Hello fellow budget traveler! If you’re researching all the tips and wisdom to master the lucrative Albanian bus system, you’ve come to the right place. Before heading to Albania, we had used various modes of public transport, with buses always seeming to be the cheapest and easiest form. So when we found out that Albania doesn’t have trains and buses are the only ways to get around, we thought surely this can’t be too difficult… we were wrong.
Fellow travelers’ blog posts were a lifesaver for us, so I thought it would be a great idea to share our experiences to help others.
Here are my tips on using public transport in Albania:
Timetabling:
The key lesson we learned was that these buses rarely adhere to the timetable. They are either extremely late or early. My best advice is to be patient; a bus will eventually arrive.
Arrive Early to the Stop:
Get to the bus stop early. We found that sometimes the location where the bus was supposed to leave from was slightly confusing, so give yourself plenty of time to find your way. Using Google Maps was really helpful as well. Read the reviews on the location, and there are lots of people’s tips and experiences that proved to be really helpful.
There were never enough seats for everyone on the bus; even if everyone had a ticket, they were oversold. Some drivers crammed everyone into the aisle, while others simply said “hard luck” and kicked you off the bus. So, my best advice is to arrive early!
Be Prepared for a Long Journey:
Every journey we had was a completely different experience. For example, on our trip from Tirana to Saranda, the driver made three stops at various locations for food or to drop things off to people along the way. Whereas on the return trip, the driver didn’t stop once—no toilet break, no food break. It was very unpredictable. So come prepared with snacks, and make sure you’ve gone to the bathroom, as you may not know when the next stop is.
The itinerary we had and how we got tickets:
We explored various parts of Albania as detailed in my travel guide. Throughout our entire stay, we exclusively used buses, allowing us to fully experience how they work. Check out my full itinerary of Albania here.
Buses in Tirana:
The buses in Tirana are relatively simple to use and incredibly cheap. We used them both within the city of Tirana to reach our activities and the intercity buses that depart from Tirana to places like Sarande and Shkoder, etc.
We heavily relied on this blog (https://expatsinalbania.com/living-in-albania/tirana/tirana-bus/) to help us navigate where to catch the bus and understand the various lines. Our hotel was also incredibly helpful, taking us to the stop and explaining how to get tickets.
From our experience, for buses within the city, you can purchase your ticket on the bus with cash. A ticket officer (not wearing any uniform) will approach you and give you a ticket. These buses can be extremely full, as they are the main form of transport for locals, so bear this in mind.
Intercity Transport in Albania
Tirana to Sarande:
Here are the steps we took to get the bus from Tirana to Sarande.
Step 1: Catching a City Bus to the Regional Bus Terminal North and South Albania – ‘Terminali i Autobusave të Veriut dhe Jugut’ (It is important that you go to the correct bus terminal):
As we were staying within Tirana city center, we had to catch a city bus to the terminal (a 20-minute journey). City buses are frequent, and most tend to pass by the terminal, based on our experience. We ensured to double-check with the driver to confirm we were heading to the right location.
Step 2: Navigating the Terminal:
We had prebooked our tickets online from here. However, many different bus providers head to Sarande, so if you don’t prebook, you should have no difficulty getting on a bus. When we arrived, we looked for the bus company’s booth, where we showed our ticket, and they exchanged it for a paper ticket with our seat numbers.
Within the bus station, there will be many men directing you to places where you need to go. These individuals are helping fill the buses and are being helpful, not looking for a tip. If you want to go to one of these places, follow them, and they will direct you to the bus.
The journey takes about 5 hours and departs 7 times a day.
Sarande to Ksamil Bus:
Once you get dropped in Sarande, walk down the street to the bus stop opposite the Synagogue-Basilica archaeological site. The bus times are posted on the bus shelter; however, we found that they didn’t run according to schedule, so be prepared for them to be early or late. A person will come to collect your money once the bus is moving.
Please note: This bus is extremely crowded, and it can be quite a long journey due to multiple stops, so be prepared to be squished up next to a complete stranger for 45 minutes.
Sarande to Tirana Bus:
This seemed relatively easy after navigating our way there. We had pre-purchased our tickets, so we just had to go to the ticket building 30 minutes before our bus to get our seat numbers. There were multiple different bus companies, so make sure to check the ticket or company clearly to know where to go to get your ticket. I would advise pre-purchasing this one, as the bus terminal in Sarande isn’t actually a terminal at all.
The image above outlines where the ‘bus terminal’ is and the bus stop to Ksamil.
Tirana to Shkoder Bus:
We hadn’t pre-planned this, and it was possibly the easiest of all to organize. We caught the bus from the regional bus terminal North and South Albania, ‘Terminali i Autobusave të Veriut dhe Jugut.’ We wandered around the terminal until we found a bus that had Shkoder on it, and the driver was incredibly helpful, letting us know how long until it departed, etc. We bought our tickets on the bus and made our way to Shkoder. As simple as that.
Shkoder to Theth Bus:
Your accommodation should be able to organize a shuttle for you to get to Theth. However, if you are like us and yours never arrived, there is another option for transport. Lots of shuttles are located each morning at the bus station (located on the main road outside Hotel Rozafa). They all leave at 7 am, so be there early if you haven’t got a shuttle organized to ensure you get a seat. This is the only time they go during the day.
Theth to Shkoder Bus:
Don’t make the same mistake we did. Make sure you pre-arrange a ride back. Our experience: We assumed that there would be lots of buses leaving with spare seats the same as how we got there. Boy, were we wrong. There were only a couple of shuttles, and everyone had pre-booked tickets from their hostels, which we didn’t have. Luckily, a kind man let us on—25 of us in a 15-person shuttle bus. We made it eventually. My tip would be to try and purchase a return ticket either with your accommodation or call companies directly. They do overbook, and people with tickets did miss out, so arrive with plenty of time to secure your seat.
Shkoder to Montenegro Bus:
We had prebooked our ticket online from Shkodar to Kotor and arrived at the bus stop early to ensure we got a seat. We used GetByBus to book our tickets. Please note that these companies do require you to pay for luggage storage, so bring cash as they will expect it and will not let you on unless you do.
Overall, expect the unexpected on these buses, from being overcrowded to furniture and animals being on the buses; they are an experience. You will always get to your destination, but usually not on time. They are organized chaos, but it all works, so enjoy it. That’s the joy of budget travel.
If you want to know our full itinerary and my honest review on Albania, check out my blog post- Travel Guide: 10 Days in Albania (Honest Review).
Updated as of April 2024.
