Car Hire and Driving in Albania

Albania is made for a road trip.

From the imposing peaks of the Accursed Alps in the northern highlands to stone villages dusted across verdant southern valleys, and a clustered constellation of beaches and bays along two seas, the little Balkan country is awash with jawdropping scenery.

Renting your own wheels is the ideal way to see it and stitch together its dusty roads, asphalt highways, steep switchbacks, cobblestone streets, and vertiginous mountain passes.

We love a road trip here at Along Dusty Roads, and we knew that hiring a car in Albania was going to be the only option for our travel style and plans. From a practical perspective, it opens up several hard-to-reach areas of the coast, whilst the independence to go to our own schedule meant the final two-week itinerary could be slow, meaningful, and flexible.

However, we know that driving and car hire in Albania may be something you’re a little concerned about before you set off or confirm anything. Whether it’s your first road trip abroad or your tenth, a few nerves about the rules of the road, driving culture, and challenges of navigating a different country is perfectly understandable.

And that’s where this post comes in.

Across our two weeks driving in Albania, we negotiated hairpin switchbacks and mountain passes, narrow one-way roads with no passing places, dusty beach downhills, congestion, log-jams, young guys speeding in Porsches, hazard lights, potential police stops, and a daily parade of goats, sheep, and the odd obstinate cow staring us down in the middle of the road.

From that experience, we want to share our insights, tips, and suggestions to help ease those concerns, remove some of the stress, save some money, and arm you with the intel you need to make your road trip as memorable as possible.

For younger, nervous, or inexperienced drivers, it will also allow you to make the right decision about whether renting a car in Albania is the right choice for your trip.

The first part of this article covers the logistics, requirements, and costs of car hire in Albania, whilst the second gets into the cultural quirks which you’ll need to adapt to on the roads, mistakes to avoid, and suggestions for your road trip route. If you’re arriving with a camper van, it’s all relevant for you too.

This is our guide to renting a car and driving in Albania.