get to Albania

There are 5 airports in Albania, but only one - them. Mother Teresa, 11 km north-west of Tirana. There are no direct flights from Russia, but you can easily get there with transfers. The cheapest tickets from Moscow are offered by Aegean Airlines: departure from Domodedovo, connecting in Athens, travel time - from 5 hours 45 minutes. The same carrier has routes with two changes in tandem with Olympic Air: almost a day on the road with stops in Thessaloniki and Athens.

Police - 19, fire service - 18, ambulance - 17.

Albania beaches

The climate of Albania is subtropical Mediterranean, ideal for a beach holiday. Summers are dry, hot, sunny - you just need to stock up on SPF funds and choose a beach to your liking: on the Ionian Sea, the beaches are mostly rocky, popular with athletes and party-goers, on the Adriatic, they are sandy, suitable for families with children. Almost all of them are free, well-groomed, not too crowded and very picturesque.

One of the most famous resorts on the Ionian coast is Saranda, the beginning of the “Riviera of Flowers”. There are several pebble beaches within the city, the water in the bay is clean, there is a pedestrian promenade with cafes and souvenir shops nearby, the infrastructure is well-developed - there are amenities, sun loungers, and scooter rental.

Nearby is the town of Ksamil with a sandy beach and a dazzling blue sea - many wealthy Albanians build summer cottages here. Of the amenities, however, only sun loungers and umbrellas, but the coast is surrounded by a necklace of tiny uninhabited islets, to which you can easily swim by yourself or by catamaran.

Dhermi is an elite resort in the middle of a 5-kilometer beach, stretching between the Karaburun peninsula and the monastery of St. Theodore. During the day you can ride catamarans and jet skis, in the evening - dance at the beach parties. Vlore is a resort border between two seas: there are sandy, pebbly and rocky areas, noisy and quiet, equipped and untouched by civilization.

A set of an umbrella and a sunbed costs an average of 300 ALL per day.

The largest settlement on the Adriatic coast is Durres, a boiling seaport. It is better not to swim in the city, but in the suburbs, for example, in Cerreta, the water is clean, the sand is well-groomed, there are no crowds, the air is saturated with the aromas of pine trees. The Shengjin coast is also landscaped, framed by coniferous forests.

Not far from Tirana, Lalzit Bay splashes - warm, clear waters wash the coast of soft white sand. And Pogradec stands on Lake Ohrid, which in all respects resembles the sea: the coast is sandy, the water is clean, the bottom is gently sloping - expanse for kids and their parents.

The best photos of Albania

Diving

Albania is not as popular a dive destination as, for example, neighboring Italy and Greece, but this is a plus: there are few people, the water is clean and transparent, the prices are quite adequate. The most suitable time for diving is from May to September, but if you wish, you can dive at least all spring, summer and autumn.

The water temperature in summer is +23 ... + 26 ° С, visibility in most locations is 10-15 m, the main beauties are hidden at a depth of 20-30 m, some wrecks are even at 50 m.There are no strong currents, along the coast there are sites for both experienced divers and beginners. For the latter, by the way, there are several schools that teach in all popular areas with the issuance of official certificates.

Albania's underwater treasures include numerous caves, reefs and wrecks. The picturesque Cape Kepi Rhodonit near Shengjin, the sparkling waters of the Himara in the sun, tiny islands off the coast of Ksamil - everywhere you can observe marine life, study the details of the sandy or rocky bottom.

The most popular place among fans of snorkeling, scuba diving and freediving is the coast of Saranda: it is there that an Italian dry cargo ship, which sank during the Second World War, and a 70-meter Albanian minesweeper lie. The car ferry "Antonio" is flooded off the coast of Vlora, not far from Ksamil - an impressive Chinese frigate. And in the national marine park "Karaburun-Sazan" sharks, sea turtles, dolphins and monk seals are found.

Shopping

Albania cannot be called a shopaholic's paradise, but you can definitely find a couple of nice souvenirs. It is enough to look at local markets and colorful shops, bursting with all kinds of ethnicity. The first thing you need to pay attention to are artisan products: wooden and bone figurines, woven and knitted napkins, dishes, copper and silver jewelry.

The most original trinket is an ashtray in the form of a bunker: concrete structures similar to mushrooms and designed for one person are dug into the ground throughout the country - the dictator Khoja was obsessed with the threat from the outside and built 700 thousand mini-fortresses for his citizens.

The home collection of alcohol should be replenished with the prestigious award-winning Korcha beer, Skanderbeg cognac and Rakia vodka, reminiscent of either Georgian chacha or Arabian arak. Edible souvenirs include olives from Vlora, olive oil and aromatic spices from the south.

In Albania, they sell truly high-quality Christmas tree decorations: handmade from thin glass, painted with traditional patterns, costing 120-4000 ALL. Even more status gifts are luxurious carpets made since the 16th century (real ones - 16,000-30,000 ALL), national costumes (the same price) and exquisite jewelry. But copies of antiques, sold everywhere, are inexpensive - from 3500 ALL.

Most Albanian shops are open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, but the tourist-oriented outlets are open longer and receive visitors even on weekends.

Tirana has full-fledged shopping malls with international brands: for example, Tirana East Gate is one of the largest shopping centers in the Balkans. The old market with almost the lowest prices in the country is famous in Kruj. And the end of February is the time of great sales: discounts reach 70-85%!

Cuisine and restaurants of Albania

400 years of Ottoman domination were not in vain: Turkish traditions are at the heart of Albanian cuisine. Rewritten in a new way, combined with Italian and Greek subjects in a very unusual gastronomic mix. In the north, they prefer fish and vegetables, in the central regions - meat, in the south - seafood and plant products. All this is generously seasoned with aromatic spices.

A favorite breakfast is wheat or corn bread with butter, cheese or jam with a bite of yogurt, tea or coffee. For lunch, try lamb "tave kozi", stewed until soft and baked in a mixture of eggs and Greek yogurt, or homemade "chebapi" sausages made from ground beef and lamb. For dinner, seafood dishes are good: sea bass with tomatoes, brodetto soup with crabs, risotto with all kinds of additives that have recently plowed the coastal waters.

In Albania, there are cozy family restaurants with authentic cuisine and numerous restaurants with European, Italian, South American menus. A snack in fast food costs 500-750 ALL per person, a 3-course lunch in a mid-level establishment - 1100-1800 ALL for two, dinner in a good restaurant with wine - from 2500 ALL for two.

Among vegetables, boiled and canned corn is popular, from soups - a cold "tarator" on kefir, from farm products - sheep's milk, the basis for tender cheese. The best beer snack is fried kefte meatballs. For dessert, you can take flaky cannoli rolls from Sicily, caramel cream, kabuni rice pudding with sugar syrup, cinnamon and cloves, or the famous baklava. And from drinks it is obligatory to taste "boza" made of water, sugar and flour, wheat and corn.

Guides in Albania

Entertainment and attractions of Albania

Changing successive rulers, wars and truces, thaws and revolutions have left timeless traces on Albanian soil. More precisely, the sights: ancient amphitheaters and forums, medieval castles and fortresses, solemn mosques and monumental bridges.

The starting point is the main square of Tirana with government offices, a monument to the hero of the nation Skanderbeg (in his honor, in fact, the square is named), the Efem Bey mosque, symbolizing religious freedom, and a clock tower with an observation deck. The largest Catholic church in the country is the Cathedral of St. Paul with stained-glass windows depicting Mother Teresa and John Paul II.

You can see Tirana in all its glory from Daiti Mountain, 26 km east of the capital.

The "Pyramid" reminds of the sad past - a witness to the era of the dictator Khoja, and the ultra-modern Congress Palace returns to the present day. The Justinian fortress dates back to the 14th century, the stone Tabak-bridge with three arches from the 17th-18th centuries. You can scroll through the rest of the pages of Albanian history in the National Historical (official site in English) and the Archaeological Museum.

In Saranda, it is worth seeing the Butrint Museum-Reserve - an ancient city founded by the Greeks in the 7th century BC. e., with an amphitheater, baptistery, cathedral and other monuments of great empires. The oldest amphitheater in the Balkans flaunts in Durres: bloody battles were in full swing there already in the 1-2 centuries. The city itself began with a citadel founded in the 5th century by the Byzantine ruler Anastasius. The Fatih Mosque with a strict minaret was erected in honor of the Turkish sultan-conqueror, and only a few elegant columns remained from the Byzantine forum and rotunda.

The Venetian Tower, overlooking the citadel of Durres, is now home to a trendy bar.

In Shkodra, notable are the Rozafa fortress on an impregnable rock, the Lead Mosque (liquid lead as a binding solution, many domes and not a single minaret) and the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of Christ. The Muradiye Mosque, reminiscent of the temples of Istanbul, rises above Vlora, and in the vicinity there are the ruins of the ancient port of Apollonia. In Pogradets, noteworthy is the neo-Byzantine Resurrection Church, a snow-white mosque and the ruins of a citadel, in Gjirokastra there is a powerful fort with a weapons museum and the Palorto quarter with colorful buildings, and in Korca there is an Education Museum in the building of the first Albanian school.

Holidays and events

Albanians celebrate New Year with the whole world on January 1-2: textbook fireworks, parties and feasts - everything is as it should be. On the same dates, there is Calendar, a symbolic boundary of winter: once in his honor, round loaves were baked and all misfortunes were “burned” in ritual bonfires. Catholic Christmas on December 25 is also considered a national holiday: kids are waiting for gifts, the air is saturated with anticipation of a miracle.

January 11 - Day of the Republic, proclaimed after the expulsion of the Germans by the forces of the National Liberation Army. October 19 - Mother Teresa's Day: it was then that the legendary native of Albania was canonized. November 28 - Flag Day: red as the blood of patriots, with a black two-headed eagle in the middle. And on November 29, the country celebrates the liberation from the Nazi troops.

On December 5-6, Nicholas Zimny ​​is honored: during the day you need to observe a fast, so that the feast with the obligatory roasted lamb begins late at night.

Muslim and Christian holidays are celebrated in Albania: Navruz, Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Adha, Good Friday, Easter, Orthodox Christmas. Several times a year cultural and sporting events take place: in Tirana there is an opera and jazz festivals, in Gjirokastra once every five years there is a folklore festival with concerts, fairs and dance shows, and in the mountainous regions there is a large-scale climbing festival.

We left by car from Ulcinj (the southernmost city in Montenegro on the coast). Initially, they were going to go through Podgorica to Shkoder, but in one of the guidebooks I saw a direct road from Ulcinj to Shkoder.

I asked the locals - they said that the road was good, you can go without problems, but it’s better not to go there at all. Looking at my decisiveness, they advised me not to abandon the car, at least, since a new car with someone else's numbers can quickly be stolen. Poles lived in the apartment next to us, asked if they had been to Albania. It turned out that there were. They confirmed that the road from Ulcinj is good, but the road from Podgorica to Shkoder is very bad.

They also warned that at the entrance to Shkoder there is a one-way bridge, that is, you can only go in one direction, but on the other side they wait for the flow to end and only after that they start moving in the other direction. So, it was recommended that at this moment, while you are waiting for your turn, all doors and windows should be closed, because there are crowds of children who climb into cars and steal everything they can reach.

So we left in the morning following the signs for Vladimir. There are only 2 roads to the south from Ulcinj - to Ada-Boyana and Vladimir.

Very quickly we reached the Montenegro-Albania border from the Montenegrin side, the border town is colorfully called Sukobin. Queue for 3-4 cars, checking passports and documents for the car and in 10 minutes we go through border control.

Since I did not find clear information about the procedure for passing the Albanian border, I prepared myself as best I could, especially since people shared information that someone was not allowed in the car, someone was only with a group, and someone was not allowed at all. I printed a page on the visa regime from the website of the Albanian Foreign Ministry, kindly provided in the ru_travel community, introduced the coat of arms of Albania, highlighted the headings and text in different fonts, in short came up creatively, in the end it looked almost like an official document for border guards. DO NOT NEED!

On the Albanian side, the border town is called Muriqan. Having passed this town and another 10 kilometers, I began to strongly suspect that there would be no Albanian control. And so it turned out - the border control Montenegro-Albania is a joint point.

About navigation There is no electronic map of Albania! I have not seen a paper map of Albania - but I suspect it does not exist either. There are main roads - no detailing. I traveled using iGO, which knows only 2 roads, from Shkoder (Podgorica) to the center of Tirana and from the center of Tirana to the port of Duress.

That? that there are a lot of Mercedes on the roads - it's true. Not 90 and not 100% of course, but a lot.

From ramshackle to turbocharged compressors and others with them for a lot of money. Especially in Tirana. But in percentage terms, not Moscow, of course.

Traffic cops meet on the roads. I blinked once before the ambush with the radar, very handy. But I was surprised that out of 10 cars only one blinked.

Either it is not accepted by them, or perhaps severe sanctions for this, or they did not like my numbers (Croatian) with a sticker (RUS) - (but how can all this be seen from afar in motion?) - I don’t know in one word, but the fact is the fact that the warning is not very active, to put it mildly.

From border control to Shkoder - only 30 km, from Shkoder to Tirana another 100.

The road is normal by Russian standards, you can drive, in many places repairs are expanding the road and making 2-3 lanes in each direction. After 2 years I think the ride will be much more pleasant.

There is a road junction 20-30 kilometers before Tirana. Using iGO you need to go to the right, get to the highway to Durres and follow it to Tirana. But the sign shows that you have to go straight. I went straight along the sign and got to the very center. By the way, google already knows this road, found it when I returned. I didn’t know in the summer.

Tirana

We were in Tirana on a weekday, in the very center. The traffic is akhtung, but they climb more and more brazenly than ours and they beep a lot in the manner of the Arabs (but less so). Despite the fact that there are signs everywhere, everyone who is more impudent climbs on the rings. But again, our people can go, here you press / cut it, you can slip through there, they will cover it here. Nothing supernatural in principle. The only thing is that I have to be more careful, because it is in this country that I have a bad idea of ​​the showdown and the consequences of an accident in a rented car. Given that no one speaks English.

It is unrealistic to park in the center. Turning three circles around the central square and the surrounding area, I found two places in the taxi rank. Parked there. As soon as I got out of the car, the men from the newsstand began to actively explain to me in Albanian that I had put the car in the taxi rank and that it was not necessary to do that and it would be very bad. Then one saw a RUS sticker on the bumper and said - well, you are Russians - you can, OK, in short. Despite the fact that we were warned about the possibility of car theft, no one wanted to stay in it. We left the car and went to see the sights.

We looked, took pictures, bought souvenirs. The city is noisy, everyone is shouting, running somewhere, throwing themselves under the wheels. After walking around the center, we decided to get out on the sly. Fortunately for me, the car was still standing in two hours. We plunged and along the "Durres highway" moved towards the coastal Durres. The Tirana-Durres road was built by Italians 30 years ago and is in excellent condition. 2 lanes in 2 directions with reinforced concrete divider. Free. Despite the fact that at that moment a terrible downpour began, I tumbled 140-150 on it on my little Chevrolet Aveo, overtaking ML and other compressors. Duress is only 30 km away.

Duress

Large port and resort town. Since there is no map, I just recommend that you see how it looks through GoogleEarth before the trip. The highway goes all the way to the sea and then a roundabout to the port (we don't need it - although someone may need it) and to the resort coast. It is on this embankment that the entire center of local tourism is located, many hotels and houses and a narrow beach with sand, but very long.

The group got hungry, it was decided to go somewhere to eat. In the first place we faced a problem - only Albanian and Italian languages. The situation is the same in second place. And in 2 more the same way. We sat down - the menu is in Albanian and Italian. We decided not to experiment to order a pizza. In Italian, in principle, you can understand what tomatoes and some other things are. Tea and dessert were a little more complicated. Intuitively, several times I understood what the waitress wanted from us in Albanian, after which she took me for a person who actually understood Albanian, but pretended not to understand. And she spoke Zadornovu with me in Albanian slowly with good diction and with hope all the time she looked straight into my eyes in search of a spark of understanding. He answered her - "yeah okay" - and everyone was happy.

Durres is a resort for Albanians and Italians. Which, as I understand it, are very popular here. And also for the Kosovar Albanians. Indeed, as someone wrote, there are really graffiti on the walls of Kosova. Cafes and hotels - Kosova, Prishtina and declensions with these words. But I did not see aggression, I did not feel anxiety. In summer, there is definitely a stormy life here, maybe everything is completely different. Of course, September there is no longer a season at all, all the buildings on the beach are being rolled up, there are practically no people. But the water is much warmer than in Montenegro and Croatia at the same time. We wandered around Durres a little. Hanging out on the beach. Personally, I wanted to stay here for the day, but the women did not really like it there, and in the evening we moved back towards Montenegro.

At the exit from Durres on the highway, it is not clear why (the road repair was completed) there was a sign 40 - I was driving at least 90 for which I received a signal from the traffic cops. I already started to stop and drive up to them on the side of the road - after seeing my Croatian license plates, and quite possibly an RUS sticker - both of them began to actively wave without saying a word - go through, go through. For myself, I concluded that the sticker helped again.

The way back is no problem. The only thing I can warn about the culture of driving. If a car rushes head-on in the opposite direction, this does not mean that the driver has everything under control and he definitely has time to complete the maneuver. rather, on the contrary, you just need to slow down and go a little to the side of the curb. Such moments are constant, in principle, it's okay, you just need to keep in mind.

During the whole trip, not a single European number, except for Italian ones, was met, everyone else, except us, seems to know more about Albania and do not go there. There are a lot of Italian numbers, and it is felt that Italians are very aggressively pouring money into the Albanian economy.

Everyone looked with great interest at our sticker and the people inside the car with cameras and cameras, in the eyes of the traffic cops there was more than once a desire to stop us just for the sake of communicating, since the representatives of law and order still restrained themselves from this.

On the way back, on the above-described bridge in Shkodra, they personally saw how the children jumped on the step of a large truck and pulled out something through the window and ran away from the apparently non-local Albanian driver, who was stunned by surprise.

On the way in the morning it was raining heavily and there were no children. From Shkoder to the border another 30 km and in small settlements you can buy souvenirs if you forgot or decided to buy something else.

A hint for souvenir hunters, if there is no desire to go inland, it is enough to cross the border, go 5-10 km to buy a T-shirt with the Albania inscription and quickly return. It is quite safe for yourself, but at home you can tell anything you want.

Going to Montenegro the same checkpoint and one more seal and another 2 euros were asked.

I also forgot - when entering Albania, they gave me a piece of paper for the car and a completely different person from our company was registered as the driver. This is the question of how carefully people are checked in passports and in reality. I handed it over when I returned.

Here's a short trip to Albania.

A summary of myths on the Internet and comments from myself (an exclusively subjective view, of course).

1) 99.9% of Albanians do not know any other language except Albanian - absolutely true. On the coast and in the tourist industry, they also speak Italian.

2) the dominance of the Kosovar Albanians - did not notice

3) they do not drive very safely - but it is quite acceptable for themselves and sometimes even very familiar.

4) they treat Russians well - it is true, although I did not see insane joy in the eyes of the Arabs, but at least never aggressively, that's for sure. RUS stickers at least did not damage, but a couple of times they definitely helped

5) Tirana is a must-visit - in my opinion, no

6) Durres is a must-visit - if you lie for a few days, then it is quite possible, at least unusual. If possible, I would spend more time there.

I have good news for Balkan lovers! In addition to visa-free Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia, Albania becomes visa-free for six months 🇦🇱 From April 1 to October 31, 2019 Russians and Belarusians Albania cancels visas, at the border you only need to show your passport.

April visa-free to Albania means you can capture a bright and not yet hot spring, take a ride for a day on May holidays from Montenegro with or by bus from Olimpus.me 😎 You can also take a regular bus, in summer there is a bus from Kotor to Tirana via Budva, see the schedule at busticket4.me


Note that Albania does not need a visa all year round Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Armenians and Azerbaijanis👌 You can stay in this country for tourist purposes up to 90 days within six months. The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania decided that Russians and Belarusians do not need a visa in 2019 from April 1 to October 31 at the end of February. Below is a screenshot.


This visa-free measure from April 1 is aimed at increasing the flow of tourists to Albania. But in March or November, the Russians and Belarusians will be helped to get to Albania either by an open multishengen or national. visa

Excursion to Albania from Montenegro

You can go from Montenegro in my company, I drive for 1 day to Shkoder, its surroundings and a chic eco-restaurant, in time it is about 12 hours of the trip💃 Routes to other cities - Kruj, Tirana, Berat are discussed in advance, and are possible with 1 overnight stay.

Who will rest in the south of Albania, I advise you to go to, and for the sake of white sand go to Ksamil beach

From Montenegro to Albania by car

If you want to travel on your own in Albania, rent a car through. If you go from Montenegro, then I advise the service MyRentaCar🚙 The main thing is to indicate that you need green cardboard (a green card for traveling outside the country), and let them indicate in the contract that they are allowed to leave the borders of Montenegro and put a seal on this place! 🚦🚘

About the quality of the roads, they improve every year, I'm delighted, to be honest. According to the rating of roads, Albania is in 58th place, immediately behind it is Norway, but Montenegro is in 88th place ... And the Russian Federation is in 114th place. Research.

Border of Montenegro and Albania in summer it will be in traffic jams, you can stand for half an hour and a half in one direction, which will ruin your mood. Plus hellish heat! How to be?

• Leave as early in the morning as possible, not on weekends
• In July August, I advise you not to go to the border Muriqan - Sukobin, try an alternative border less machine-packed - Bozaj near the Skadar lake. There is a wide track, all the same, quickly drive up to Shkoder.
• Documents for renting a car will be issued by a rentakar, Russian licenses are suitable, but some Albanian border guards may demand to show international rights, a smile and a neat bribe "I want to treat you to coffee" in the region of 10 euros will help
• Make sure that stamps are put on passports at all borders back and forth, especially when returning to Montenegro, you need a 100% entry stamp so that later there will be no problems and a fine at the airport.
• Do not forget about electronic registration at the place of rest in Montenegro, it is done at the hotel, you pay a tax of 1 euro, or go to the Info point yourself and pay the "boravishna tax" within 24 hours upon arrival. More details.

Travel Albania it is safe enough by car, if Google Maps or Maps.me lead you astray, the locals will always give you a hint, at least with gestures, at least with a residual knowledge of the Russian language since the Soviet era, and young people know English and Italian quite well.

What can scare you - very big traffic jams and chaos in Tirana and other major cities, be careful. Before walking, leave your car only in the official parking lot, often they take euro coins instead of Albanian leks. To drive Tirana from one side to the other, I usually need 1 - 1.5 hours, this is very tiring ... In Shkoder, the situation is simpler, but there a lot of cyclists on the roads who will have to go around and wonder how they are allowed to go in parallel with the cars.

Roads in Albania I am delighted every year more and more! The country is actively developing and rebuilding. Look at this chic Rrapsh Serpantine in the mountains and villages ... This is a two-lane road with high bumpers and perfect asphalt! It was built in December 2016, so few people know about it, it connects 2 borders of Montenegro, a very picturesque route in the canyon of the Prokletije mountains from Lake Skadar to Gusinje - on the map

Attractions in Albania: what to see

It is a never-ending topic of what to see in Albania, given its size and variety of natural beauty and architecture. There is the Adriatic and Ionian Sea, beach holidays are developed in some places, beautiful mountain landscapes, emerald rivers and lakes, interesting and dissimilar cities. For example, the old part is protected by UNESCO. It is called the city of a thousand windows


The city will be interesting in the south of Albania Gjirokastra with amazing architecture, also included since 2005 in the UNESCO list.


Of the resorts near the Ionian Sea, I will single out Saranda and Vlore , there are many beaches in Albania too, if you eat in spring or autumn, take a look at the beach Ksamil, I suppose in the summer - it is crowded and the effect of the "Albanian Maldives" is lost. And the devilish sand there is magnificent! Opposite there are many small islands where you can sail by catamaran boat. By the way, many Europeans fly to the island of Corfu, then take a ferry and after 20 minutes. to be in Saranda, because vacation in Albania will cost several times cheaper.

Nearby, across the hill, there is Lake Butrint with oyster and mussel farms, as well as the 3rd attraction under UNESCO - the national park and ruins of the city of Butrint .

Closest city to Montenegro Shkoder will surprise you with the colorful Arbat in the center, a mixture of religions, the Rozafa fortress, the Mes bridge. Recently I wrote a detailed article and where to buy an excursion from Montenegro to Albania

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Capital Tirana will delight you with cool restaurants, cheap shopping, museums, brightly colored houses, the Enver Hoxha bunker, the cable car on Mount Daiti and much more. This is a secular capital with the remaining Soviet flavor, there is little authenticity in Tirana ... Follow it to the city Kruja, which has a cool antique market, and if you want to go to the sea, then in Durres or the nearest resorts on the Adriatic.

- a country still little studied by tourists. It is located on the shores of the Ionian and Adriatic Seas and the sun almost always shines here. So if you are choosing a beach holiday in Albania, where is the best place to go? - this is the main question that will worry you.

The best Adriatic beaches

The Adriatic coast of Albania starts from the border with Montenegro and extends to the Vlora Bay. In this bay, sheltered from the wind, there are several convenient beaches. There is something here for tourists with different hobbies.

Cozy lagoons attract lovers of ecotourism, here you can observe Albanian nature and relax "savage". Best suited for ecotourism is the small fishermen village of Shengjin. All conditions for tourists are created here, as close as possible to natural ones. You can go fishing, rent equipment and eat natural foods. For tourists who prefer excursion vacations, trips to various historical sites will be offered - the muse and age-old fortresses will open their doors to them.

On the coast of Vlora, there are comfortable beaches with a well-developed infrastructure - there are many bars, cafes and restaurants, and other entertainment spots. All beaches are surrounded by beautiful pine forests. Here you can easily rent a room in one of the local hotels.

Another popular resort in Albania is Durres. It is located near the capital of Tirana. There are many different entertainment venues and comfortable hotels. On the other hand, there is a large port in this city, which scares off many tourists.

Popular beaches of the Ionian coast

In this part of Albania, the sea is much deeper than in the Adriatic part. Therefore, the rest here is suitable for extreme lovers. There are mostly small pebbles on the beaches, so it is not very convenient to relax with children. But the infrastructure is well developed - there are many entertainment venues, cafes and restaurants for every taste.

For tourists who prefer a calm and measured rest, the town of Saranda is suitable. From the coast, you can admire Corfu, and a trip to Butrint, the ruins of an ancient city, is perfect for entertainment.

For a comfortable stay, head to Dhermi. Olives and citrus fruits are grown here, so you can enjoy fresh fruits. There are many comfortable hotels and expensive restaurants in Dhermi, the infrastructure of the town is constantly expanding.

An independent vacation in Albania will give you many interesting adventures, since only such a vacation involves close communication with the local population, riding public transport, planning a route and finding it difficult to navigate when the help of people around is simply needed. Perhaps this is the only type of recreation that allows the traveler to plunge into the life of the country, to see the real inhabitants.

An independent trip to the country will also allow you to save on many services that travel agencies take from tourists (after all, they need to pay their employees' salaries from something).

So, I offer several options for saving on your own vacation:

1. Early booking of hotels.

As you know, the most inexpensive and good hotels are sorted out by tourists long before the start of the high season; by May, only the most expensive or the worst ones remain, in which rest is not a rest. Thus, by contacting one of the booking sites 3-4 months before the trip, you can save up to 30-40% on the hotel. The largest selection of hotels and villas is offered by booking.com, where you can also read the most adequate reviews written only by people who lived in the hotel, and not by travel agencies or ordered users.

2. Choice of air travel with low-cost companies or with a transfer.

As you know, European airlines on their websites offer to buy tickets long before the flight date. It often happens that the earlier the ticket is bought, the lower the price. Moreover, these airlines do not charge for meals on board. And why is it needed if you fly to Tirana for a maximum of 2-3 hours? From experience I can say that flights with short connections will also cost 20 percent or more cheaper. Of course, this option is ideal if tourists do not go on vacation with children or huge luggage.

For example, a flight Kiev-Tirana-Kiev in the middle of summer with a transfer in Istanbul for two adults costs $ 400. You will need to spend about three hours in the transit terminal of Ataturk Airport, but the savings are + $ 200-300!

You can play with such flight options for a long time, there will definitely be an ideal option.

3. Get to Albania by car.

An even more profitable option is to drive your car. The distance Moscow-Tirana of 2,600 km can be covered in about 2-3 days, while spending about $ 500 on gasoline (diesel and gas will be even cheaper). It is especially advantageous to travel in this way for a family of 4 people. Of course, you will need to issue a transit visa and pay for an overnight stay for 1-2 nights (not necessarily an expensive hotel, about 20 euros per person), but on vacation you will not need to spend money on a rented car (about 40 euros per day). If you go from Ukraine, the cost of the road is reduced by two (!) Times.

4. Move between cities by local minibuses.

The minibus network is very large. On the "car", as the minibus in Shkodra is called, you can travel quite long distances for 1-2 euros.

Traveling on your own is going to be the biggest adventure for anyone who has only traveled with tour operators before. The main thing is to plan everything thoroughly (tickets, hotel, visa). Everything else should be decided on the spot and not worry that everything does not turn out as planned. Nothing is more beautiful than sudden decisions, unexpected pleasant surprises of weather and nature!

home » Turkey » Independent vacation in Albania. Tips and tricks. Albania on Your Own: From Horrible to Beautiful Albania Self-Drive Travel