Renting a car in Albania

Hi,

We ventured to rent a car in Albania last summer, and drove around the country. Our routing was Tirana-Elbasan-Pogradec-Korce-Gjirokaster-Saranda-Buthrotum-Himara-Dhermi-Vlore-Berati-Durres-Tirana Airport.

We rented the car from an international chain, although it was a local franchisee. The price was quite reasonable, USD 710 for 9 days with unlimited mileage. We booked an Opel Astra, but got an upgrade to a Nissan X-Trail, which we later learnt was very fortunate.

Just a couple of tips:

- Don%26#39;t drink and drive, the roads and the traffic are challenging enough even though you are sober.

- Don%26#39;t drive when it is dark.

- Traffic is chaotic and local drivers often are crazy. Don’t care who is right and wrong, concentrate on surviving, especially with foreign licence plates.

- Don%26#39;t leave anything valuable in the car or rent a brand new car. You are only looking for trouble, if you do so. But, Western cars with a couple of years behind no longer attract villains, so you should be OK.

- Aircon is a must and make sure it works.

- Test the car you are renting first. We did not do so in the hectic traffic of Tirana, and we had two to five alert lights in the dashboard while we drove, and enjoyed our holiday. The agency was very relaxed about it, and surprisingly we did not have any issues with the car despite the alerts.

- There are huge projects underway to upgrade the road network in Albania, but some of the major roads still are in an awful condition. You can get an idea by checking www.viamichelin.com and putting your planned route there. Pay close attention to the required time - our experience showed that Via Michelin%26#39;s information often was accurate, even though it would translate into an average speed of 30 kms / h.

- Make sure you will have a proper road map before you leave. There necessarily are no signs, or you need to drive awhile before you meet any sign. The locals are very helpful and friendly, however you may not cross the language barrier, if you are not fluent in Italian (or Greek in Southern parts). We tried to find a way to Voskopoje from Korce; however despite Voskopoje being a major attraction we ended up to driving in a corn field, and this is where the X-Trail became extremely handy. After three hours and a seriously overheating spouse, I decided to give up seeing the fabulous churches…

But, don’t let these challenges suppress you. I wanted to write this piece to encourage you to visit Albania, and also see other places than Tirana. Just check the travel advice of your favourite government before you go. As a result, we did not visit the northern part of Albania bordering Kosovo and Montenegro as safety in some areas is an issue.

We did not meet any problems during our 12-day trip to the country. Generally, the locals were very friendly, proud to show their home country and certainly appreciated foreign visitors. So, if you are still thinking whether to go or not, just go and I’m sure you will a wonderful stay in Albania.

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Great and realistic tips Mixu!

Pitty you couldn%26#39;t manage to visit a bit of North. It%26#39;s really awsome and safety is not a problem since a while there (appart from some areas in the Kosovo border which might still be mined since the Kosovo war). Better have a 4wd in case you decide to venture those parts anyway...

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