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How to Get from Tirana Airport to the City Centre| Cheapest to Quickest — ALONG DUSTY ROADS
Tirana Airport Travel Tips
· You cannot (legally) source the local currency – LEK / ALL – outside the country.
· As mentioned in 23 Things To Know Before You Visit Albania, it’s a very good idea to arrive in Albania with a decent stash of Euro. The currency is accepted almost everywhere in the country, including by the airport taxi and shuttle buses, and basically operates alongside the LEK.
· There are a couple of ATMs in the arrivals baggage hall, but when we were there queues were long, one only accepted VISA, and the other had run out of money.
A better alternative is to wait for the four bank-owned ATMs you’ll find once you exit baggage. This included otpbank, BKT, Raiffeisen, and Tirana Bank but all charge a withdrawal fee in the region of 500-800 LEK (€5-€8); this is common throughout Albania, meaning you should withdraw the maximum each time (about 30,000 LEK / €300 depending on the ATM and your bank)
Avoid any Euronet branded ones, and note some ATMs in Albania tend to have a preference for Visa over Mastercard, and some won’t work with other cards.
· Alternatively, you will find two airport cash exchanges in the arrivals baggage hall, and another once you go through the gate. We would usually advise against using these services in airport due to terrible exchange rates, but if you have any issues with the ATM or are in a rush, they do offer those without euro a quick and convenient opportunity to get some local currency to get through your first day. Note that when we visited, individuals were only permitted to exchange a maximum of 50 in GBP, USD, and EUR.
There is also at least one money exchange outside the baggage hall.
· As Albania isn’t a member of the European Union, most UK and EU cross border free data-roaming plans treat the country as a separate zone, often with expensive roaming charges for calls, texts, and data. tion
· The most cost-effective solution is to buy a local SIM card, and within the arrivals baggage hall, you’ll find ONE and Vodafone teams offering deals and SIM cards. They matched each other on data allowance, minutes, and days with a 40GB 14-day package costing €23.
If the baggage hall is too busy and chaotic, both companies also have two office outside in arrivals, which is where we bought ours.
We recommend getting the staff set up and check your data works there and then, just in case you have issues or get the wrong package.
Alternatively, if you’d rather arrive with data ready to go, then we recommend Airalo for e-sims.