Why Albania
The country is eighty per cent mountainous and edged by four hundred and fifty kilometres of coast, Adriatic in the north and Ionian in the south. The Albanian riviera, from Vlorë to Sarandë, is the last affordable Mediterranean coast in Europe — and it will not stay that way.
The Albanian Alps, in the north, are among the wildest ranges on the continent. The Theth–Valbona hike and the Lake Koman ferry are the two classic ways in.
Berat and Gjirokastër, Ottoman towns on the World Heritage list, hold the interior. Butrint, in the south, is an ancient site set in a lagoon.
May–June and September–October. Summer is hot and the coast fills up. Winter closes part of the mountain roads.
Entry and stay
Albania is neither in the European Union nor in the Schengen area. It is a candidate country, and entry rules fall under Albanian law.
Requirements vary by nationality and the country applies exemptions of differing lengths. Check yours with the Albanian authorities before booking.
No duration is quoted here, for want of an official source verified at the time of writing — 22 September 2026.
Getting around
There is virtually no railway left. The network inherited from the communist period has been abandoned and no longer serves anything useful.
The furgon — a shared minibus — is the national transport. It leaves when full, with no posted timetable, from departure points locals know and maps ignore. Asking on the spot is the method.
The Lake Koman ferry, between Koman and Fierzë, crosses a drowned canyon and works as both transport and spectacle.
A car opens up the country, but the mountain roads are narrow, poorly surfaced and local driving is fast.
Money
The Albanian lek. Euros are sometimes accepted on the coast but at an unfavourable rate.
Cash dominates heavily. Cash machines exist in the towns and are rare in the mountains: withdrawing before heading up to Theth or Valbona is essential.
It is one of the cheapest countries in Europe.
Before you go
Concrete bunkers are everywhere — more than a hundred and fifty thousand built under Hoxha. Some have become museums, notably Bunk'Art in Tirana.
The code of hospitality, besa, is a strong cultural reality in the north: staying with families there is common and structured, not commercial.
Road signage is incomplete and online maps regularly get the state of mountain tracks wrong. A route confirmed by a local beats a route calculated by an app.