Cost of a holiday in Albania: what is expensive & how to budget

If you are planning a holiday to Albania, you are probably wondering what it costs to go on a holiday to Albania. In this blog post, I will outline the costs of a holiday in Albania, so that you calculate the budget for your trip.

What are the costs of a holiday in Albania? The costs of a holiday in Albania are:
1. Double hotel room 35-40 euros per night
2. Intercity bus trip 3-12 euros per trip
3. Taxi ride from 20 euros for 45 minutes up to 200 euros for 6 hours
4. Car rental 20 euros per day + 25 euros for petrol for a 2-3 hour drive
5. Food and drinks 15-20 euros per day for local restaurants & bakeries
6. Tourist attactions 1 – 6.50 euros

I am a private tour guide in Albania, so I regularly book car services and drive around in Albania.

If you scroll down, I have lists of how much it costs to get to popular destinations in Albania, by car, by taxi, or by bus. So that you can calculate how much it will cost you to go on holiday to Albania, based on the way you travel and your destinations.

How to calculate the costs of your holiday in Albania?

To calculate the costs of your holiday in Albania, I recommend you take these steps:

Step 1: Calculate the costs of your hotel in Albania.
If you scroll down, I have a list of average hotel prices in popular destinations like Ksamil, Saranda, Vlore, Theth, the Shala River, and Tirana. Use the list to calculate the amount you will spend on hotels.

Step 2: Are you traveling by bus, by taxi, or with a car rental?
Below, I have a list of the bus ticket prices and taxi prices for the most popular destinations in Albania. Furthermore, I have also made a list of how much you can expect to spend on petrol if you are driving your own car or a rental car.

If you did not decide how you would like to get to your destination, it might be great to compare the prices, so that you can decide on what is best for you.

Step 3: Calculate your budget for food & drinks and tourist attractions
And finally, I have enclosed a list of what you can expect to pay for your food and drinks in Albania. And a price list of the entrance tickets to the most popular tourist attractions.

Costs of a hotel in Albania (between 35-40 euros)

If you check online for the average cost of a hotel in Albania, you will find the website “Budget Your Trip”.

“Budget Your Trip” is a website that asks past travelers, what they spend on their holiday in Albania. According to Budget Your Trip, accommodation in a double room costs 32 euros on average in Albania.

However, based on my personal experience as a tour guide in Albania, I can tell you a double hotel room is between 35 – 40 euros per night in Albania.

Below, I have created a list of the prices, that I pay for hotel rooms in the most popular destinations in Albania. These are regular prices, not negotiated rates.

What you will pay for a hotel room in Albania:

• A hotel room in Ksamil beach costs around 38 euros per night in a 3-star hotel.
• A hotel room in Saranda costs 40 euros per night in a 3-star hotel.
• A hotel room in Vlore costs 35 euros per night in a 3-star hotel.
• A room in a guesthouse in Theth costs 40 euros per person, which includes dinner and breakfast at the guest house.
• A guest house on the Shala River or Koman Lake costs 40 euros per person, including dinner and breakfast.
• A hotel room in Tirana costs between 35-40 euros per night in a 3-star hotel.

In Tirana, you may be able to find cheaper accommodation in a 2-star hotel or a hostel. However, there are many destinations in Albania, where you won’t get a cheaper rate than 35 euros per night.

For instance, Theth mountain village is a major touristic attraction in Albania. Theth is famous for the Blue Eye of Theth and the Grunas Waterfall. Many tourists, who contact me think that traveling to a remote mountain village will be cheap, but it is not as cheap as they think.

Theth only has guest houses, but the average guest house does charge 40 euros per person. And all the guest houses in Theth do include dinner and breakfast because the only place where you can eat as a tourist is in the guest house (there are no supermarkets or independent restaurants). So the only way to save a bit of money is camping and cooking your own food.

Similarly, if you travel to the Albanian Riviera, you will want to stay in Saranda or Ksamil in the South of Albania. Because that is the most beautiful area of the Albanian Riviera. Moreover, most of the touristic sights, like Ksamil islands, Blue Eye of Saranda, Gjirokaster UNESCO city, and Butrint UNESCO sight are around this area. And if you are staying in Saranda or Ksamil, you will pay at least 35 euros for a double hotel room.

Furthermore, some people online wrote, “you can save money by traveling in the low season”. But I don’t think this applies to most travelers. If you are traveling to the Albanian Riviera, you must travel in the warm summer season (May – September) to enjoy the sea and the beach.

Similarly, the hiking trails in the mountains are only open from June until September, so you must always travel in the summer months to the Albanian Alps.

Costs of a bus in Albania (between 3 euros – 12 euros)

If you are traveling on a budget, the easiest way to save money on your holiday in Albania is to travel by bus. Because bus travel in Albania is very cheap.

These are the prices of the most popular bus routes in Albania:

• Bus ticket from Tirana airport to the city center of Tirana 300 LEK (2.50 euros) for a one-way ticket
• Bus ticket from Tirana airport to Durres city 1000 LEK (8.20 euros) for a one-way ticket
• Bus ticket from Tirana to Berat 400 LEK (3.20 euros) for a one-way ticket
• Bus ticket from Tirana to Saranda 12 euros for a one-way ticket
• Bus ticket from Tirana to Vlore 500 LEK (4.10 euros) for a one-way ticket
• Bus ticket from Tirana to Himare 1000 LEK (8.20 euros) for a one-way ticket
• Bus ticket from Tirana to Gjirokaster 9 euros for a one-way ticket
• Bus ticket from Tirana to Shkoder 400 LEK (3.20 euros) for a one-way ticket

If you are looking for the timetable or the bus ticket price for a different destination, you can check the website of Gjirafa Autobus here: https://gjirafa.com/Autobus

Of course, travel by bus in Albania is cheap. But travel by bus in Albania is not luxurious. As a foreigner, traveling by bus does certainly have disadvantages.

Firstly, you will lose valuable time searching for the bus station. Because you do not know the way in Albania. And bus travel is not organized in the same way as it is in a Western country. In Albania, many of the busses are independently owned, so the bus driver owns the bus. And therefore, it is a lot more informal.

Secondly, you have to be patient, because bus travel is not the fastest way to travel through Albania. Because the bus driver owns the bus, more passengers mean more money for him. So bus drivers may stop along the road to let extra passengers on the bus. And there may be a stop at a coffee house or two along the way.

Thirdly, the intercity busses are usually older mini-busses, your bus maybe 10-20 years old. It is fine, but I often get emails asking about air conditioning. Which depending on your bus may or may not be there. And expect to pay for your bus in cash, because the busses do not have a credit card processing machine for sure.

Costs of taxi in Albania (From 20 euros for 45 minutes up to 200 euros for 6 hours)

Traveling through Albania by taxi is a lot more comfortable, convenient and speedy, than traveling by bus. But if you plan on taking a taxi every day to different destinations, you should increase your travel budget. Because travel by taxi in Albania is pricey.

Taxi prices for the most popular routes:

• Taxi from Tirana airport to the city center of Tirana 20-25 euros (Tirana Airport taxi) or 17 euros (Merr taxi)
• Taxi from Tirana airport to Durres beach 25-30 euros (Tirana Airport taxi) or 23 euros (Merr taxi)
• Taxi from Tirana to Berat 68 euros (Merr taxi)
• Taxi from Tirana to Saranda 165 euros (Tirana Airport taxi) or 191 euros (Merr taxi)
• Taxi from Tirana to Ksamil beach 175 euros (Tirana Airport taxi) or 200 euros (Merr taxi)
• Taxi from Tirana to Vlore 86 euros (Tirana Airport taxi) or 107 euros (Merr taxi)
• Taxi from Tirana to Gjirokaster 134 euros (Tirana Airport taxi) or 158 euros (Merr taxi)
• Taxi from Tirana to Shkoder 55-62 euros (Tirana Airport taxi) or 72 euros (Merr taxi)

If you would like to calculate the taxi price for your trip through Albania, I recommend you use two websites. Firstly, the official Tirana Airpot taxis do have a price list on their website, which you can check here: https://tiataxi.al/travel/ .

Furthermore, Merr Taxi Albania has a taxi fare calculator on its website. You can simply type in your destinations to calculate the price for your taxi journey.

You can find the Merr taxi fare calculator here: https://merrtaxi.com/tirana-taxi-fare-calculator

Insider Tip! I recommend you compare taxi prices with tour prices online! Because very often a tour might be cheaper than a taxi ride.

For instance, if a guest wants to book a tour with me from Tirana to Berat, I charge 65 euros per person. Whereas a taxi driver will charge 68 euros for a one-way trip. And a tour includes transportation both ways, entrance tickets, and a private tour guide. So I would recommend you always compare taxi prices with tour prices because you might get more value for less money!

One of the questions that I do get asked a lot is “Is there UBER in Albania?”. And the answer is: No, Uber does not exist in Albania.

However, if you would like to use a taxi App to get a taxi to your hotel, I recommend these three options:
1) UPs taxi App
2) Speed taxi App
3) Taxi.al App

You can use these three taxi apps to get a taxi at your location. It might be worth downloading these apps if you plan on taking a lot of taxis in Albania.

The UPs taxi app is actually quite safe because all the taxis that they send are licensed taxis. The Speed taxi app is from the Speed taxi company, so they send their own licensed and branded taxis. Taxi.al is the most similar to Uber, because it uses private drivers, who register through their website.

Costs of a car rental & petrol in Albania (20 euro per day rental and 25-70 euros per day for petrol)

In Albania, you will pay approximately 20 euros per day to rent a regular car. Obviously, a 4 wheel drive or a fancy car will cost you more than that.

Where can I rent an affordable rental car in Albania?
Answer by Albania Tour Guide: Ever since I wrote this blog post about the costs of a holiday in Albania. I have been receiving questions about where you can rent an affordable rental car in Albania. Some travellers even reported being quoted 50-70 euros per day for a car rental (which is a lot!).

So I would recommend Googling: “Makina me qera Tirane” (=Albanian for Rent a car Tirana). Because if you Google in the Albanian language, you will find the more affordable local car rental companies. I recently rented a car for 20 euros per day for one of my tour guides and I have successfully rented a car for 20 euros per day many times. Obviously, well-known international brands may charge you more.

On top of that, you would need to calculate your petrol. So to make it easier for you, I have made a little list of the approximate amount of money you will spend on petrol for the popular destinations.

Costs for the petrol per destination:

• Tirana airport to the city center of Tirana 2000 Lek for petrol (17 euros)
• Tirana airport to Durres beach 2000 Lek for petrol (17 euros)
• Tirana to Berat 3000 Lek for petrol (25 euros)
• Tirana to Saranda 8000 Lek for petrol (66 euros)
• Tirana to Ksamil 9000 Lek for petrol (75 euros)
• Tirana to Vlore 4000 Lek for petrol (33 euros)
• Tirana to Gjirokaster 8000 Lek for petrol (66 euros)
• Tirana to Shkoder 3000 Lek for petrol (25 euros)

These petrol costs are based on what I spend in my tour guiding business. We regularly take our guests on day tours and we keep track of the amount we spend on petrol on each route.

Costs of food and drinks in Albania (15-20 euros per day)

Food and drinks in Albania are very affordable. I recommend you budget about 15 euros per person per day for your food and drinks in Albania.

For breakfast, you will most likely have breakfast included in your room rate in your hotel. For lunch, you have some traditional Byrek pastry or you visit a little cafe or bakery, which costs between 1-4 euros. And for dinner, you visit a local restaurant or a pizza place, which costs about 10 euros.

Albanian cuisine is a mixture between Italian food, Greek food, and Turkish food. It has a very Mediterranean style.

Every tourist I met in Albania loved the Albanian food, and I am sure you would like it too. Because the Albanian food is very fresh and always homemade.

Prices of food and drinks in Albania:

• Lunch or dinner at a local restaurant 10 euros
  
• Bottled water 100 Lek (0.80 euro)
  
• Espresso coffee 100 Lek (0.80 euro)
  
• Burek pastry 30 Lek (0.25 euro)
  
• Fresh bread at the bakery 80 Lek (0.66 euro)
  
• Soft drink 200 Lek (1.65 euro)
  
• Albanian beer 300 Lek (2.50 euro)

If you would like to save money on food, I recommend you visit a little bakery in Albania. The small bakeries have amazingly fresh products. And for only 1 euro or less, you will get a whole bag full of bread.

Another way to save money is eating like the locals! The locals love to eat Byrek, which is a filo pastry with a filling. You can choose a pastry with spinach, cheese, meat, leeks, yogurt etcetera. These pastries are sold in special Byrek shops everywhere along the road. It is a great alternative for lunch or breakfast during the day.

Obviously, you can always spend more money on food. There are fancy seafood restaurants by the coastline in the big cities and there are fancy restaurants in Tirana’s food court in the Murat Toptani Street.

However, the little local restaurants often have very lovely fresh food for a low price!

Costs for tourist attractions in Albania (Between 1 – 6.50 euros)

Entrance tickets for sightseeing attractions, like museums and castles are relatively low. If you compare the price of an entrance ticket to Albania, to any other European country, you will notice it is very cheap in Albania.

Prices for tourist attractions in Albania:

• Berat Castle 200 Leke (1.65 euro)
• Kruje Skanderbeg Museum 500 Leke (4 euros)
• Kruje Ethnographic Museum 400 Leke (3.30 euros)
• Rozafa Castle in Shkoder 400 Leke (3.30 euros)
• Apollonia archaeological park 600 Leke (5 euros)
• Butrint UNESCO sight 700 Leke (5.80 euros)
• Gjirokaster castle 200 Leke (1.65 euros)
• Lock-in tower in Theth 1 euro
• Lake Koman Ferry ticket 800 Leke (6.60 euros)

The most expensive tourist attractions in Albania are:
1) The Shala River boat tour, which costs 20 euros per person
2) The Lake Koman Ferry, which costs 800 Leke (6.60 euros)
3) Butrint UNESCO sight, which costs 700 Leke (5.80 euros)

Now, I actually do recommend you take a boat trip on either the Shala river or on Lake Koman. Because this is the most impressive sightseeing location in Albania!

Similarly, if you have a chance, I do recommend you visit the Butrint archaeological park because it is the most impressive sightseeing location in Albania.
So the more expensive attractions are a little pricier but certainly worth checking out.

Related Questions

Can I pay by credit card in Albania? You can most likely pay for your hotel in Albania by credit card and there are cash machines in the cities. However, I do recommend you always carry some cash in Albania. Because Albania is an old-fashioned country, where the locals pay for everything in cash.

Which currency should I take to Albania? If you bring USD, EUR, or GBP cash money with you, you will be able to exchange it on every street in the city. Because currency exchange is very popular in Albania, you will easily find a currency exchange office. Taxi drivers and hotels may also accept foreign currencies as payment.

Welcome to Albania!

I am a Tour Guide in Albania

I am an Albania Tour Guide, who organizes 1-day, 2-day or multiple day private tours in Albania.

Book your free Albania Planning Session via Skype now, by using my online scheduler to find a time that’s convenient for you.