About travelling to Albania

Get there and back

Arriving in Albania by air and by plane has been simplified in recent years, although long ago it was rare to find flights outside the tourist season, we can now find flights for most of the year, usually with stops in Italy.

Tirana Airport, the capital of Albania, is the only international airport in the country, located 17 kilometers and about 30 minutes by car from the city.

A very interesting option for Europeans to get to Albania is to travel by ferry from Italy to Durres. This option should be considered especially if, as in our case, we are traveling with a large load of material.

Moving around Albania

Getting around Albania is generally easy, as hitchhiking is widespread throughout the country.

However, we cannot rely on hitchhiking if what we are planning is a trip for canyoning, as moving with the whole equipment may not be easy, as well as moving to small areas, inhabited and less frequented.

Arriving in the country with your own car or renting one, once you arrive in Albania may be the best option for the canyoner.

Otherwise, the most valid option for getting around Albania is the bus, but it can offer us the same limitations as hitchhiking, as it is unlikely that the routes will match the approaches to the ravines.

The train, on the other hand, is completely anecdotal in Albania, the Tirana train station was demolished in 2013 and the tracks paved to make way for new highways. Albania’s train lines are currently limited to two, from north to south, the Shkodër line to Vorë, and from east to west from Elbasan to Rrogozhinë.

Communicate with Albanian people

It is very useful to download a Google Translate type application to be able to communicate with Albanians, as few speak English, although more and more people speak and understand it, Albania is opening up to the world in giant steps.

Italian can also be useful, because there is a whole generation that speaks it, or at least understands it.

Albania’s climate and meteorology

Although its location gives it an eminently Mediterranean climate, it must be borne in mind that the strong presence of mountain systems complicates the predictability of the weather in this beautiful Balkan country.

The Albanian summer is warm and it is not uncommon to see the thermometer rise to 40 degrees, while finding more favorable temperatures in the mountainous areas of the north and inland.

The winter, on the other hand, maintains mild temperatures on the coast and reaches climatic conditions of continental characteristics inland, with a strong prominence of snow and frost.

The rainfall in Albania is irregular, with an annual average of 800mm, it can reach up to 2000mm in mountain areas, mainly influenced by snowfall.

In general, all the weather information portals that we can use in our countries can also work well for our trip to Albania, as long as they are of course global in scope.