Means of transport Albania

Crossing Lake Koman is a must. Two boats operate between Fierza and Koman. The small ferry Berisha operates from mid-April to early November and can carry 8-10 vehicles. It leaves Koman at 9 a.m. and arrives in Fierza at 11.30 a.m., leaving again at 1 p.m. to arrive in Koman at 3.30 p.m. The Dragobia (passengers and bicycles) operates all year round. It leaves Fierza at 6am and arrives in Koman at 8:45am, then leaves again at 9am to arrive in Fierza at 12pm. When the level of the lake is too low, the ships no longer leave. The company also offers excursions around the lake.

This bus station (Stacioni i Autobusave Durrës) is not very well organized, but it has the merit of existing. There are many buses and minibuses for Tirana but also for some localities of the region and for many cities of the country. There are also agencies selling ferry tickets to Italy, cafes and restaurants, a pharmacy and a bank. Another advantage: the bus station is well located, right next to the train station (connections with Shkodra and Vlora once a day) and connected to the ferry station by a footbridge.

This bus station (Stacioni i Autobusave) is fairly informal. Minibuses to Tepelena and Saranda (1 per hour), the Antigone site (1 per hour until 3pm), Tirana and Berat (7 per day), Përmet (3 per day), Vlora and Korçë (1 per day). Another bus station is 800 m further up the boulevard du 18-Septembre, level with the stadium. Here you'll find city buses and KTEL buses for Greece: Athens (3 per day), Ioannina (1 per day) and Thessalonica (1 per day).

This bus station (Stacioni i Autobusave) is quite informal. Buses and minibuses arrive and depart from the section of Flag Street (Rruga Flamurit) between Onhezmi and Lefter-Talo streets. There are ticket agencies on site that can provide you with information. Connections to Butrint/Ksamil (every 30 minutes), Gjirokastra (1/hour), Tirana (6/day), Himara (4/day), Berat and Elbasan (3/day), Vlora (2/day), Fier (2/day), Durrës (1/day), Permët (1/day) Buses to the north (Tirana, Vlora...) pass through the villages of the "Albanian Riviera".

Albanian Railways (HSH), privatized in 2005, now operates just two passenger lines: one between Durrës and Elbasan (three trains a week in theory) and one between Shkodra and Laç via Lezha (normally once a week). The cars are in a pitiful state, the website is often down, and so are the old Czechoslovakian locomotives. A new line between Durrës and Tirana is expected soon. The work, financed by the European Union, was launched in 2023.

Created in 2023, this bus station (Terminali Lindor i Autobusave) is modern but also very off-center. It is located next to the Tirana East Gate shopping center and along the A 3 freeway to Elbasan. Buses and minibuses run here to Elbasan (twice an hour), Librazhd, Pogradec, Prrenjas/Përrenjas, Gramsh, Korça (8 times a day), Erseka, Leskovik and Bilisht. From downtown Tirana, you can get there by city bus (lines 2 and 8, get off at the "TEG" stop).

This bus station (Terminali i Autobusave të Jugut dhe Veriut) is located near the junction of routes SH 1 (to Kruja) and SH 2 (to Durrës). Here you'll find buses and minibuses for Kruja, for the North (Shkodra, Lezha, Peshkopi, Kukës, Bajram Curri and Puka), for part of the Center (Durrës, Divjaka, Kavaja, Fier, Berat, Poliçan and Ballsh), for the Southwest (Vlora, Orikum. Himara, Saranda, Konispol, Gjirokastra, Tepelena and Libohova) and for Përmet.

This modern bus station (Terminali i Autobusave) is located next to the traffic circle where the roads to Pogradec, Gjirokastra, Greece and the Prespa Lakes cross. On-site: ticket offices, supermarket, parking lot, café-restaurant and cab rank. Connections to Pogradec, Librazhd, Elbasan and Tirana (approx. 20 per day), Bilisht (9 per day), Durrës (8 per day), Fier (4 per day), Moscopole, Ereska, Leskovik, Përmet and Gjirokastra (3 per day), Saranda (1 per day), as well as to Greece, Thessaloniki (3 per day) and Athens (2 per day).

This bus station (Terminali i Autobusave Ndërkombëtar) is poorly organized but close to the city center, along Dritan-Hoxha street towards Durrës. Numerous buses to Greece: Athens, Thessalonica, Katerini, Xanthi and Kalamata. Other connections: Pristina and Peja/Peć (Kosovo), Ohrid, Tetovo and Skopje (Northern Macedonia), Milan, Rome and Varese (Italy), Kotor (Montenegro), Sofia (Bulgaria), Dortmund and Hamburg (Germany) and Istanbul (Turkey).

If you're a motorist, you should know that parking is generally free... not to say unauthorized. On the other hand, more and more areas are now pay zones, indicated by white P signs on a blue background with the words "Me Paghese". Perhaps it's better for your vehicle, too. You'll have to pay an employee on site. It is generally advisable to leave your vehicle in a guarded area. While larger hotels often have a few parking spaces, this is rarely the case for smaller establishments.

Tirana airport (Aeroporti Nënë Tereza) has year-round connections to Paris-Beauvais, Lyon, Nice, Basel-Mulhouse, Brussels-National, Charleroi-Bruxelles-Sud, Geneva and Zurich with Wizz Air, Ryanair, Easyjet, TUI Fly Belgium and Swiss. Seasonal connections with Paris-Roissy (Air France) and Paris-Orly (Transavia). On-site terminal built in 2008 with local and international car rental companies, restaurants and cafés, stores, currency exchange, ATMs, cabs, shuttles and buses to central Tirana.

This bike rental agency is located in the southern part of Tirana's Great Park artificial lake. It offers city bikes, electric bikes, mountain bikes and Rosalies. We don't recommend the latter, which are 4-person velocipede vehicles that are too heavy for hill-climbing and can only be used within the park. However, they are practical if you have small children and stay on the main cycle path. Other bikes can be used in Tirana.

This bike rental agency is located in a basement in the Blloku district, next to the Xheko Imperial Luxury Hotel. It offers all types of bikes (city, mountain, electric...) of good quality and well-tuned, starting at 1,200 lek for 24 hours for a mountain bike. Orgest Disha, the owner, knows his trade and has his own repair shop. He speaks good English and is a good adviser for pedaling all over Albania. For this and for its prices, this is the bike rental agency we recommend first and foremost.

Driving around Tirana requires a certain amount of control and composure. Even so, it's hard to get lost, as the city center is made up of wide avenues all leading to Skanderbeg Square. A final word of warning: avoid Durrësit, Elbasanit and Kavajës streets at rush hour, as traffic jams are particularly frequent there. It is also advisable to leave your vehicle in a guarded area. While large hotels often have a number of parking spaces, this is rarely the case for smaller establishments.

Managed by public and private companies, this heterogeneous network comprises ten lines operating at least between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. throughout the city. Line no. 6 (Unaza) is convenient: it circles the entire northern part of the city center, running along the Lana River and looping around the northern part of the city. Line no. 2 (Tirana e Re) links Skanderbeg square to the eastern bus station. The blue buses of line no. 4 (Qendër-Porcelani) run from the Clock Tower to Bunk'Art 1 and the departure station of the Mount Dajti cable car.

The charge is 300 leks (350 leks between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.) and covers a distance of 1.5 km. Thereafter, it drops every 5 km: 120 leks/km, 95 leks/km and 80 leks/km from 16.5 km travelled. Merr Taxi's fleet of electric vehicles has a good reputation (merrtaxi.com, +355 800 5555 or 0800 5555 direct dial). There are also long-distance companies such as Tirana Day Trips (tiranadaytrips.com) and Choose Balkans (choosebalkans.com). Finally, there is no Uber-type VTC service in Albania.

Dominated by the Mount Tirana Tower (205 m), this "bus station" (Stacioni Qendër) includes several stops around the small park of Viktor-Eftimiu (1889-1972, Romanian poet of Albanian origin). To the south are the departure points for buses to the airport (1 per hour) and for city bus line no. 2 to the East Bus Station. To the west, behind the Palace of Culture, the Kamëz-Tirana bus line departs for the southern and northern bus stations.

This station (Stacioni i Autobusëve) is a kind of informal bus station in Shkodra, but Democracy Square is not the only station in town. From here, you can travel to Tirana (one departure every 30 minutes), Durrës (2 per day) and Vlora (1 per day). From Ura-e-Maxharrit square, departures to Theth (at 7 a.m.), Valbona (with ferry, at 6.30 a.m.) and Vermosh (at 7.30 a.m.). From Nënë-Tereza square, departures to Montenegro (to Ulcinj/Ulqin, 3 per day) and Austria (to Vienna via Kotor, Dubrovnik, etc.; 1 per day).