How does Albania feel as a tourist?
I recently traveled through Albania, visiting Tirana, Sarandë, Vlorë and the surrounding areas, and overall I came away with very mixed feelings.
Let me start with the positive. The natural beauty is incredible. Sarandë was probably the highlight for us. The coastline, beaches and boat tour were absolutely breathtaking, and there were moments when the scenery made all the other frustrations completely worth it.
However, traveling around Albania also came with quite a few challenges.
First, be very careful with taxis and car rentals. We used a taxi app (Patoko) several times and had some strange experiences, including drivers passing us after accepting the ride and apparently picking up other passengers. We also had a few uncomfortable interactions with drivers. I would personally recommend using a higher/premium taxi category rather than the cheapest option just to increase the chances to meet someone normal.
We also noticed that some taxi drivers seemed to be connected to car rentals and would immediately try to offer us a rental car. Our own rental experience wasn't great either. We had originally booked a Mercedes ML but were given a Volkswagen Passat instead, with the explanation that the Passat was newer/better because it was peak season. We were still charged the same price. We accepted because we were already dealing with transportation problems and didn't have time to start looking for another agency (we knew our car was changed at the meeting point).
Parking was another major problem. In both Tirana and Sarandë, finding a parking spot could take longer than the actual drive to the destination. If Google Maps says you're 15 minutes away, don't assume you'll be there in 15 minutes, you might spend another 20–30 minutes just looking for somewhere to leave the car.
Vlorë was more of a mixed experience for us. We found some beaches noticeably dirtier than those around Sarandë, and some of our interactions there felt less friendly. We also had a disappointing experience with a local boat tour, including unnecessary high-speed driving and delays. An ATV tour we had booked also fell apart because of changes to the pickup time and confusion about how many quads we had paid for. We eventually decided not to take the tour.
Another thing we noticed throughout the trip was how some interactions with local men felt quite unfriendly or confrontational to us. I don't want to generalize about Albanian people, because obviously everyone is different, but compared with other countries we've traveled to, we personally experienced a noticeably less welcoming attitude in some situations.
Finally, watch the prices when you're a tourist. We had several situations where prices seemed inconsistent, particularly in tourist oriented places. In one café, we were quoted different prices for the same products at different times of the day. We also felt that some tourist shops were trying to charge us more simply because we were visitors. It made us uncomfortable, especially when paying by card, because we weren't always sure whether the price being entered was actually the price we had been told.
So, my overall impression of Albania is complicated:
The nature, beaches and coastline are amazing. There are genuinely beautiful places that I would love to see again.
But the transportation, parking, some tourist services, inconsistent pricing and some of our interactions with locals made the trip more stressful than we expected.
Maybe we were simply unlucky with some of these experiences, and I'm sure plenty of people have had completely different trips. I'm sharing this mainly because if you're planning to visit Albania, do your research, double check prices, carefully choose your rental company, allow plenty of extra time for parking, and don't assume everything will work as smoothly as it does in other European destinations.
For us, Albania was definitely beautifulm but also one of those trips where the landscape was much more impressive than the overall travel experience.