Albania: Riviera, Butrint, Berat, Gjirokastër, best time to visit, getting there and costs 2026

Albania suits you if you want to combine days by the sea with excavations and old castle towns. There are four entries on UNESCO's World Heritage List, including Butrint and the old towns of Berat and Gjirokastër (as of September 2026). In the north there are also the Albanian Alps with Theth and Valbona.

What is new in 2026 is the prospect of cheaper roaming: the European Commission wants to negotiate with Albania about “Roam like at home” and proposed this on 25 February. For now, however, the rule does not yet apply there (as of September 2026). Since 2025 the Llogara Tunnel on the Riviera has also charged a toll.

Albania is less suitable if you cope badly with heat or like to travel by train. In Tirana the average high in July and August is 30.7 °C (1961–1990 normals). And according to the 2025 timetable, there was only a single passenger train line.

Getting there from Germany

In 2025, 796,570 passengers flew from Germany to Albania, ranking 30th among 211 destination countries abroad. Counted are boarding passengers at the 22 main German airports with a last known destination in Albania, excluding transfer passengers abroad. All of them were bound for Tirana (TIA), 31st in the ranking of destination places. Most departed from Dortmund (129,722), Frankfurt (115,725), Memmingen (94,144) and Berlin Brandenburg (79,504). The source is the Federal Statistical Office, year 2025; totals and ranks are our own analysis.

Tirana airport itself counted a total of 11,640,044 passengers in 2025, 9% more than the previous year.

Tirana airport (TIA): bus, taxi, shuttle

Only LU-NA goes to the centre, hourly around the clock from the airport and the city. At the airport you board at bus bays 9 and 10; in Tirana the stop is behind the Opera and Ballet Palace. You can pay in lek or euros, by card or in cash, and you do not need to reserve (as of September 2026).

At the airport, Auto Holiday Albania (AHA) runs the official taxi service, day and night. The airport recommends the yellow licensed taxis, which carry its own logo and that of AHA. It gives about 2,200 lek for one way; depending on traffic you are on the road for 20 to 25 minutes (as of September 2026).

According to the airport, shuttles also go directly to Durrës (600 lek), to Shkodër and Fier (1,000 lek each) and nine times a day to Vlorë (1,200 lek, as of September 2026).

Regions and destinations at a glance

As of September 2026; climate figures 1961–1990.

Tirana has been the capital since 1920, and it is 30 km to the Adriatic. On Skanderbeg Square stand the 35 m high clock tower of 1822 and the Et’hem Bey Mosque, built between 1798 and 1812. The tourism agency lists the amphitheatre in Durrës, built in the 2nd century AD, as the largest in the Balkans. It is about 10 km south from Durrës to Golem beach.

South of Vlorë the road in Llogara National Park climbs to about 800 m and then descends to the Riviera: about 120 km of coast with places such as Dhërmi, Himarë, Qeparo and Borsh. From Vlorë you can reach the Karaburun–Sazan Marine National Park by boat.

Sarandë lies on the Ionian Sea, opposite Corfu; according to the tourism agency, hardly any place in Albania has more sunny days. From the islands off Ksamil it is 6 nautical miles to Corfu. Between Sarandë and Gjirokastër, the Syri i Kaltër (“Blue Eye”) spring is protected as a natural monument.

Butrint, a World Heritage Site since 1992, shows, according to the tourism agency, traces of Illyrians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Venetians. On the last Sunday of the month and on six fixed days a year, according to the price list, everyone gets in free, including visitors from abroad (as of May 2026).

Gjirokastër and Berat are on the World Heritage List together (entries of 2005 and 2008). Gjirokastër is called “Stone City” because of its stone houses; the castle at 336 m houses a weapons museum and, since 1969, an aircraft. From May to September it is open from 9:00 to 19:00, with admission of 400 lek and children up to 12 free. From 1 October to 30 April it stays closed on Mondays and closes at 16:00 Tuesday to Saturday and at 14:00 on Sundays (as of September 2026).

In Berat, which lies on both sides of the Osum, three quarters belong to the protected old-town core: Mangalem, Gorica and the castle quarter. People still live in the castle with its 24 towers, and the “Onufri” icon museum has its rooms there in St Mary's Cathedral.

Shkodër lies on Lake Shkodra, which the tourism agency lists as the largest lake on the Balkan Peninsula; its landmark is Rozafa Castle. In the Albanian Alps, beech trees cover almost 90% of Theth National Park. The church in Theth, a building of 1892, was restored in 2005. Valbona Valley National Park covers about 8,000 ha.

In the south-east, Albania shares Lake Ohrid near Pogradec with North Macedonia; it is part of the World Heritage. Near Korçë lie the mountain village of Dardha and Voskopoja, whose churches are known for their frescoes.

Best time to visit

The table shows WMO normals for 1961 to 1990 from the dataset of the German Weather Service (DWD); more recent ones are missing for Albania in the WMO archive. Each month shows the average high and low, and for Tirana also the rainfall. For Korçë there is only the annual total: 766.7 mm on average.

June to September is the driest time in Tirana. According to the DWD climate table, in July and August it rains at least 1 mm on only 3 days a month there (1961–1990). At 30.7 °C these are also the hottest months, and up to 41.5 °C has been measured (measurement series 1956–1990).

Korçë stays around 4 °C cooler than Tirana in summer (our own calculation), and from December to February the average low there is below zero. Tirana is wettest in November.

Getting around the country

Train and bus

According to the 2025 timetable, the state railway HSH had a single passenger train line, from Peqin via Kavajë and Golem to Plazh Durrës. From 13 June 2025 it ran only Friday to Monday: at 7:30 from Peqin, and back at 15:00 from Plazh Durrës. Whether the line runs in 2026 you should check with HSH before the trip. Money for renovating the Tirana–Durrës line and a new rail link to Rinas airport comes as a loan and grant from the EBRD and WBIF. HSH does not say when trains will run there (as of September 2026).

Long-distance buses to the south and north start in Tirana at the South–North bus station. A Luna bus to the airport also leaves from there, hourly from 7:00 to 18:00 for 300 lek (as of September 2026). The eTransport platform collects official lines and timetables.

Car and roads

According to ADAC you need your German driving licence; an international one is recommended. Cars may drive 40 km/h in built-up areas, 80 outside them, 90 on expressways and 110 km/h on motorways. For alcohol the limit is 0.1 per mille, and you need your lights on during the day too. From 1 November to 30 April, snow chains belong in the car (as of September 2026). ADAC rates the main routes as mostly well built; on minor roads it warns of deep potholes and poorly secured roadworks.

Tolls are paid at only three places, and there is no vignette. Cars pay €2.50 each on the A1 between Thumanë and Kashar (since 2024) and in the Llogara Tunnel (since 2025), and €5 in the Kalimash Tunnel. At the stations you can pay cash or by card (as of September 2026). Because fuel quality varies, ADAC advises using filling stations of big companies.

Money and costs

The currency is the lek (ALL); banknotes range from 200 to 10,000 lek. No official source says whether euros or cards are generally accepted. Individual cases are documented: the airport bus accepts euros and cards, the toll stations accept cards, and big filling stations mostly do too (as of September 2026).

How high the tourist tax is, each municipality decides itself; the hotel collects it per person and night. In Shkodër in 2025 it was 175 lek in 4- and 5-star hotels and 70 lek in all other accommodation. The sources we evaluated give no rates for other places.

Practical information

Albania has the same time as Germany, including summer time. The official language is Albanian. You reach the police on 112, and the medical emergency number around the clock on 127 (as of September 2026). Sockets are types C and F at 230 V and 50 Hz, as in Germany (as of August 2026).

“Roam like at home” does not apply in Albania; you pay the international rates of your plan (as of September 2026).

According to the national bank's calendar, the public holidays still to come in 2026 are 22 November, 28 November (Independence Day), 29 November, 8 December and 25 December. If a public holiday falls on a weekend, the Monday is a day off instead, and with two of them the Tuesday too. That is why the national bank is also closed on 23 and 30 November and on 1 December.

The current rules on entry, safety and health are given by the German Foreign Office.

Who Albania is not for

• If you want to travel by train: According to the 2025 timetable, a single passenger train line ran, and only from Friday to Monday.
• If you dislike driving on bumpy roads: Away from the main routes, ADAC warns of potholes and unlit vehicles (as of September 2026).
• If you cope badly with heat: In July and August the average high in Tirana is 30.7 °C (1961–1990), and June 2025 was around 3.8 °C warmer nationwide than this norm.
• If you want to avoid crowds: In August 2025 Tirana airport counted 1,413,064 passengers, more than twice as many as in February. Gjirokastër castle also had over 60,000 visitors in August according to the responsible cultural heritage directorate (as of September 2026).
• If you are looking for sun in late autumn: In November an average of 163 mm of rain falls in Tirana (1961–1990), on 12 days according to the DWD climate table. The sun then shines for an average of only 3.8 hours a day (1956–1970).