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A Guide To Transport In Albania [UPDATED FOR 2025]

Nic Hilditch-Short - Last updated on January 18th, 2025 at 8:43 am

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A COMPLETE guide to Transport in Albania.

When we made our plans to travel through the Balkans we had heard many tales about Albania, mostly how scary it was and how hard it was to travel around. That timetables don’t exist and unless you have a car or are a local then you are basically screwed! I’ll be honest, the public transport in Albania didn’t seem promising!

We were a little nervous when it came to travel in Albania given what we had heard and also a little worried that we would just have to skip through the capital and be on our way, missing out on really seeing it.

But after an amazing time spent in Albania in which we fell in love with the country we are here to say: It is completely possible on public transport. So, I’ve put together this complete guide to not only public transport in Albania, but I’ve given a rundown of other options too, such as renting a car, hitchhiking and the famous furgons!

Right, let’s crack on with our guide to transport in Albania, should we?!

Chapters

  1. How To Organise Albania Transport - Quick Answers:
  2. Transport in Albania. How To Get Around Albania.
  3. Public Transport In Albania: Local/Short-Distance
  4. Public Transport In Albania: Long-Distance Transport
  5. Hitchhiking In Albania
  6. Taking A Taxi In Albania
  7. Renting A Car In Albania
  8. Final Thoughts On Public Transport In Albania.
A guide to transport in Albania: Its not impossible but it is an experience!, bogove, berat, hitchhike, hitch hike, hitchhiking, is it safe, what do I do, public transport, taxi, scam, help, how to get around Albania, backpacking in albania, tirana, skhoder, berat, furgon, mini bus, timetable, local bus, cost, price, how to, sights from the window, village, real life, off the beaten track, off the beaten path, europe, eastern europe.
Albania is an interesting and worthwhile country to visit.
Image: The Roaming Renegades

How To Organise Albania Transport – Quick Answers:

What is the best way to get around Albania on a budget?

We recommend using pre-bookable buses and organising your trip online. This way you can work to a timetable and actually know when your bus will be leaving and arriving!

What is the BEST way to travel around Albania?

By far the best transport in Albania is car rental. The country is a beautiful tapestry of villages, mountains, beaches and many of the highlights can be awkward to reach. By renting your own car you can make your own route, stop off whenever you want and hit up those epic off the beaten track areas without having to worry about unreliable public transport.

Transport in Albania. How To Get Around Albania.

So, you wanna know all about the transport in Albania.

Well, I will tell you this. It’s a little bit chaotic, to say the least, but it’s well worth it. I came across a few people who were so put off by the reputation of public transport in Albania that they actually avoided coming to this wonderful country. Now that’s a crying shame if you ask me and the thing is, in reality, it isn’t all that difficult.

The second thing you should know is that in the past few years, public transport in Albania has significantly changed and much more of it is pre-bookable online. The first time we visited this wasn’t the case at all and my biggest advice when it comes to navigating the public transport in Albania is to utilise internet bookings as they are your most reliable.

That said, what I love about Albania is that it’s a chaotic country that reminds me very much of Asia. It’s a far cry from Western Europe and it’s what makes it so special. It’s almost trapped in a timewarp where you’ve got to just let things go a little!

In Albania, you have to go with the flow a little, let things happen and leave a little bit more time to get anywhere…no matter how close you think it is and even if it is pre-booked!

There are several main methods of transport around Albania, probably even more than I’ve mentioned here if you fancy jumping in the back of a horse and cart.

But these are the most common!

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Public Transport In Albania: Local/Short-Distance

Ok, so you’re probably wondering, “Can I get around Albania without a car?” The short answer is hell yeah you can. The long answer is, do you enjoy standing around a sketchy area of town looking at your watch whilst pacing up and down? You’re planning on visiting Albania, of course, you bloody do!

So, here I will give you a rundown of the different methods of public transport in Albania.

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The face of two people sat next to a chicken for way too long!
Image: The Roaming Renegades

Furgons

The “furgon” is pretty much unique to Albania, although there are several similar services run in different countries like the Dolmus in Turkey and the mini buses in Moldova.

Basically, a furgon is an unlicensed minibus that runs untimetabled routes from town to town, city to city. They usually don’t do long distances and it is more of a local service, calling at tiny villages and even just single houses on the way from place to place.

The furgon is an experience in itself, it’s filled with local people getting on what could often be the only service of the day or one of maybe 2 or 3. They pile in and bring all sorts with them, chickens, haybales, farming equipment, we’ve seen it all!

Then you also get these old women who get off in literally the middle of nowhere with nothing, almost inexplicable really and it leaves you wondering where the hell she’s even going!

The furgon takes a rough route that can change at any time, but if the driver knows where you are going you will eventually get there. Emphasis on eventually! He will often take random stops to run errands, drive into villages way off course to drop people off and even drop people off at their front door.

A guide to transport in Albania: Its not impossible but it is an experience!, bogove, berat, hitchhike, hitch hike, hitchhiking, is it safe, what do I do, public transport, taxi, scam, help, how to get around Albania, backpacking in albania, tirana, skhoder, berat, furgon, mini bus, timetable, local bus, cost, price, how to, sights from the window, village, real life, off the beaten track, off the beaten path, europe, eastern europe.
The expected pace of travel in Albania!
Image: The Roaming Renegades

There will be a constant soundtrack of Albanian music blasting out and in the summer heat, it can be stifling! But, it is a proper authentic experience and you will meet some characters along the way for sure as well as seeing rural Albanian life up close!

Furgons can be flagged down from the side of the road and you can stop literally anywhere, just let the driver know either by shouting or asking him when you get on if you are unsure. It is best to ask locals where the furgon will pass and roughly what time to expect it.

But don’t make plans around it actually turning up at that time! You also pay when you get off and usually, the price is really very cheap, but again, check before with a local so you have enough money!

As with anything in Albania these routes are not listed anywhere online, you will have to ask around. The best place is to go to one of the bus stations, usually a chaotic but somehow organised affair, and someone will know.

Albanians are the most helpful people ever and the guys in the bus station know everything there is to know about transport in Albania. It’s just that not all of them speak English!

public transport albania renting car guide transportation village
The views from the bus window are worth the effort.
Image: The Roaming Renegades

Local buses

You might have thought that at least the city buses run on a timetable… no, not even these do! They run whenever the bus gets full! So the best advice is to get on the one with the most people, even though often at home we would do the opposite!

Outside each bus there will often be a guy touting for business and trying to fill up the bus, they will continue to pack more and more people in before finally setting off. So sometimes you might be in for a wait.

If you are getting the bus to catch a flight or so something very time specific then set off early or consider getting a taxi!

A guide to transport in Albania: Its not impossible but it is an experience!, bogove, berat, hitchhike, hitch hike, hitchhiking, is it safe, what do I do, public transport, taxi, scam, help, how to get around Albania, backpacking in albania, tirana, skhoder, berat, furgon, mini bus, timetable, local bus, cost, price, how to, sights from the window, village, real life, off the beaten track, off the beaten path, europe, eastern europe.
Buses here are not all that bad if you get on a larger one.
Image: The Roaming Renegades

Many cities don’t have a central bus station for the local city buses but they set off around the main squares and main streets. Again, this information will be nowhere online, so whichever city you are in then just ask and people will help.

Your hostel or accommodation is the best place to up-to-date local information here.

For Tirana, the buses go mostly around the main square and outside the museum. In Berat, it is outside of the main church and Mosque. In Shkoder it is around the main roundabout.

You don’t need to buy a ticket before getting on the bus either. The guy touting for business will come around and sell tickets. They are usually at a set price regardless of how far you are going. Usually very very cheap, around about the 20 or 30 mark which is about 20p!

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Our Favourite Backpacks

osprey backpack

Osprey Farpoint/ Fairview

We’ve used the Osprey Farpoint/ Fairview for all our backpacking adventures over the past 5 years and highly recommend them!

The main area of the pack opens like a suitcase, which is great for using packing cubes to keep everything organised and they even come with a detachable day pack!

public transport albania renting car guide transportation lake
Not a bad local commute
Image: The Roaming Renegades

Sort Your Tours & Tickets Out

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Best Place to Organise Your Tour & Much More

A great site to check out if you’re looking to book tickets or organise a tour is Viator.

Viator often offers different tours to other companies, ones that aren’t otherwise available or have tickets still on sale when they have sold out. It’s the company we trust the most when it comes to booking top quality, unique and exciting tours when travelling.

Public Transport In Albania: Long-Distance Transport

When travelling from major city to major city in Albania you can get on coaches and minibuses. The real benefit here to using these is that they are pre-bookable online in 2024. This is a major change from our first visit in 2016 and makes using public transport in Albania a hell of a lot easier.

Most of the main bus stations in Albania are a little way out of the city centre and are absolute chaos! Buses and coaches everywhere with people shouting different city names from everywhere! At first glance, it can be quite overwhelming and off-putting.

However, if you’ve arranged your bus beforehand then you’ve no need to worry, you’ve secured your seat and all you need to do is skirt around the chaos and hop on your bus!

Search For Reliable Public Transport in Albania Here:

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The people here are really helpful in the bus stations in Albania if you do need any help finding your bus and in our experience, they don’t rip you off. You’ll usually find a guy shouting your destination in a croaky voice somewhere in the station, so just head in his direction and he should point you where to go!

Sometimes cities also have more than one bus station, so be sure to plan in advance and head to the right one on your booking. Your accommodation should be able to help you out but you can also check on your 12go booking for the address of the bus station.

We recommend turning up early for your buses, especially if you’re travelling to another country. When you’re travelling within Albania, you’re always going to have to add extra time on!

Even with pre-booked buses the drivers will try to get more customers, so you might still have to wait a while too, so book with plenty of time to spare if you’ve got to be at your destination for a certain time.

As with all types of transport in Albania, if you are on the last minute, you can still pay on the bus. But we do recommend booking online beforehand if you can.

Either way, a guy will come around and check your tickets or take payment. Most stations don’t have an office or pretty much anything, they are often just a carpark with buses flying around you!

A guide to transport in Albania: Its not impossible but it is an experience!, bogove, berat, hitchhike, hitch hike, hitchhiking, is it safe, what do I do, public transport, taxi, scam, help, how to get around Albania, backpacking in albania, tirana, skhoder, berat, furgon, mini bus, timetable, local bus, cost, price, how to, sights from the window, village, real life, off the beaten track, off the beaten path, europe, eastern europe.
The long-distance buses will take you to places like Berat.
Image: The Roaming Renegades

Even the long-distance coaches and mini buses can be flagged down at the side of the road and you can also you can ask the driver to drop you literally anywhere along the route. So if you are heading to a town near a major city it might be easier to mention it to your driver, sometimes they will even take a detour to drop you off.

Of course, this also means that even with pre-booked transport, you can’t be sure when it will arrive at your destination!

So bring snacks!

The BEST Way To Book Your Transport!

12Go Asia

12go Transport Online Booking

12Go is the best place to book your flights, trains, buses, ferries, coaches and more online.

At The Roaming Renegades we love 12Go and trust them for all our bookings.

Hitchhiking In Albania

Hitchhiking in Albania is a legitimate way of getting around! I mean, you see old women doing it all the time, it really is the norm and quite easy to do! In fact, its another reason why Albania is one of the top destinations for backpackers.

I was a little reluctant to give it a go at first even though I had always wanted to. I wasn’t sure Albania was the place to try it but it is strange how perception changes once you visit somewhere. The name Albania before felt scary and aggressive, now when I say it I am filled with the images of friendliness and beauty!

A guide to transport in Albania: Its not impossible but it is an experience!, bogove, berat, hitchhike, hitch hike, hitchhiking, is it safe, what do I do, public transport, taxi, scam, help, how to get around Albania, backpacking in albania, tirana, skhoder, berat, furgon, mini bus, timetable, local bus, cost, price, how to, sights from the window, village, real life, off the beaten track, off the beaten path, europe, eastern europe.
Hitchhiking in Albania is a great way to cover awkward short distances
Image: The Roaming Renegades

There is no science to hitchhiking, it is just a game of chance, but hey, it’s a great way to cheaply travel around Europe.

Make sure you position yourself in a safe place where you are not in a blind spot or on a corner and also where you can back off the road or get back to somewhere crowded if needs be.

But also consider how visible you are too so you give your potential lift a chance to see you and way you up. Also, get on the right road for your destination, it’s no good standing at the opposite end of town to where you want to get to! Standing near a sign pointing to the town you want to go to is also useful.

Also often when hitchhiking you will have to do a journey in several cars instead of just one, so knowing what towns are in the direction you want to head in can be helpful. Be sure to leave yourself enough time and set off early as it can sometimes take a while to get a ride.

When you are in the car try to get to know the kind folks who picked you up. Not everyone in Albania speaks good English but they will give it a good go! Also, above all else make sure to listen to your instincts and if a lift doesn’t feel right then just let them go!

We recommend hitchhiking when you’re making short journeys in Albania, that’s when it’s considered very much the norm here. If you’re heading on a long trip from one city to another, it can be unreliable and painstakingly slow, so book your bus online instead.

Given how cheap public transport is in Albania, it’s not worth the risk. But when you’re headed from an off-the-beaten-track place, like when we visited Bogove waterfall near Berat, then it’s often your only option if you miss the bus (spoiler alert: we did!)

Taking A Taxi In Albania

I often don’t advocate using taxis, especially when you are travelling! But the transport in Albania is unreliable at best and if you are on a timescale then they are certainly an option.

A word of advice though. If you plan on getting a taxi then ask your hostel or hotel how much it should cost first and agree that price with the taxi or get them to ring it for you and agree on the price. Taxis in Albania are cheap though and certainly a better option than missing your flight!

Renting A Car In Albania

With public transport in Albania being a little on the unreliable side, you might be instead thinking about renting a car in Albania. Well, what a great idea that is! Getting around Albania in a car is the best way to take in all the incredible places along the way you’d just speed right past on a bus.

Take in the villages, the isolated beaches, and the imposing mountain passes all in your own time.

We just love exploring a country on our own terms with our own transport, just like we did when we motorbiked through Vietnam. In fact, we’d go as far as to say that when it comes to transport in Albania, renting a car is the best way to get around. This way you’ll see so much more and those out-of-the-way places are that much easier to reach.

We recommend using Discover Cars as they are a super reliable company that allows you to compare different prices so you get the best value.

They also allow you to organise everything before you travel and make sure you’re covered for things like breakdowns and insurance.

A guide to transport in Albania: Its not impossible but it is an experience!, bogove, berat, hitchhike, hitch hike, hitchhiking, is it safe, what do I do, public transport, taxi, scam, help, how to get around Albania, backpacking in albania, tirana, skhoder, berat, furgon, mini bus, timetable, local bus, cost, price, how to, sights from the window, village, real life, off the beaten track, off the beaten path, europe, eastern europe.
The roads in Albania have some incredible views.
Image: The Roaming Renegades

Get Insured Before Your Albania Trip

Albania is a super safe and fun place to travel to, 100% highly recommended by The Roaming Renegades. But ya know what we also recommend? Always get some good quality travel insurance before you leave home. This way you can enjoy those bumpy Albanian roads without worrying about unplanned spinal surgery!

SafetyWing Travel Insurance

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SafetyWing

Travel insurance is one of those annoying things that no one likes to think about, let alone pay for, when you’re planning your next trip. It can also be bloody annoying as a backpacker/long-term traveller to find affordable coverage that meets the itinerary-less lifestyle (*cough* World Nomads *cough*).

So instead of getting subpar travel insurance, now we just always go with  SafetyWing. It takes like 5-10 minutes to purchase your policy and essentially functions as a monthly subscription plan with near-global coverage!

Final Thoughts On Public Transport In Albania.

So, there you have it. We’ve covered different aspects of transport in Albania, including those infamous Albanian buses! Whether you opt to go for public transport in Albania or get your own car, you’re in for a real treat and one of our favourite ever countries.

Remember, be flexible and book as much online as you can when it comes to transport in Albania. Getting around Albania on public transport is easily doable and we managed to get to some amazing places all over the country that way.

But you do have to be patient, open-minded and not too fussed about time. If you approach it in a relaxed and fun way then you’ll have a great time on the unique and chaotic Albanian transport system!!

Good luck!

Have you ever travelled through Albania on public transport?

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A guide to transport in Albania: Its not impossible but it is an experience!, bogove, berat, hitchhike, hitch hike, hitchhiking, is it safe, what do I do, public transport, taxi, scam, help, how to get around Albania, backpacking in albania, tirana, skhoder, berat, furgon, mini bus, timetable, local bus, cost, price, how to, sights from the window, village, real life, off the beaten track, off the beaten path, europe, eastern europe.
Albania is certainly worth the effort!
Image: The Roaming Renegades

Buy Us a Coffee

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A few people have asked us recently how they could help us out on our travels, so we thought we’d add our very own tip jar for those who can’t support us by clicking through our affiliate links.

We work hella hard on this site to bring you all the most epic and up-to-date travel info from around the planet. So if you’ve enjoyed what you’ve seen, then we’d appreciate anything, no matter how small, you can contribute as a thank you.

Above all, thank you for being here and reading our content, it means the world to us.

Nic & Paul

Frequently Asked Questions

Hmm, well it does in the fact that it can essentially get you anywhere, but it’s often pretty unreliable. Be sure to book online in advance to plan your journeys effectively.

Albania is a pretty rural country, so getting your own car is the best way to see as much as possible and not spend half your time waiting for the bus to set off!

Yes you can. We did it the first time we visited, you can book all Albanian buses online in advance, making it easy to plan your trip.

You can either book online in advance and make sure you’ve got a ticket before it gets full, or turn up on the day and pay on the bus.

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Chief Editor

Nic Hilditch-Short

Yo, I’m Nic, one-half of The Roaming Renegades.

I’m an adventure (and halloumi) obsessed traveller with a passion for hiking mountains, exploring cities, watching Arsenal win, moshing out to Rammstein in random European fields and getting hopelessly lost on a motorbike somewhere in Asia!

I’ve explored over 70 countries, lived in Australia and New Zealand, and spent months wandering Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe all while trying to avoid growing up!

Did it work, I dunno, but my back hurts and I still collect Pokemon cards! Who wants in?!

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2 comments

  1. Brian Horsham says:

    Hi, thanks for the info in the blog.

    You mentioned; The 3 hour ferry ride through the mountains of Northern Albania that blew us away (and should be on everyones bucket list!)

    What is the departure/arrival point?

    Thanks

    1. Hey. It’s just outside of a place called Koman/ komani. You can get a mini bus from Shkodra to the port. It leaves from outside the Rozafa Hotel at 06:45am and has the “Ferry Berisha” logo on it. You can read more here:
      https://theroamingrenegades.com/the-3-hour-ferry-ride-through-the-mountains-of-northern-albania/