Short answer: Albania has no useful passenger rail, so you move by furgon (shared minibus), intercity coach, taxi or rental car. Coaches run fixed timetables between major cities and are comfortable and cheap. Furgons have no timetable at all — they leave when full, cost €4–10, and go everywhere the coaches don’t. Nothing is bookable online in the way you’re used to. Bring cash, bring patience, and don’t plan a tight schedule.
Forget the train
Albania technically has a railway. In practice, ignore it. The network is a remnant — a handful of slow lines around Durrës and the centre, no useful connection to the airport, the south, or the mountains. It is an experience for enthusiasts, not a transport plan.
Everything in Albania moves by road.
Furgons: the local way
The furgon is an unlicensed shared minibus and it is the backbone of Albanian travel. Understanding it is understanding the country.
How it works: a furgon departs when it is full. Not at 9am — when it is full. It might be twenty minutes; it might be two hours. There is no timetable, no website and no booking. You turn up, you find the one going your way, you get in, and you pay the driver in cash once you are moving.
Where they leave from: this is the hard part. Furgon departure points are often unmarked patches of ground that everyone local knows about and no map shows. They also move. Ask someone. Albanians are genuinely helpful about this and will often walk you there.
What to expect: the driver may take unscheduled detours to drop someone at their village. He will stop for coffee. He will answer his phone. This is normal and there is nothing to be done about it. Treat it as the point rather than the problem and it becomes one of the better parts of a trip here.
Cost: roughly 400–1,000 lek (€4–10) between cities. Cash only, always.
Intercity coaches
The grown-up option. Proper coaches run fixed timetables between the major cities — Tirana, Shkodër, Vlora, Saranda, Berat, Gjirokastër — and to neighbouring countries. They are air-conditioned, comfortable and still cheap.
Some can be booked online in advance; many cannot. Tirana’s main terminal, the Terminali i Autobusëve të Jugut and the northern terminal, handle most departures. A seasonal direct coastal bus runs Tirana to Saranda and Ksamil in summer.
If you are moving between two big cities and there is a coach, take the coach.
Taxis
Fine for cities and short hops, expensive for distance.
- Agree the fare before you get in. Tirana taxis frequently do not use the meter for tourists, and you may be quoted two or three times the real price.
- Use Bolt in Tirana. It works well, the price is fixed in the app, and it removes the negotiation entirely. This is the single best tip for the capital.
- Airport taxis are a fixed higher rate. That is official, not a scam.
- Watch for “old lek” quotes — if a number sounds ten times too high, that is probably why. See our money guide.
Rental car
The most freedom by far, and Albania’s main roads are much better than their reputation. The full picture — including the insurance clause about unpaved roads that catches people out — is in our honest guide to driving in Albania.
Getting from Tirana Airport
Tirana International (TIA) is about 17 km from the centre.
- Airport bus — regular, cheap, runs to the city centre. The default sensible option.
- Taxi — fixed rate, quick, more expensive.
- Pre-booked transfer — worth it if you land late or have luggage.
There is no train and no metro. Do not go looking for one.
Places public transport does not reach
This is worth knowing before you build an itinerary. Some of Albania’s best places have no realistic public transport at all:
- Bovilla Lake — no bus. The final approach is an unpaved mountain track. Full options here.
- Divjaka-Karavasta — furgons reach Divjaka town, but that leaves you kilometres from the lagoon with nothing onward.
- Theth and Valbona — seasonal only, and the road closes in winter.
- Komani Lake ferry — reachable, but the timing has to line up exactly or you lose the day.
For these, it is a rental car, a private transfer, or a guided tour. There is no fourth option, whatever a route-planning app tells you.
Practical rules
- Cash. No furgon takes cards. Most coaches don’t either.
- Do not plan tight connections. A furgon that leaves when full cannot be scheduled around.
- Ask locals. Departure points are unmarked and mapping apps are wrong about them.
- Travel in the morning. Long-distance departures thin out badly after midday and often stop entirely by mid-afternoon.
- Leave slack. If you must be somewhere at a specific time — a flight, a ferry — build in hours, not minutes.
The short version
Coaches between big cities. Furgons for everything else. Bolt in Tirana. A car if you want real freedom. And for the handful of places the roads barely reach, a guide who knows the track.
Our day tours from Tirana and Durrës include free hotel pickup and exist mostly for that last category. No deposit — pay cash on the day.