Tips to get your trip in Albania ready

Are you planning to visit Albania? This country is a real Mediterranean gem. Albania has become a more and more popular tourist destination in the last decade. If you don’t have enough information to prepare your trip the following tips will help you plan everything and enjoy your journey in Albania.

Getting there

There are two ways to get to Albania. Most people take a bus heading to Tirana’s bus station from the surrounding countries – Kosovo, Montenegro or Macedonia. From Prizen, Kosovo, the trip lasts 5 hours. From Podgorica, Montenegro, it’s about 4 hours 45 minutes. And last route is from Lake Orhid and the voyage is about 3 hours 30. The second route is by ferry from Greece and it takes an hour and 15 minutes to get to Saranda from Corfu.

Accommodations

From its Communist days, Albania is still somehow resort-free. There are nonetheless decent accommodations in most towns and hotels are growing in numbers. As for the price, there is no standard but what you would want to check is whether breakfast is included or not.

Language

The official language is Albanian. The second language is Italian, and you’ll see some minority speaking Greek. English is less popular, but it is getting common among young people. Also, most hotels employees speak English fluently.

Going around

Buses and mini buses are the main means of transport in Albania. Taxis are also cheap but, for longer distances, rent a car. There are also travel agencies you can contact for guided and organized tours. Payments are mostly done in Albanian Lek, the local currency.

Fun fact

Albania is a very safe country. What you must be careful about are only the appalling driving and robbers – just don’t show off your valuable items. A fun fact about Albania is that a nod means no and a headshake means yes!