Renting a car in Albania is one of the key decisions you can make when planning to come to this country. A car gives you a lot of freedom to explore this beautiful country, which is why many people choose to discover it this way. Public transport in Albania works on the basis of marshrutkas (buses), but often their departure schedule varies and is strongly dependent on the current season. It is therefore worth considering renting a car, as it is not that expensive and in low season prices range from €12 to €20 per day. In high season, due to higher demand, prices rise from €20 to €40 for the same model. It is therefore worth renting a car in advance as you can get a much better price.
In this post, we describe what car rental in Albania is like and what to keep in mind. We will also devote an entire section to renting a car with a child seat and explain why this can be a very controversial topic.
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Cheap car hire in Tirana from local rental companies
Most of you will certainly decide to fly to Albania’s capital Tirana – flights can be found from as little as 40 euro one way (depends where you live – Cheap fly tickets you can find for example here), so prices are very attractive. The best place to rent a car is Tirana airport, where you can pack your bags and set off to explore Albania. Durres, which is the closest city to Tirana located by the sea, is a popular destination for tourists, but many also choose to go to Vlora or Sarande. These three towns are the largest seaside resorts in Albania.
The towns are linked by public transport and there are many buses that leave from a bus station on the outskirts of Tirana located next to the Terminal Hotel in Tirana. As for timetables, they change frequently and depend on the season. One of the most popular sites for finding intercity transport connections in Albania is Travel.Gjirafa.com. There you will find connections and the approximate fare. Public transport will therefore take you easily to these cities, but it does not allow you to freely visit nearby attractions located outside the city limits.
The best way to have more freedom to explore Albania’s unique places is to rent a car. Sometimes you won’t have a choice either, as some of the flights from Poland to Albania end at night, where most buses no longer run.
You can find cheap car rental offers on a search engine bringing together many local car rental companies. You can compare the car models you are interested in, adjust the date of departure and the place where you want to return the vehicle. Some of them offer to rent a car without taking a deposit (security deposit), so that you will not have to pay a security for possible damages – however, you may need to take out additional insurance for this. You can find interesting and cheap offers by using the search engine below or by going to the link that will allow you to filter the offers you are interested in – Check car rental in Albania.
Things to keep in mind when renting a car in Albania
Albania is a country where driving is quite specific. Incidents such as stopping in the middle of the road, turning on the emergency lights and going to the shop are very common. You have to accept this state of affairs and that traffic signs are only a guide and not the law. Therefore, when entering an intersection, always be cautious and have a large reserve of trust for other drivers.
Although the driving style in Albania seems quite chaotic, surprisingly there are not that many accidents. This is because you are unlikely to be speeding anywhere in Albania and the principle of limited trust in drivers means that everyone is careful. And maybe that’s the secret?
However, there are quite a few crashes or scratches – parking a car in crowded Sarande or Tirana is not the easiest of tasks. For this reason, we strongly urge you to purchase full car insurance. This will allow you to move freely around the country without much stress about whether someone will scratch your rental car.
Check the car thoroughly before you leave the rental car and take photos if necessary. This will ensure that no one will accuse you of damaging the car later.
It is also worth remembering that most car hire companies require a credit card in the driver’s name. It is therefore worth getting a card before you fly out, as it is essential for the correct collection of the vehicle. Debit cards will not work here unless the rental option allows the use of such a card.
You will pay for most cars in Euro and this is a popular currency in Albania, with the conversion rate in 2024 being approx. 1 euro = 100 LEK.
Budget Hyundai i10
A good choice is the economical and good-spirited Hyundai i10, which is commonly made available for hire to tourists. It is a small and agile car that can also cope with hills (not high mountains).
Such a car would be perfect for exploring the Albanian coast or slight hills. It is certainly worth considering it because the Hyundai i10 has a low fuel consumption of about 5 litres per 100 kilometres.
The price of fuel in Albania at the end of 2023 was around 190 LEK (or around €1.9) per litre of petrol.
Car seats for children for rental cars in Albania
Many people plan to come to Albania with their children and we have seen that there are always a lot of questions about renting a car with car seats for children. Unfortunately, the topic of car seats is quite controversial, because from what we have seen in Albania, there is not much use of car seats. Children ride unfastened in the car or in their parents’ arms.
The car seats that rental companies offer are ‘anti-mandates’ rather than professional and safe car seats.
So if you are flying to Albania by plane there is an option to take a car seat with you. Children under 12 can take their car seat with them for free as checked baggage. When we flew to Portugal, we took our own car seats and they worked very well for us. It is a good idea to pack the seat in bubble wrap and have a cover made by a seamstress. You can also add some clothes or other things to such a seat, which makes your luggage larger.
Car seat hire from car rental companies is usually charged as an additional cost of €10 per seat for children up to the age of one and a car seat for children over the age of one costs €15. Car seats in the rental option are available both forward-facing and rear-facing, although most car seats for children over one year old will be forward-facing.
Albania car hire summary and some tips
A rented car in Albania gives you a great deal of freedom to get around. Albania is currently experiencing very rapid economic growth and as a result, the road infrastructure is becoming more and more developed. As a result, many roads, which until recently were gravel, are now gradually being paved.
Driving on motorways in Albania – driving on the A1, A2 and A3 is free and you don’t have to worry about buying a vignette or paying motorway tolls. The only toll section in Albania is from Durres to Kosovo.
Going abroad – it is possible to go abroad in a hire car, but if you are planning a trip it is worth checking the departure option next to the specific car model. Sometimes an additional charge be may applied as it involves the preparation of documentation.
GPS in Albania – you can get around here using Google Maps. It is advisable to download an offline version of Google Maps, so that you will not be charged for data transfer. It is worth bearing in mind that in Albania it is not worth trusting Google Maps 100%, as it can sometimes lead you astray. The main roads indicate ok, but roads in or out of town can sometimes deviate from the norm.
Driving on off-road roads – it is worth bearing in mind that hired cars cannot be driven on off-road roads and if there is any damage to the car, it is not insurable. Also not worth to try it because cars usually have GPS on it.
Variable drop-off location – in the local car rental we offer, there is an option to choose where to pick up the car and where to drop it off. Often tourists choose to arrive in Tirana and travel south to the beautiful village of Ksamil near Sarande. Sarande is located right next to Corfu, which can be reached in just 30 minutes by hydrofoil. If, for example, you find a cheaper return flight from Corfu, there is nothing stopping you from renting a car in Tirana and returning it in Sarande. This way you will see more and not lose time on the way back to Tirana.
We hope that your stay in Albania will be full of adventures and beautiful sights – and believe it or not, there is no shortage of them! A particularly recommended and very scenic road is the SH8 road from Vlora to Sarande. You can check its route here. We definitely recommend taking this road, as it is one of the most beautiful routes you can see in Albania.
