Albania at times is considered an unsafe place to visit and unfortunately it is not the most popular choice of destination for the majority of tourists. That’s why it was so curiously interesting to visit the country ourselves and see if the stereotypes are true or maybe it’s not so bad after all. And let me tell you, it was the most relaxing country for us to wild camp with our motorhome and overall it felt like people don’t care about you or what you were doing which we cherished since in a lot of countries vanlifers are not so welcome. But there are some things that you should be aware of before coming to this surprisingly amazing country. Let’s dive in the 10 things to know before travelling to Albania!
Disclaimer: These tips don’t necessarily cover all areas of travel as we traveled with a motorhome and didn’t encounter public transport between towns and experiences with hotels or other accommodations. But I hope that these tips will be helpful regardless if you are a vanlifer or any other type of traveler.
Driving
Driving is insane. I believe this is not something completely new to some but we were so surprised by the careless driving, overtaking when there are coming cars in front just by a few hundred meters, resulting in creating three lines where there are originally two and as well the consistent driving limit dismissal. But what surprised us the most was the roads themselves were in overall good condition.
Waste Management Issues
Garbage is almost everywhere, especially while driving outside cities by the road. It looked dreadfully sad how much it was polluted in some places.
Stray Animals
There are a lot of stray dogs and cats in both cities and rural places. They of course don’t hold any harm against humans but it is not recommended to pet them in case there could be some illnesses or fleas.
Food
Very inexpensive and delicious food. You can buy coffee for a little bit more than 1 Euro, vegetables and fruits are very cheap and in a restaurant, you could eat for about 5 Euros by having a large meal. What we found very interesting was the fact that you couldn’t buy vegetables or fruits in supermarkets, they can be purchased in the local markets on the streets. Sometimes bread as well couldn’t be bought in supermarkets but rather in bakeries.
Internet
For the internet, we used an “Unlimited XL+” prepaid SIM card from company “One” which cost 2400 Lek (around 20 Euros) and included 33 GB of internet. When all data has been used, they give you an unlimited amount of GB but with a reduced speed.
Pickpocketing
You need to be cautious about pickpocketing and breaking into cars. It is, sadly, very common in Albania to have incidents with stealing so I do recommend parking in places that have a great review rating or are looked upon and also not explore not well-known areas alone.
Parking
There are a lot of spots to camp for the night in your vehicle which we loved. In other countries, especially in Croatia, it is such a headache to park somewhere for the night without getting in trouble therefore Albania is such a gem for vanlifers. There are also so many beautiful spots to stay by nature and the sea and experience the best views imaginable.
Cash
Be prepared to have cash everywhere you go, it is very unlikely that credit cards are accepted, except in most supermarkets. An ATM that we found which didn’t charge any extra commission was Credins Bank. We also once used an ATM by the local post office which was free of charge as well but I would recommend always checking if there are no charges before accepting to withdraw your money.
Scammers
You need to be careful of scammers in gas stations or shops. Sometimes, when visiting a shop and the people there realize that you’re a tourist, they want to sell you something very fast and usually don’t allow any time to think about what you truly came looking for. We often said that we wanted just to look around but it seemed that they didn’t like that and usually we felt in a rush to buy something or leave altogether.
Online Maps
Online maps are not sufficient enough to find all places that are worthy of visiting. I would recommend researching the spots to visit before traveling to Albania and not relying completely on the maps there.
I can’t wait when will have a chance to visit Albania again as it was such an interesting place to explore, with such helpful and kind people and breathtaking views. And I can confirm that all the bad stereotypes about the country and people are slightly exaggerated. Of course, you need to be careful of your surroundings but I guess it’s the same case in every country you might visit.
Check out my other blog post about 5 places we visited in Albania with a motorhome!
Latest blog posts
- 8 Things to know about vanlife in the Netherlands
- Places to visit in Amsterdam on a budget-friendly trip
- Places to visit in Utrecht on a one-day budget-friendly trip
One response to “10 Things to know before travelling to Albania”
[…] If you are wondering what to know about Albania before traveling there, click here to read about 10 things to know before traveling to Albania! […]